Backgrounded party member / prisoner-continuity link
Remains in the background with Exaba while a new PC is introduced.
Status: Victor shifts offscreen/background
Knowledge: Players know Victor’s continuity remains active but not central.
My Alchemical Romance
Victor Shaw
Simon Baker
"I would never lie."
AliveHumanMaskweaving
Bio
Simon Baker, better known by the hexname Victor Shaw, is a human maskweaver whose life has been defined by deception, disguise, and the refusal to let the powerful go unpunished. He hides vulnerability behind jokes and insists he would never lie even when deception is his sharpest tool.
Notes
Received Walter's egg from Exaba. Keredeth later took Walter and had Victor's right arm severed.
Session Appearances
64 linked appearancesshowing 12
Eliminated contestant / forced viewer
Is voted out and finds himself strapped into machinery in a void viewing room, forced to watch the game continue.
Status: Removed from active play but not freed
Knowledge: Players know elimination is another form of captivity.
Contestant / alternate-Exaba prisoner holder
Has the alternate Exaba revealed as his prisoner.
Status: Exaba-host mystery tied directly to Victor
Knowledge: Players know Victor’s prisoner is part of the game’s deeper mystery.
Contestant / mobility challenge participant
Runs the obstacle course and banks prizes.
Status: Competes in second round
Knowledge: Players know Victor remains active before elimination.
Contestant / voter
Participates in the first elimination vote and hostage-stakes reveal.
Status: No direct status change
Knowledge: Players know Victor now understands prisoner stakes.
Contestant / goblin looter
Participates in killing goblins and searching bodies for prizes.
Status: Engages with game mechanics
Knowledge: Players know Victor takes part in the first game round.
Unwilling contestant / named target
Enters the portal and lands in the game arena despite being the marked target.
Status: Becomes game contestant under targeted conditions
Knowledge: Players know Victor is still the focus of the trap.
Removed contestant / background contract participant
Is included in the rescue/return framework despite being eliminated into the void viewing room.
Status: Transitions into background/offscreen continuity
Knowledge: Players know Victor remains part of the broader outcome but will move offscreen.
Named portal target
Is the explicit named target of the game portal set up in Astrid’s shop.
Status: Victor-targeted portal arc begins
Knowledge: Players know Victor is singled out by the challenge.
Investigator / correct entrance finder
Finds the correct blocked entrance after the failed first attempt.
Status: Identifies true sewer-stash access
Knowledge: Players know Victor’s investigation gets the mission back on track.
Party combatant
Helps handle the giant crocodile hazard.
Status: No direct status change
Knowledge: Players know Victor continues through sewer-entry danger.
Party combatant
Fights in the Glow Pools combat zone.
Status: No direct status change
Knowledge: Players know Victor survives the sewer-route fight.
Related Story Posts
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 2
Arrival — The First Steps onto Campus
2098 MB / Von Queef University gates and quad
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
The gates of Von Queef University stood like the teeth of an ancient titan — tall, ornate, and faintly humming with containment wards that whispered just loud enough to be ignored. Past them, lush green lawns unrolled between academic spires like rugs for scho
CardinalFirestarterFoulcrumGrimclawVictor ShawMaine0 likes
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 3
Dorm Assignments & Introductions
2098 MB / Student Affairs Hall / VQU Dorms
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
The student affairs hall looked like a cathedral that had been bullied into bureaucracy. Vaulted ceilings arched like wings mid-flap, and stained-glass windows filtered daylight into shifting shapes—magical symbols, academic crests, and a faint caricature of N
CardinalFirestarterFoulcrumGrimclawVictor ShawMaineGeneralGlintfangI.J.WhisperstepWildpawTintoretto0 likes
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 4
Alchemy with Astrid Ironhoof
2098 MB / Alchemy Lab 2B
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
Alchemy lab 2B smelled like someone had tried to bottle a thunderstorm and then regretted it. The walls were stained with the history of failed experiments—mostly cosmetic, occasionally fatal. A chalkboard scrubbed itself clean with resentful squeaks while bea
CardinalFirestarterFoulcrumVictor ShawMaineIronhoof0 likes
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 5
The Gathering Quest
2098 MB / Wicked Woods / graveyard beyond campus
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
Now esteemed Von Queef lawyer, Pedro Manticore would like me to tell you that The Wicked Woods weren’t technically part of campus. Technically, nothing past the sigiled gates counted. But VQU had a long tradition of redefining liability based on magical surviv
CardinalFoulcrumGrimclawVictor ShawMaineArchdevilGhostIronhoof0 likes
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 6
The Banner Unfurls
2098 MB / VQU Quad
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
They made it back just as the sun dipped behind the spiral towers, the last light scraping gold across the quad. A handful of upperclassmen sat on the fountain’s rim, pretending that they hadn't also been soaked in grave-water and impweed juice when Professor
CardinalFirestarterFoulcrumGrimclawVictor ShawMaineAngeldustGeneralIronhoofStardust0 likes
Act 1, Episode 2, Scene 5
Everything is so Sketch
2098 MB / VQU Dorm Floor 3
Recap StoryCurrent Campaign2098 MB
[NARRATION] It was late. Not midnight, but the kind of hour that felt borrowed. Floor 3 of Von Queef University was, for once, quiet.
CardinalFirestarterFoulcrumGrimclawVictor ShawMaineGeneralGlintfangI.J.WalterWhisperstepWildpawTintoretto0 likes
Showing 6 of 75 linked story pages. Use the Session Appearances timeline above for the broader appearance history.
Related Items
No item is directly attached yet.
Linked Pages
story
Act 1, Episode 1, Scene 2: Arrival — The First Steps onto Campus
The gates of Von Queef University stood like the teeth of an ancient titan — tall, ornate, and faintly humming with containment wards that whispered just loud enough to be ignored. Past them, lush green lawns unrolled between academic spires like rugs for scho
storyAct 1, Episode 1, Scene 3: Dorm Assignments & Introductions
The student affairs hall looked like a cathedral that had been bullied into bureaucracy. Vaulted ceilings arched like wings mid-flap, and stained-glass windows filtered daylight into shifting shapes—magical symbols, academic crests, and a faint caricature of N
storyAct 1, Episode 1, Scene 4: Alchemy with Astrid Ironhoof
Alchemy lab 2B smelled like someone had tried to bottle a thunderstorm and then regretted it. The walls were stained with the history of failed experiments—mostly cosmetic, occasionally fatal. A chalkboard scrubbed itself clean with resentful squeaks while bea
storyAct 1, Episode 1, Scene 5: The Gathering Quest
Now esteemed Von Queef lawyer, Pedro Manticore would like me to tell you that The Wicked Woods weren’t technically part of campus. Technically, nothing past the sigiled gates counted. But VQU had a long tradition of redefining liability based on magical surviv
storyAct 1, Episode 1, Scene 6: The Banner Unfurls
They made it back just as the sun dipped behind the spiral towers, the last light scraping gold across the quad. A handful of upperclassmen sat on the fountain’s rim, pretending that they hadn't also been soaked in grave-water and impweed juice when Professor
storyAct 1, Episode 2, Scene 5: Everything is so Sketch
[NARRATION] It was late. Not midnight, but the kind of hour that felt borrowed. Floor 3 of Von Queef University was, for once, quiet.
storyAct 1, Episode 3, Scene 7: Episode 3 – Scene 7: Victor
The egg was restless again. Every eighteen minutes, it shivered inside its disguise — just enough to remind Victor that whatever was inside it was not interested in patience.
storyAct 1, Episode 4, Scene 1: Into the Mind Maze
Victor Shaw landed in something the color of bruised roses and the texture of wet parchment. The floor flexed. The walls throbbed. And overhead, nerves of black wire coiled like arteries caught in a lie.
storyAct 1, Episode 4, Scene 3: The Puzzle
The brainspace beneath their feat felt like walking through a desolate farm field that should be thriving. Every inch of Ash’s mind was collapsing in on itself like a guilty secret held one second too long.
storyAct 1, Episode 4, Scene 4: The Battle
Somewhere, in the deepest recess of Ash Stonefist’s mind, the logic of architecture had given up.
storyAct 1, Episode 4, Scene 5: Reconnection and Escape
Three wires—wet, twitching, glittering with void-filament—now arced from the side chambers and hovered in midair like serpents waiting to strike.
storyAct 1, Episode 4, Scene 6: Waking Up
Ash Stonefist bolts upright, sweat-slicked and shaking, seated in the center of his dorm room. Shards of mirror glint around him like the aftermath of a failed divination. His chest heaves. His hands grope at nothing. For one impossible moment, it seems like t
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 1: Library Ambush and Maine's Tsunami
The elevator shaft was a throat of iron swallowing them upward, one straining pull at a time. The sound of their boots against the cold metal echoed in dull, uneven beats, each one swallowed too quickly by the silence above. The cables swayed faintly, moaning
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 2: Into the Courtyard
The library doors groaned open like something in pain, releasing them into a corridor soaked with pale daylight. They followed it until the hallway fractured into the open air of the courtyard — and the quiet they had carried with them from the elevator died i
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 3: Orlandus's Voidforged Remnant
The courtyard still burned with noise — clanging steel, spellfire crackling against armor, the guttural roar of Eveline’s wolf-form as she tore through another Forged. The group tightened their formation, blades and spells cutting down the enemies that strayed
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 4: Portkey Discovery
The silence after Orlandus’s fall was not peace — it was the silence of an open grave.
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 5: The Void Duel
Crossing the threshold was like stepping through the surface of an empty ocean — no splash, no resistance, only the cold press of endless depth.
storyAct 1, Episode 5, Scene 6: The Ruins of VQU
The world reassembled around them in pieces — smell first, then heat, then light.
storyAct 2, Episode 2, Scene 1: The Farm Job and the Black Hole
Jeff's farm job reveals controlled cultists, a Githyanki ambush, and the basement portal that pulls Maine into the Void Realm.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 1: Questions in the Purple Light
Maine lands in a Githyanki/Castro portal chamber, gets questioned about dragons, and the party's rescue attempt turns into combat.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 2: The Dragon They Were Looking For
Walter draws Githyanki attention, Victor turns the fight into a negotiation, and the party is split between escort and hostage watch.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 3: Gift to the Lich Queen
Victor's armory negotiation fails when the Githyanki captain sees through his disguise and decides Walter should be taken for the Lich Queen.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 4: The Fortress Takes Them
Ash kills the gazer, Maine and Ash rush toward the armory, Darius kills one Githyanki, and the fortress overwhelms the entire party.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 5: The Window in the Mountain
The party wakes stripped of gear in a dragon-marked prison room, opens a blocked high window, and discovers the fortress is built into a snowy mountain.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 6: Terms Before Dragons
Victor is summoned from the prison room and turns the dragon interrogation into a demand for the party's belongings and release.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 7: Keredeth's Price
Victor learns the portal word Kethil and the gear location before Keredeth takes Walter's bracer and severs his right arm.
storyAct 2, Episode 3, Scene 9: Out of Smiteclaw
Victor returns bleeding from the throne room, the party recovers most of their gear, and the Githyanki escort them out of Smiteclaw Village.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 1: The Southern Trail
The party follows Mary Jane's southern trail, avoids a protective polar bear, and reaches the warm cave camp below Smiteclaw Village.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 2: Cynthia's Cave
The party reaches Cynthia's cave, learns the Githyanki are using Smiteclaw Village to hunt dragon power, and accepts the mission to find Virgil.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 3: The Creator Sends Nick
Nick is pulled from a Gravenhurst coffee walk with I.J. through a Creator-made portal and rejoins the party outside Cynthia's cave.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 4: Climbing Against the Wind
The party climbs the wind-blasted mountain above Cynthia's cave, follows bear tracks to a den entrance, and prepares to enter after hearing a roar.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 5: The Den That Held Virgil
The party enters the polar bear den, finds Virgil unconscious and badly hurt on an upper ledge, and triggers a fight when a Yeti storms in.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 6: PBJ in the Snow
Nick and Ash bring down the Yeti, the party survives the remaining bears, and Nick discovers the surviving cub who becomes PBJ.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 7: The Key in the Yeti
Maine cuts the swallowed key from the dead Yeti and opens the locked chest, recovering a Potion of Heroism and a Frost Brand longsword.
storyAct 2, Episode 4, Scene 8: The Cocoon and the Circle
The party returns Virgil to Cynthia, who places him in a hemp cocoon, opens the teleportation circle, and sends Ash home first after he offends her.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 1: Back Through the Leaves
The party returns through Cynthia's circle to Astrid's garden and learns Gravenhurst has changed: Baron's masquerade is coming, strange vending machines have appeared, and faction trouble is waiting.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 2: Astrid's Reckoning
After dinner at Astrid's shop, Astrid thanks the party, praises Jonah's presence in Gravenhurst, confirms she is returning to VQU, and names the unresolved fronts now facing the level-four group.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 3: The Mystery Machine Outside the Shop
Outside Astrid's shop, the party inspects a Lodge-provided Mystery Machine, recovers a jammed token, and receives Kingston's Hand as the first proof of Gravenhurst's new magical vending economy.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 4: Blastbelle Needs the Stash
Blastbelle pulls the party to the Bitter Remedy, admits the failed farm job has put her Guild standing at risk, and asks them to recover an old Thieves Guild stash near Rat King territory.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 5: Shot for Shot with Brasco
Brasco the Red confronts the party at the Bitter Remedy, and Ash wins a shot-for-shot punching contest before leaving drunk for the Glow Pools.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 6: The Wrong Lawful at the Glow Pools
At the Glow Pools entrance, a fake Lawful guard blocks the party with a bogus sewer-pass story until Jonah spots the bad disguise and Blastbelle blasts the trap open.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 7: A Win at the Glow Pools
The party survives the Graven Scourge ambush at the Glow Pools, Ash helps finish the fight after nearly dying, and Dhaz secures a vial of Boost from a fleeing thug.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 8: The Crocodile Behind the Wrong Door
Blastbelle blasts open a likely sewer entrance, but the wrong rubble pile releases a giant crocodile that nearly kills Maine and Jonah before Dhaz drops it with an eye shot.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 9: The Room Beneath the Glow Pools
Victor finds the correct blocked sewer entrance beneath the Glow Pools, Blastbelle opens it, and the party reaches a recently used furnished room where Jonah leads a healing rest.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 10: The Hideout Someone Left Behind
After Nick and Victor return to Gravenhurst, the reduced party searches the furnished sewer room, finding signs of recent use, 20 gold, a +1 handaxe, and a locked chest.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 14: The List Beside the Bedroll
The party finds a recent side camp containing Redwave Vaughn's engraved dagger, a red cloak, and an updated Graven Scourge hit list naming I.J. and Victor Shaw.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 18: The Hearing in the Sewer
The party debates CC's warning, refuses to hand Blastbelle the stash key, and learns the Thieves Guild may be infiltrated before CC vanishes in smoke.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 19: Jonah of Ice and Sickles
The false Blastbelle collapses into red caps, Jonah is dropped immediately, and Ash revives him just in time for Jonah to drink the Potion of Ice Golem and turn the battle.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 20: The Note Nobody Could Read
After Jonah destroys the final red cap, the party finds sickles, gold, and a Fey-language note they cannot read before returning to the stash door.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 21: The Door That Had to Be Held
The party opens the warded Thieves Guild stash by using the Rat King key physically, with Victor slotting it into his wooden stump before the earlier iron key opens the inner gate.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 22: The Bloodstone Void Diamond
Inside the stash, the party finds gold, magic items, and the Bloodstone Void Diamond, which appears to be the true prize the false Blastbelle wanted.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 23: The Wall That Forgot How to Be Polite
Ash uses the Rat King Crown to ask a rat for the way out, then the party finds Podon at a hidden wall door leading toward dead or dying Graven Scourge men.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 24: Podon Goes Deeper
Podon rushes deeper into the hidden sewer passage searching for C-Ment, but the exhausted party chooses to retreat and rest instead of following.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 25: Victor Shaw, You're Up
The party returns to Astrid's shop to find it broken into, Astrid tied unconscious, and a portal upstairs marked with a direct message for Victor Shaw.
storyAct 2, Episode 5, Scene 26: The First Real Rest
Before entering the portal, the party frees Astrid, takes a long rest, reaches level five, and begins processing the Power Nine book and new magic-item limits.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 1: Astrid's Broken Formula
Astrid explains that imps and a horned woman destroyed her formula for severing Witchborn-Void corruption before using the shop portal to lure Victor.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 2: Welcome to the Game Master Spectacle
The party enters Trixie's game arena, meets Rifleton Rob and Araspinn, and watches Exaba announce the Game Master Spectacle.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 3: Prizes in the Stomach
Round one forces contestants to kill goblins and search their trapped stomachs for gold, scrolls, rings, and other Game Master prizes.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 4: The Prisoners Above the Game
Exaba reveals the prisoners above the arena, exposing I.J. and Emmy as captives before the first vote removes Rifleton Rob from active play.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 5: The Obstacle Course Wants a Show
Round two sends the contestants through a prize-filled obstacle course where speed, sabotage, and magical hands reshape the elimination standings.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 6: The Exaba Behind the Glass
Maine confirms Jeff is alive, Victor's prisoner is revealed as a terrified Exaba, and Nick's question to I.J. leaves their relationship unresolved before Victor is voted out.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 7: Victor in the Viewing Room
Victor's elimination sends him to a void viewing room, proving that being voted out means becoming another captive part of the show.
storyAct 2 Episode 6 Session Notes
The party entered this session at level five after their first long rest in several sessions. Key mechanical discussion included Revivify diamond costs, level-five features, Haste, Fireball, Extra Attack, Pass without Trace, attunement limits, and magic item tracking.
storyAct 2, Episode 6, Scene 11: Jebus's Lamp and the QII Deal
Jebus rescues the party into his lamp studio, explains Victor stayed behind, and turns their return to Jericha into a contract with the new QII.
storyAct 2 Episode 7 Session Notes
Post-session clarifications established each prisoner: Victor had Exaba, Ash had Eveline, Maine had Jeff, Dhaz Pelosh had Emmy, Nick had I.J., Jonah had Podon, Araspinn had an unmet NPC, and Rifleton Rob had Orenthal James. Victor remains in the background with Exaba while a new PC is introduced.
storyAct 5, Episode 2, Scene 38: Victor Leaves the Password Tsunami
The party finds a magically protected chest left by Victor Shaw, with TSUNAMI as the password and graffiti pointing to Maine's old disaster.
storyAct 5, Episode 2, Scene 39: Jonah Carries Herman Back
The party recovers Victor's cache, Gumbo claims dragon materials, and Jonah carries Herman Winger's body back toward the inn.
storyAct 5 Episode 2 Session Notes
This session resolves the Aleklot’s Rest master path: the party survives two phases of dragon combat, Herman Winger dies, Jeremiah revivifies Morgan, Oskar and Jeremiah vanish through a void path, Ash is blocked by a mind-flayer-like figure, Ash kills the young green dragon, and Victor Shaw’s time-cache rewards the group.
storyAct 5, Episode 3, Scene 1: Homecoming Waits Over the Fallout
Back at VQU, homecoming preparations fill campus while Oskar remains gone and Ash processes that his supposed Aboleth purpose was false.
storyAct 5, Episode 3, Scene 5: Victor Pranks the Rival Table
Victor impersonates Victor Calloway and doses Glimmer's drink, but her fairy powers turn the gag poison into fairy-fire euphoria.
storyAct 5, Episode 3, Scene 14: The Scroll Opens Onto a Seaside Cathedral
After using an illegal void dungeon scroll, the party arrives at an abandoned seaside cathedral rising above violent surf.
storyRecap 01.23.25: Into the Lonely Islands
A farm investigation pulls My Alchemical Romance into the Void Realm, Githyanki captivity, and a dangerous choice about escape.
storyRecap 01.30.25: The Githyanki Prison Break
The party escapes Githyanki captivity, Victor pays a brutal price, and Cynthia reveals the stakes of the Lonely Islands.
storyRecap 02.06.25: Nick Returns and the Polar Bear Cub
Nick arrives through a portal, the party rescues Virgil, and the aftermath of a polar bear fight gives Nick a new responsibility.
storyGate to the Gutters
The first lane split left and right, and the right-hand tunnel ended almost immediately—a short stretch of brick, a wall, and the quiet disappointment of wasted steps. The lesson was simple and quickly learned. They turned back, went left, and followed the pat
aspectMaskweaving
Maskweaving is an imported aspect from the Jericha Aspect Data sheet. Its full lore and named powers can be expanded here as the canon text is added.
locationOld Rifleton
Old Rifleton is the older settlement layer attached to Rifleton, preserving ruins, memory, and unresolved local history inside the West Rekhyov route network.
GM / Spoiler Notes
Hidden until revealed.