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Interlude XII: Return to the Lotus Casino

🎧 Podcast Link • November 7, 2025

Session Overview​

Silas awakens to find a letter from Naomi at the Lotus Casino detailing an emergency: Helisanna and her ravers have taken over the casino, turned it into a 24/7 concert venue, and are holding it hostage. The party must infiltrate the chaos, find a hidden reset key, and activate the casino's magical failsafe to send everyone home before the establishment is permanently destroyed.

The Morning Letter​

Naomi's Distress Call​

Silas receives an urgent letter from his girlfriend Naomi at the Lotus Casino:

The Situation:

  • Helisanna and her ravers have completely taken over the casino
  • The ravers are holding daily mandatory concerts and partying 24/7
  • The casino lobby is trashed with graffiti, torn furniture, and a halfpipe built in the middle
  • Marvin Junior Junior Junior has been kidnapped and incapacitated by Helisanna
  • Fufu (the owl bear) is being forced to perform three shows a day with David Blaine
  • Naomi's baby Julius can't sleep due to the constant noise

The Invitation:

  • A gold card labeled "Guest Transport" dated for 10:00 a.m.
  • Fine print (requiring investigation to read) explains holding the card will teleport the party to the Lotus
  • Silas immediately rallies the party for a rescue mission

Gathering the Team​

The Morning Brief​

Silas wakes Bru by pulling the covers off him, revealing Pepsi (the baby dragon) curled up on the bed with Bru squeezed into a tiny corner. The party gathers in Olivia's apartment in High Forge where they've been staying:

Living Arrangements:

  • Silas and Bru share George's old bunk beds (with Pepsi claiming the top bunk)
  • Kevin (the minion) sneaks into bed with Elspeth and Boxbox
  • Olivia returns from her daily bodega run with muffins
  • The party discusses the mission over breakfast

The Team:

  • Silas: Leading the mission to rescue his "honey lamb" Naomi
  • Bru: Bringing his engineering expertise and Pepsi
  • Olivia: Initially joining but ultimately staying with baby Julius
  • Elspeth: Providing support and sneaking skills
  • Leliana: Former connection to Helisanna, now in a complicated situation
  • [Scarlet]: Coming along despite Silas's warnings not to get inspired by interdimensional travel
  • Ohma: Joining the infiltration team

Arrival at the Lotus​

Chaos in the Lobby​

The party teleports to the Lotus Casino lobby at exactly 10:00 a.m., discovering absolute pandemonium:

The Destruction:

  • Graffiti covering every surface
  • Curtains and furniture torn apart and scattered
  • The statue of Marvin's ancestor defaced with painted-on glasses and a dick on his cheek, random clothes on its head
  • A halfpipe constructed in the middle of the lobby (which Bru admits is "pretty sick")
  • Ravers everywhere drinking, partying, skating, and attempting to start bonfires (constantly extinguished by the magic fire suppression system)

Naomi's Greeting:

  • Perfectly dressed and composed despite the chaos around her
  • Quickly ushers the party to the back office to avoid drawing attention
  • Explains the full extent of the crisis

The Resistance Meeting​

Naomi's Plan​

In a hidden supply closet in the laundry room (the most boring, back-of-house location possible), Naomi has assembled "The Resistance":

Resistance Members:

  • Naomi: Upper management, organizing the operation
  • Spike Bison and his bodyguards Click and Clack (notably without Fufu)
  • Carl from Maintenance: An elderly crotchety man immune to Helisanna's thrall
  • Lily and Lana from the spa
  • The unnamed British-voiced bartender
  • Various other loyal employees

The Factory Reset Button:

  • Built by Marvin's great-grandfather as a failsafe for casino takeovers
  • Will reset the casino's magic, sending all unauthorized guests home
  • Relocates the casino in space and time to cut off access temporarily
  • Normally Marvin could activate it, but he's been kidnapped by Helisanna

The Problem:

  • The reset requires a special key
  • Marvin gave the key to his "most trusted employee" before being captured
  • No one has come forward with the key, and the resistance can't figure out who has it
  • Helisanna doesn't know the key or button exists

The Investigation​

Deducing the Key's Location​

The party analyzes the situation with insight checks:

High Rollers:

  • Silas: Natural 20 on insight
  • Bru: 21 on insight
  • [Scarlet]: Shocking 28 on insight

The Deduction:

  • Marvin, while incompetent with potions, is actually quite knowledgeable about magic
  • He would know the key needed to go to someone who:
    • Wouldn't fall under Helisanna's thrall
    • Is well-trained and reliable
    • Is a "good boy"
  • The party quickly deduces: It's Fufu!

The Time Crunch:

  • David Blaine's magic show starts in 10 minutes
  • Fufu will be performing in the middle of the act
  • The party must get the key from Fufu before he goes on stage

Infiltrating the Theater​

Disguises and Performance Checks​

The party uses Hats of Disguise to appear as ravers and make their way to the theater:

First Attempt (Performance checks):

  • [Scarlet]: 28 (extremely convincing)
  • Silas: 26 (very convincing)
  • Bru: 18 (solid performance)
  • Leliana: Low roll (struggling)
  • Ohma: Only toral in the casino, draws some attention but passes

Scarlet's Faux Pas:

  • [Scarlet] sees Fufu backstage and exclaims "Holy shit, what is that thing?"
  • Silas scolds her: "Were you raised in a barn? It's just Fufu, it's not that big a deal"
  • The party debates whether to use speak with animals or animal handling

Retrieving the Key​

Finding Fufu:

  • Fufu is backstage waiting for his cue, wearing an adorable glittery gold vest with a tiny tuxedo and top hat
  • Elspeth investigates with advantage from Silas's help: rolls 21
  • On Fufu's collar, nestled against his glittery vest, is a golden name tag with a picture of a key on it

The Retrieval:

  • Elspeth gives Fufu part of Kevin's treat (saving the other half for Kevin)
  • Fufu gives her a big lick and happily lets her take the key card
  • Fufu runs off to his performance cue as the party celebrates

Quick Success:

  • The entire infiltration takes less than 10 minutes
  • Naomi is impressed by their efficiency (she had prepared puzzles and challenges that weren't needed)

The Basement Journey​

Psychic Phone Setup​

Silas activates his psychic phone ability to connect the party telepathically for six hours:

The Comedy:

  • Everyone can hear each other's thoughts
  • Elspeth pretends to be Silas: "You're a stupid, stupid, stupid head"
  • Silas responds that he comes up with way better insults than that
  • Bru just does heavy breathing into the mental link
  • Silas eventually cuts Elspeth off: "You abused the phone privileges and they've been revoked"
  • [Scarlet] tries to call people but no one responds

Second Disguise Run​

The party makes their way to the basement entrance with another round of performance checks:

Second Performance Results:

  • Silas: Another 26 (consistently convincing)
  • Most of the party does well
  • Leliana and Ohma use bardic inspiration after poor initial rolls
  • [Scarlet] trips and loses her hat, but the party forms a protective circle around her to shield her from ravers

Navigation:

  • Naomi provides directions to use the key to access the basement elevator
  • The key grants security clearance to the restricted basement level
  • The party takes the elevator down to the secure area

The Basement Puzzle Chambers​

Chamber 1: The Aquan Door​

The elevator opens into a dimly lit stone chamber with a single door at the far end. Next to the door sits a basin filled with water. Symbols are carved into the wall above the door.

The Puzzle:

  • Ohma rolls exceptional history checks (including one result in the mid-20s)
  • He instantly recognizes the symbols as Aquan, his native underwater language
  • The text reads: "Ask me to proceed"
  • Ohma attempts to speak Aquan but nothing comes out - he realizes he's never been able to speak his native tongue since leaving his underwater home

The Solution:

  • Bru climbs onto Ohma's back and pushes his head toward the water
  • Ohma realizes the language can only be spoken underwater
  • Submerged in the basin, Ohma says "May we proceed?" in Aquan
  • The door immediately opens
  • The party notes that Ohma can hold his breath for an hour but cannot breathe underwater

Chamber 2: Don't Knock the Door​

The party enters a stone room with a door bearing text in Common: "Do not knock the door" (with "knock" capitalized).

Initial Confusion:

  • [Scarlet] tries to simply open the door and takes 3 bludgeoning damage from a golden magical force that punches her back
  • Ohma flexes and tries to force the door open, taking 2 bludgeoning damage from another punch
  • Elspeth uses mage hand to caress/knock the door - it takes damage and dissipates
  • [Scarlet] casts detect magic and determines it's abjuration (protection) magic
  • The party debates getting the water bowl from the previous room, trying knock-knock jokes, and whether "knock" is some kind of magical spell

Scarlet's Book Problem:

  • Throughout the puzzle, [Scarlet] keeps pulling out books: "100 Riddles and Puzzles," a book about water bowls, "Alexandra's Favorite Stone Room Book"
  • Bru and Silas keep slapping books out of her hands
  • "This is where book burning starts"
  • [Scarlet] reveals she has a bag of holding filled with books (accidentally established as canon by DM Ellis)

The Breakthrough:

  • Silas rolls a 29 on insight
  • Realizes "knock" in Common has multiple meanings beyond physically knocking
  • It can also mean to insult or criticize
  • The sign means "Do not knock (insult) the door"

The Solution:

  • Silas compliments the door: "Door, you are the finest door I have ever seen in my short time here on this earth. And I got to say, you're my favorite door"
  • The door immediately opens
  • Ellis (DM) admits they were very close to solving it early on when someone briefly mentioned complimenting but didn't follow through

Chamber 3: The Sign Language Door​

This room contains a door with no handle. Pictograms cover the walls showing a figure using hand signs to communicate a message.

Investigation:

  • [Scarlet] rolls 25 on investigation
  • Silas rolls 29 on insight (continuing his hot streak)
  • The images depict someone using sign language, but most of the party can't read it

The Solution:

  • Leliana knows sign language
  • She reads the message: "To go forward, you must go back"
  • The party tries walking back through the previous door, but it simply closes behind them
  • They realize they need to walk backwards through the next door
  • Silas walks backward through the door and disappears, teleporting to the next room
  • Ohma doesn't walk backward well due to his shell, so he does a backwards jumping "cowabunga" through the door, nearly crashing into Silas (who makes a DC 22 Dexterity save to dodge)
  • Bru climbs onto Elspeth, and when [Scarlet] walks through backward, Bru "accidentally" puts his hands on her rear, leading to jokes about [Scarlet] having books on "goblin love"

Chamber 4: The Crushing Ceiling​

The final chamber is sunken down (like a conversation pit) with a lever next to a door with no handle on the far side.

The Trap:

  • [Scarlet] (having the lowest HP at 26/29) volunteers to pull the lever
  • The ceiling begins slowly descending to crush the party
  • Pushing the lever back makes it stop and retract to its original position
  • There's no other interactable object in the room

Failed Attempts:

  • The party tries opening the door while holding the lever down - nothing happens
  • They consider lying flat under where the previous door was to avoid being crushed
  • They debate running back through the door they came through after pulling the lever
  • [Scarlet] lays down in the "conversation pit" and pulls the lever

The Solution:

  • The party realizes they need to let the ceiling come all the way down
  • It's not actually crushing them - it's lowering the entire floor/room to the next level
  • They pull the lever and wait as the room descends
  • When it stops, they're at the basement level with the reset chamber

The Reset Room​

Naomi explains the reset mechanism as they enter the final chamber:

The Reset Mechanism:

  • A large circular chamber with crystalline walls
  • In the center: a pedestal with a slot for the key card
  • Magical runes covering the floor in concentric circles
  • A large lever next to the pedestal

Naomi's Explanation:

  • Inserting the key and pulling the lever will activate the reset
  • Everyone not an official employee will be sent back to where they teleported from
  • The casino will relocate in space/time and be inaccessible for an unknown period
  • Naomi and the baby will be stuck until the magic resets and stabilizes

The Emotional Farewell​

Silas has a moment with Naomi before activating the reset:

The Conversation:

  • Silas: "So we're going to be cut off from each other for who knows how long?"
  • Naomi: "I know, honey bear. But this is the only way to save the casino and get Julius some sleep"
  • They discuss trying to establish communication while she's trapped
  • Silas promises to find a way to stay in touch
  • Naomi confirms she'll use the separation to focus on baby care and recovery

Final Warnings:

  • Silas to [Scarlet]: "Promise you won't be inspired by anything related to interdimensional travel"
  • [Scarlet]: "What? Why would I not be inspired by interdimensional travel?"
  • The party debates whether to drop Helisanna in the ocean when she gets sent back
  • Leliana argues they should try to save Helisanna since she's still technically an ally
  • Elspeth notes she worked really hard on Helisanna's outfits and doesn't want that to go to waste

Activating the Reset​

Silas inserts the key card into the slot and pulls the lever:

The Reset Effect:

  • Magical energy swirls around the room
  • The runes on the floor light up in sequence
  • A countdown timer appears in the air: 60 seconds
  • Throughout the casino, magical pulses ripple outward
  • Ravers begin disappearing in flashes of light, sent back to High Forge
  • Helisanna and her entire entourage vanish mid-concert
  • The halfpipe, graffiti, and destruction begin magically cleaning and repairing
  • Marvin reappears in his office, confused but unharmed

The Party's Departure:

  • The party members begin glowing as the teleportation magic affects them
  • Silas blows a kiss to Naomi
  • Naomi: "I'll see you soon, sugar bear"
  • Flash of light, and the party is back in Olivia's apartment in High Forge
  • Helisanna and all the ravers are back in High Forge, confused
  • Pepsi is happy to see everyone return

Character Moments​

Silas and Naomi's Relationship​

The session highlights Silas's softer side through his relationship with Naomi:

  • He calls her "honey lamb" while she calls him "sugar bear" and "honey bear"
  • He immediately prioritizes rescuing her over everything else
  • His concern for baby Julius shows his growing capacity for family connections
  • The forced separation clearly troubles him, showing emotional vulnerability

Bru's Love of Chaos​

Bru continues his pattern of appreciating destruction and chaos:

  • Genuinely impressed by the halfpipe in the lobby
  • Refers to problems as "a problem for tomorrow" and "future Bru can deal with that"
  • Successfully keeps Pepsi well-fed and happy with a detailed fish-feeding schedule

Scarlet's Gambling Problem​

Continuing the trend of Christopher's characters being gamblers:

  • [Scarlet] wants to learn about the casino to place bets on motorsports
  • Debates gambling with Bru about Olivia's racing
  • Gets called out for creating characters with gambling addictions

Olivia's Racing Controversy​

The party discusses Olivia's past "cheating scandal":

  • Olivia vehemently denies ever cheating: "I've never cheated a day in my life"
  • Bru notes she's "never once not cheated"
  • [Scarlet] reveals Olivia is the "only high-profile racer with a cheating scandal"
  • Olivia insists she was framed and threatens violence over the accusations

Leliana's Complicated Relationship with Helisanna​

Leliana struggles with her connection to Helisanna:

  • Refers to her as "kind of like a sister"
  • Notes that Helisanna did save them in the past
  • Advocates for trying to save her rather than just ejecting her
  • Questions whether Helisanna is still their friend

The Kevin and Elspeth Bond​

Elspeth continues caring for Kevin (the minion):

  • Shares treats between Kevin and Fufu
  • Kevin sneaks into bed with her for cuddles
  • She's created a "Baby Bru Bjorn" carrier for Kevin to ride in
  • Kevin eats everything offered but doesn't actually digest it (it gets incinerated inside him)

Items and Rewards​

The Golden Key Card​

  • Successfully used to activate the casino reset
  • One-time use item that likely dissolved after activation
  • Proof of Marvin's trust in Fufu

Pepsi's Development​

  • Now trained to be friendly and companionable (like a ranging dog that returns when hungry)
  • Has a special mount on the Bugatti for high-speed rides
  • Growing bond with both Bru and Silas (shares drinks: "Jack and Pepsi")

Boxbox Progress​

  • Continuing to be a loyal companion to Elspeth
  • Powered down next to Elspeth while she sleeps
  • Provides both companionship and practical assistance

Ongoing Plot Threads​

  1. The Lotus Casino Offline: The casino is now inaccessible for an unknown period, cutting off access to Naomi, Marvin, and the resistance
  2. Helisanna's Return: She's back in High Forge with all her ravers, potentially creating new chaos
  3. Communication Challenge: Silas wants to find a way to stay in touch with Naomi during the casino's downtime
  4. Scarlet's Dimensional Curiosity: Despite warnings, [Scarlet] remains interested in interdimensional travel technology
  5. Naomi's Career: She mentioned being on an "upper management track" and organizing the resistance - this crisis may accelerate her promotion
  6. David Blaine and Fufu: The magic show duo's dynamic and Fufu's treatment as Marvin's most trusted employee
  7. Julius's Wellbeing: Naomi's baby son needed the chaos to end to get proper sleep

Session Conclusion​

This interlude provided a lighter, more comedic adventure with clever puzzle-solving and character moments. The party solved the basement trials much faster than the DM anticipated (who had prepared additional puzzles), demonstrating their growing problem-solving skills. Silas's relationship with Naomi added emotional weight to the otherwise humorous session, while [Scarlet]'s book obsession and the psychic phone antics kept things entertaining.

The session successfully balanced humor with genuine character development and sets up future complications with the Lotus Casino offline and Helisanna returning to High Forge.

Next Session Preview​

The party discussed planning for next week's session:

  • Silas and Bru's backstory heist where their crew was killed by Helja in Greyport
  • Other players will create third-level characters for the crew (suggested names: Peaches, Cream, Rocky Road, Strawberry Shortcake)
  • Silas will be known as "Bartleby Thatch" during the heist
  • The session will be run as a flashback/memory sequence