The Soul Cage (part 2)

Transcription

The Soul Cage pt 2
2 – Kosciej the Deathless aka Kaptain Krunch
3 – Children of the Revolution; Session 7.1
31 – Children of the Revolution; Session 7.2
72 – Pre-Gencon Ramblings
75 – Excalibur
76 – Rodriguez!
78 - Haruspex
80 – Taliesin
82 - Adder
84 – Island of Souls; Session 8
109 – Semi Unrelated Bonus Round; Seer Prelacies
111 – What I’ve Done; Session 9.1
141 – What I’ve Done; Session 9.2
167 – Uprising; Session 10.1
186 – Where Does it Go; Interlude
192 – Updated Cast List
194 – Deeper Underground; Session 11.1
225 – Link to the Podcast of Doom
244 – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
252 – Won’t be Fooled Again; Session 12
276 – Rufus Jackson: Two Fisted Mystagogue!
277 – Time to Burn; Session 13
306 – Sympathy for the Devil; Session 14
324 – Soundtrack notes
329 – All Along the Watchtower; Session 15.1
377 – The Times they are a’ Changin; pre-epilogue ficlets
387 – Go Out Dancing; Session 16
400 – Credits
1.
...I knew I forgot to do something
Kosciej the Deathless
Real name: Jack
Order: Free Council (kinda)
Path: Mastigos
Intelligence 4, Wits 5, Resolve 8
Strength 2, Dexterity 2 Stamina 1 (all derived from Hades' body)
Presence 5, Manipulation 4, Composure 6
Academics 4, Craft 1, Investigation 5, Medicene 2, Occult 4 (Underworld), Politics 5 (Marxism,
Anarchism), Science 4
Athletics 1, Brawl 3, Firearms 2 (pre-WWII), Larceny 4, Stealth 4, Survival 2, Weaponry 4
Empathy 2, Expression 3 (Speeches), Intimidation 5, Persuasion 4, Socialise 2, Streetwise 3,
Subterfuge 5
Health 6
Willpower 14
Gnosis 8 (4 paradox dice, +3 aura, 10mins/roll)
Mana 30/8
Wisdom 1 (Megalomania, Obsession)
Death 5
Fate 3
Forces 3
Life 4
Mind 5
Matter 2
Time 2
Space 4
Spirit 5
Prime 3
Magic Shield 3, Death Armour 5, Mind Armour 5, Anti-Scrying spell cast with (redacted) potency.
Various rotes, including Hone the Form, Teleport, Suspension, Steal Mana (if it's called that - the
Death attack that scours someone else's pattern, like he did to Aegis), Quell the Spark,
Possession, Breach the Vault of memory, Supernal Vision, Insulate, Death-based Mage Armour,
Postcognition, Spirit Summoning Spells and gauntlet-altering spells.
All three Parliament of the Needle attainments First attainment - Mind 2 - almost Identical to the Dreamspeakers' first attainment; the Legacy
member can enter Astral Space as an instant action rather than an extended one and doesn't
spend mana to break the dreamshell. Once in, they can flip between them with a turn's
concentration or act simultaneously which, as Legacies: The Ancient notes, tends to make the
mage look a little crazy, talking to people that aren't there and interacting with objects that are
only in their mind. They don't get the Dreamspeakers' ability to enter the dreaming-land of their
locality, but they do get a mental effect that duplicates "Follow-Through" but for mind portals
rather than space ones, allowing them to access the central Oneiros-space. There's no optional
Death power, as (like, in fact, the Dreamspeakers) this is powerful enough as it is.
Second attainment - Mind 3 - Duplicates the skill-adding spell from Free Council, with the Legacy
member having a floating pool of her dots in Mind to assign to skills, rearranging them requiring
a meditation roll. There's an optional Death 3 attainment that reproduces the effects of
"postcognition" but from the Ghost's point of view, allowing the living memories of dead people
to be accessed.
third attainment - Mind 4 - Creates the central dream-space, acting as the dream-bridge Oneirostunnelling spell from Astral Realms to anyone with the soul-bond created by learning the Legacy
from the character. Optional Death 4 allows the user to swap Daimons with a supplicant, and
allows that Daimon to then use the dream-bridge attainment once, linking that person back.
NB1 - the primary arcanum of the Parliament is *Mind*: Kosciej only has two Primary Arcana, and
spends Mana to cast Death and Spirit spells even though he's a Master of them. Sef got the
better end of that deal.
NB2 - Hades' stamina is so low that unless he buffs himself with Life, he's *always* taking
spellcasting penalties to affect his own pattern once his collection of mage armour and antiscrying spells is taken into account.
1.
Children of the Revolution
"Children of the Revolution"
Session 7.1
Welcome back, faithful readers! This two-session story marks the bridge between the two "seasons" - there's a gap of
several weeks from the cliffhanger to the start of this one, and there will be a six month gap between 7.2 and 8.1.
This story is a politics-fest, set at the Lesser Convocation of Paris. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Convocation is
essentially a convention for Mages - parties from lots of different Consilii travel to a host Consilium and engage in
diplomacy, information-trading, high court justice and the settling of cross-Consilium matters. They're the Pentacle
equivalents of a Seer Tetrarchy, but meet only very infrequently if at all - as Silver Ladder explains, the larger-scale
Convocations just don't happen due to practical considerations. The last time a continent-wide Convocation was held
was at Paris, when the then-Diamond decided to invite the Nameless Cabals to join them as a fifth order.
The terms and conventions of a Convocation are different to those of a Consilium, so they might be unfamiliar to you.
Basically, the thing runs on an Agenda split into "Days" (which aren't always a day long) devoted to set subjects. The
thing is chaired by the senior Ladder Mages of each attending Consilium, who are called "Magisters". Members of the
local Consilium who help run the thing and look after delegates are "Pages". There are a few other traditional roles,
which will be explained as we go.
Especially "Harlequin".
The train comes to rest with a bump, and Samael wakes up from daydreaming. Key is already up and retrieving
her suitcase from over his head.
Paris.
By the time Cobalt and Persephone reached the Furthest Legion, Cicero was dead - stabbed, as far as a
distraught Scribe could relate, by Kosciej. Quark flatly refused to trace Kosciej's Teleport until a force of armed
men could be gathered to ensure his protection - by the time that happened, Kosciej had cast Labyrinth deep in
the wilderness of Dartmoor and scrambled his onward path beyond Quark's ability to follow him.
The Arrow returned, unable to give chase further, mourning the loss of their friend for no reason any of them
could tell.
Mictlan, too, was in a state of shock. The following morning, after being persuaded to sleep by Cobalt and
Symmetry, Sef regained enough composure to will herself into the Astral. She found devastation - Mictlan had
been ripped clean open on one side, now a shattered three-quarters eggshell sinking - or slowly floating - into
the Underworld. Kosciej ripping himself out killed Xolotl, and the control-spirit's death caused the Regions to
detonate as their contents no longer fitted within their structures. Seeing the survivors pick their way through
the piles of objects drawn from the Cousin's memories, the Gateways to herself, Galatea and Kosciej still
standing, Sef was reminded of how the Daimon had rearranged her Oneiros, on the other side of the gate. An
unhappy coincidence.
Xolotl couldn't be repaired - the Micts had been killed in the initial explosion, along with many other Cousins and Chronos was in a deep, deep depression. His mood was shared by the other survivors (by the time Sef
arrived, a few had already thrown themselves into the Underworld in despair) and by Hades himself, wandering
the ruins in a daze. By the time Sef caught up with him to angrily demand to know what he'd been thinking
when he put D!K in her, he'd decided that he must be in some sort of Purgetory for his sins. Even once he found
out that he was in Mictlan after all, he seemed stoicly determined to serve his time in hell, suffering there along
with the Cousins until the last of them left, at which point he too would pass into the Underworld. He was
surprised to see Sef, though.
Sef, for her part, explained in blunt terms that there was no room for Angst and then gave a series of rousing
(she hopes) speeches to the survivors, trying to rouse them from their defeatism. Mictlan *can* be rebuilt, she
declares. They have the Necrology.
Samael spent the weeks in fevered research, trying to get any leads on Atlantean sites that haven't long since
been ransacked. He's also been keeping his ear to the ground for news regarding Kosciej or - after what they
learned in the Astral - Eddington. Kosciej for the majority of the time is being too quiet - silent in fact. There are
no rumblings, apart from Libertine Assemblies distancing themselves from the Diamond. Plenty of rumours,
though, reach Samael and Cobalt - he's gathering Libertine groups to his banner via the miracle of the internet,
targeting those that are hard done by by their home Consilii. Legacies like the Blank Badge and the Liberators
are definitely interested, those of the "throw off the oppression of the Atlantean hegemony" fringe.
In fact, one of the Cabals so approached, via email, are Cobra and the other Smoke Eaters. They're still
smarting about Cobra's treatment, for which an apology has yet to be made. Kosciej isn't asking for anything
yet, just informing likely Cabals that a movement is starting up that they may want in on - couching it in terms
of giving the Free Council the sort of cross-Consilium support that the Silver Ladder derides the youngest order
for lacking. The emails are signed by "Nameless".
Cobra being a simple but loyal man, he promptly tells Cobalt about the invitation and offers to feed anything he
hears back.
This calls for a counter-campaign. Sef's attempts to yell into the internet that Kosciej can't be trusted is either
like pissing into the wind or herding cats - she's pretty much ignored by the Cabals Kosciej's targeting.
Cobalt concentrates on mending the bridges within the home Consilium - initiating a one-man truth and
reconciliation program. He's trying to stand back from the conflict brewing within the order, attempting to be a
voice of reason and leaving posting angry rebuttals to Sef. Privately, to Symmetry, Cobalt muses that the idea
of a Libertine Network really *is* a good idea, and if it can be somehow turned from Kosciej's purpose to more
positive uses then it's better than trying to shut it down entirely.
Truth And Reconciliation has its limitations - Loki refuses point-blank to apologise to Cobra, saying he was
fulfilling his oaths and that Cobalt and Sef should back the hell off. Aurora, for her part, orders an exchange of
members between Cabals in Newcastle and Durham. Much to her displeasure, Symmetry gets her marching
orders and mere days after moving into the lighthouse is told to report to the Palantine's cabalhouse in Barnard
Castle. Her replacement is Hatfield, who seems a little nonplussed but spends the days helping the gang out
with the application to attend the Convocation.
And then it's time for the convocation. The final delegation are the Auric Horizon, Abbot, Cuthbert, Fomalhaut,
Hatfield, Quark, Lux, Key, Breaker and Logos.
Pandora and Ashlar send word that their own Consilium's delegation will be Civitas, Tiresias, Decurion,
Cadacaeus, Ashlar, Pandora and Constantine. Constantine and Abbot, as the two ranking Ladder mages in their
respective home turfs, are Magisters. Tiresias tells them that he will be "Chancellor", the chairman and orderkeeper of the Convocation. He wishes to draw their attention to the post of "Harlequin"; traditionally a Free
Councillor, the Harlequin is charged with entertaining the guests and is allowed to speak out of turn and break
protocol. It was in this capacity that Cognos performed the great wig-burning debacle, which greatly amused
Vidocq, the Parisian Heirarch. Vidocq has learned that the two apprentices of Cognos will be attending and
although he as a Mystagogue has no official say over the proceedings, as host his opinion holds some weight.
And he'd like to see either Cobalt or Sef try it out.
According to Hatfield, Cambridge are sending a couple of people, but he doesn't know if Eddington is among
them. Aside from Paris, the other Consilii attending are Canarvon, Copenhagen and Washington DC.
The day before they're due to leave, Magog finds a postcard at the lighthouse's letterbox.
It's of the Eiffel Tower.
And it's from Cognos.
1.
"...That's the idea. Of course, no Harlequin could be as legendary as the last one" - Gabrielle
"You don't know Cobalt" - Persephone
No, I haven't missed a bit. We honestly started that abruptly - Gabrielle is telling them about Vidocq wanting one of
them as Harlequin.
"I'll see what I can do" - Cobalt
"It'll be hard to do better than the monkey and the flywheel" - Persephone
Gabrielle has met the Durham crowd at the train station - everyone's crowded around like a school tour.
"Welcome to Paris, we hope you enjoy your stay. My name is Gabrielle; I will be your Page for the duration. Here
is my number if you need anything. We will be dividing your group between two different lodgings and taking
you there now. The Auric Horizon plus" (she looks around for recognition) "A Master Quark and a Master Key" Gabrielle, brisk
Quark and Key nod. Gabrielle waves to a bystander - a small, brunette woman with a lit cigarette poking out of
the corner of her mouth. She looks ill and half-starved, with too many pearcings and too few clean clothes.
"Roach here will take you to your safehouse. Enjoy, and I'll see you tomorrow" - Gabrielle
Gabi leads off the remaining Durham mages, and Roach sloaches over.
"Ey up" - Cobalt
"Welcome to Paris, greatest city in the universe. We hope you are terribly impressed with our city and only see
the pretty parts" - Roach, scowling
"You don't sound very enthused" - Samael
"Babysitting foreign dignitaries is such fun" - Roach
I had fun playing Roach, despite my misgivings - note that none of the Broken Diamond *player characters* are
present here, as I didn't think I'd be able to pull off a scene of any length involving, say, Damascus or Wolsey. I reread
the recap of the Bleak House one-off many times during the development of this story and in the end thought Roach
would be much easier to "get" than Hastur, despite Hastur having been vaguely referred to previously in Soul Cage in
easter-egg moments (Cognos told an anecdote about him way back in the prelude and Gabrielle's off-screen boyfriend
referred to in Welcome to the Jungle is assumed to be Hastur). Hopefully, if Andrea reads this, she'll take it as a
compliment.
"We could try to make it more interesting for you - would that help?" - Cobalt
"We're more undignitaries" - Samael
"There's one other person staying at your house. Previous Harlequin" - Roach
"Oooooh YES!" - The Auric Horizon
Quark looks pleased - he *likes* Cognos
"I must ask for safety reasons. How many of you possess knowledge of the Prime Arcanum?" - Roach, flat-toned
Samael raises his hand
"I've met it once or twice" - Samael
There are a few others indicating their proficiency
"For anyone that doesn't, we have these" (hands out what appear to be glasses cases) "you'll need these" Roach
The cases do, in fact, contain sunglasses. Sef looks dubious.
"If anyone is of a nervous disposition or has heart problems..." - Roach
Everyone glances at Quark, who shifts defensively.
"Does anyone has an above-basic grasp of the Death Arcanum?" - Roach
"Yes" - Cobalt
"Please do not speak to the Ghosts in the lodging house as this may produce unusual effects" - Roach
"Oui. Je Suis Ne'pas Anglais, Je suis Eccosese" - Cobalt
Sef giggles
"Gets you much better reactions in this town if you say you're Scottish. The French tend to be xenophobic
where the English are concerned" - Cobalt
"yeah, we're strange like that" - Roach, still flat-deadpan
Roach explains that the lodging house is haunted
"And I'm not to excite the ghosts?" - Cobalt
"The Ghost of the lodging house is the ghost of a former member of the Silver Ladder. Following his death, he
engaged in a five-year campaign of terror wherin he kidnapped people off the street and killed them. He has
since been brought to heel, but we must caution you to not meddle with the bindings" - Roach
Yes, the characters are staying in *that* house.
Faithful Readers, this will make much more sense if you read the "Bleak House" Actual Play, to be found at it's own
thread. It's where Roach is from, and where the house is from.
Go away now and read it. You'll be less confused later.
"It has since been taken over by the Silver Ladder as it is an important ley nexus. Those with the Prime
Arcanum will be able to navigate through the house - the glasses will aid the rest of you. Please don't interfere
with the ley lines or the spells binding the ghost" - Roach
"I think that sounds reasonable. Anyone for gratuitous getting ourselves killed in the otherwise safe location?" Cobalt
"I have a hankering for a death wish" - Samael
"You should have thought of that when the giant Worm was attacking us" - Cobalt
"Missed chances. Missed chances" - Samael
"So. In short - thank you for the warning. We'll endeavour to not aggravate it" - Cobalt
One minibus ride later, they reach a quiet residential street in a wealthy district. There are no McDonald's
around these parts. Roach unlocks the front door and lets them in - for Samael, the interior is brightly lit and
decorated, servants milling around quietly. To everyone wearing the sunglasses Roach passed out, the place is
a salvaged wreck - the carpet torn up to reveal floorboards, modern electrics roughly bolted to the walls, wires
running externally rather than in the dry-wall.
The entire building, Roach explains, is covered by a masterful Phantasm cast by the ghost mage they have
enslaved in the attic - the house appears as it was in life. They themselves, not having a place in the illusion,
are invisible except to Supernal Vision.
"The plumbing works. We even got the blood out of it - the kitchen has been modernised, and the bedrooms in
the back have been redecorated" - Roach
"I'm thinking 4/10 for facilities, 7/10 for fruitiness given the homicidal spectral janitor" - Cobalt
"One of the rooms is wired for the internet" - Roach
"Rocking" - Persephone
"You'll be picked up the day after tomorrow to be taken to the Convocation site. If you wish to access any of the
other Parisian sites, please call your Page. If you wish to see the Shadow Directory you can ask Gabrielle, who
might give you an answer within a week, or you can ask me. There's an entrance to the city catacombs in the
basement. We do request that guests don't go wandering in the tunnels as we share them with a number of
other creatures" - Roach
"Including Barbary Apes?" - Cobalt
"Not any more. Even so, the door is locked and triple-warded, and the local vampire nests have been left under
no illusions about what will happen if they interfere with any of our guests" - Roach
Pre-prepared speech over, she shrugs
"We hope you have a wonderful time" - Roach
She slouches into the kitchen, pulls up a chair and starts reading a thick paperback novel which has had the
cover torn off.
Roach is not very happy to be back here - this house tried to kill her, remember? She wanted the place sterilised, but
the Silver Ladder brought a Moros in to bind Thierry's ghost and use the place as a safehouse.
From the stairs booms a very familiar baritone.
"Excuse me? Miss?" - Cognos
And the players go wild. Seriously - it's like Storytelling an episode of Happy Days in front of a live studio audience.
Cognos and Rodriguez always knock us out of the game for a few moments when they first appear in a story, as the
players cheer.
Sef squees and launches herself at her former mentor
"Ah! Hullo, Persephone... Cobalt! And... The other one!" - Cognos
Samael smiles ruefully
"Good to see you, old man!" - Quark
Cognos beams, and the two old Free Councillers go through an elaborate old-school handshake complete with
nonsensical rhyme and symbolic gestures. Key looks vaguely nauseated in the background.
"I was going to say, miss - we're out of Sherry" - Cognos, cheerfully
Roach gives him A Look
"Don't get up. We'll get to the shops" - Cobalt
"Don't frighten the natives" - Roach
"Us?" - Cobalt, innocently
"Oh, I don't know. I've heard tales of flying cars and portals to Twilight" - Cognos, approving
"Come! We'll tell you all about it!" - Persephone
"It was only flying for a short period of time..." - Samael
While they all sit down to catch up, Key stalks upstairs to steal the second-best room for itself.
...
"I recieved a strange email..." - Cognos
"He hasn't approached YOU, has he?" - Cobalt
Cognos nods, and they change the subject.
"I understand that four members of the Cambridge Consilium are here" - Cognos
"Who?" - Cobalt
"Their Magister is someone called Eddington. There's an Arrow named Hob along for the ride - not sure what his
angle is. The other two I know neither names nor descriptions. Crowley says there's four of them, anyway.
Crowley's an old contact of mine in the Canarvan Consilium, here with their lot. Not as many Libertines as
normal in attendance, actually. Normally we make a big show of it to humiliate Civitas. Paris has always been
more sympathetic to our cause." - Cognos
"But even that's broken down" - Persephone, sadly
"And there's the Signing" - Cognos
"The Signing?" - Samael
"This is where the order was formed" - Cognos
"The Free Council?" - Magog
Quark and Cognos nod. Cobalt already knew this, too.
"Paris was the site of the Great Convocation held at the turn of last century that invited us to join the Diamond.
In fact the treaty itself is here" - Cognos
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" - Persephone
"That it's a perfect opportunity for someone to commit an atrocity?" - Cobalt
"Be warned. Kosciej the Maniac might see the signiatures as a means of making a statement" - Samael
"We'll talk to Vidocq. He's a mystagogue, but a good one - the Heirarch of Paris and Assembly-friendly to the
point that we consider him a Libertine if not a voter. His mentor was the signiatory for the Diamond Orders" Cognos
"How *old* is he?" - Persephone
"He's a Thyrsus - he's older than he looks. But he believes he's living up to the example set by his own master
who - at a time when doing so was not easy - gathered dozens of Consilii here and hammered out the treaty.
Very great man. Killed during the World War. Paris is a city of Liberty and Fraternity; your Mister K will not find
many takers here" - Cognos
"But there are places he will find them?" - Persephone
"Oh yes. I imagine London is well in his pocket by now" - Quark
"I hope Civitas left enough guards on the Censorium" - Persephone, worried
"I try to stay away from the London Delegates, to be honest" - Cognos
"Civitas wasn't impressed with us, either" - Persephone
"We fought someone in St Paul's Cathedral" - Cobalt, by way of explanation
"No no no - he attacked *us*. And we didn't make the hole in the wall" - Persephone
"Samael did clean out the place with the alarms" - Cobalt
"In any case, Vidocq wants to meet you. He probably wants to ask about Kosciej" - Cognos
"Fair call" - Cobalt
"He is an arch-Heirophant in the book club. All *we* care about is that he runs his city fairly. the fact that he's a
Mystagogue is a character flaw..." - Cognos
"It's one we've learned to put up with" (glancing at Samael) "Besides, say it a bit louder. I don't think Key heard
you" - Cobalt
"I said BEING A MYSTAGOGUE IS A CHARACTER FLAW! Daksha freak" - Cognos
"I'm guessing you've made a start on liberating the Sherry?" - Cobalt
Cognos rumbles happily. Roach shudders.
...
The rooms are okay. The Cabal have slept in worse. The evening wears on happily - there is drink, cards and
takeaway. Sef tries to invite Gabrielle via text message, but Gabi claims to be rushed off her feet. The other half
of Durham aren't staying anywhere near as exciting.
"Weve got a ghost in the attic" - Cobalt, texting Hatfield
"Attic? How I long for the pedestrian delights of an attic. Am underground. Somewhere. Send help" - Hatfield
"Cannot send help. Run out of Sherry" - Cobalt, texting back
He puts the phone down
"Ah, bantering with the other delegates, like nothing bad was going on" - Cobalt, grinning at Symmetry
Somehow, despite everyone else in the game abusing Time magic, Cobalt wins.
From below them, the alarm wired up to the basement door rings.
Coming up from below are an entirely better-dressed group, consisting of Pandora, Ashlar and Tiresias
"Good evening" - Tiresias
"Hi" - Pandora
She and Samael hug
"Is that Sherry?" - Ashlar
"It is - it's next to the almost-but-not-quite empty Whiskey bottle. It's a trap; if you empty it, you get to buy the
next one" - Cobalt
Ashlar and Cognos size one another up for a moment, before shrugging and sitting down to the drink.
"You okay?" - Samael, to Pandora
She hesitates for a moment, then nods.
The two Mentors of Cobalt manage to avoid a fight. Cognos gets more and more drunk as the night wears on,
flinging more and more elaborate insults in the direction of Key.
"It is the opening ceremony tomorrow. There are sufficient Moros to run up a costume of any description for
whoever we do pick as harlequin..." - Tiresias
"I'll put a case forward" - Cobalt
"I vote for Cobalt" - Persephone
"For Cobalt?" - Tiresias
"Who else is in the running?" - Samael
"Well.. Vidocq wanted one of Cognos' students" - Tiresias
"You thought Persephone?" - Samael
"I had thought that Cobalt would be.. Forgive me" - Tiresias
"The downside of the Harlequin is that no one takes your comments seriously, so if I have to push an agenda..."
- Cobalt
"And I do. Besides, Cobalt has better one liners" - Persephone
"If you accept the position, that's fine" - Tiresias
"I'll try not to step on your toes or preempt your startling revelations" - Cobalt, to Sef
"Oh, come on. Everyone knows what I'm going to say" - Persephone
"Such are the dangers of Convocation. Today is the day of arrival. Tomorrow is a day off where we can take care
of business - Mystagogues might gain access tot he Shadow Directory" - Ashlar
"The Daimonomicon of Juliet Brown" - Cobalt
"Yes" - Samael
"Vidocq wants to meet you. Specifically" - Ashlar, to Cobalt
"I'm rather interested to meet the guy myself" - Cobalt
"I would appreciate it if you were on good behaviour. Vidocq has the guanxi necessary to completely ruin my
career if he takes a dislike to me" - Ashlar
"I'll be good" - Cobalt
"But you're supposed to use tomorrow to relax. Most people will scurry around the guest houses and do as
many deals beforehand as possible" - Ashlar
"Were we going to?" - Samael
"We could find out what the Cambridge gang are up to" - Symmetry
"And lay the groundwork. Why Echo Walkers are bad, mkay?" - Cobalt
"Then we have the opening ceremony, with much pomp and circumstance. Fortunately there are chairs and Life
spells available to those who wish to fall asleep and not appear so. Then the Day of Silver, which for most is a
half day off but for myself as Chancellor and Cobalt as Harlequin means we get to sit there and listen tot the
Silver Ladder go on and on about their internal policies and what kind of agenda they wish to push. We'll be
sworn to not reveal what goes on" - Tiresias
"Yeah. I've had that before" - Cobalt, darkly
"And then the Days, and last the party. If you can top Cognos' wig incident you'll go down in legend" - Tiresias
"It's a fair cop" - Cognos
"I'll see what I can do" - Cobalt
...
"WAIT!" - Persephone
Everyone freezes.
"We're not in London any more! We can show them Militas' special brew!" - Persephone
"M'dear, is Vulgar magic okay?" - Cobalt, to Roach
"Will it cause the murderous and by now insane through metaphysical torture spirit housed in the attic to slip
his bonds and puppet us through a gore-filled tableau of death?" - Roach
"Try some and you be the judge" - Samael
...
Sef wakes up, head pounding. She thinks briefly that she's having an out-of-body experience before she
remembers the glasses.
-So, just what are we trying to achieve here?- D!Kosciej, sat on the edge of the bed
She pointedly ignores him.
She's been ignoring him ever since Mictlan.
She goes to brush her teeth. The reflection is briefly Kosciej's, which makes her jump.
"Morning Sef!" - Cognos, emerging from the other bathroom.
Cognos cheerfully marches down the corridor and goes into a bedroom. Which is not his own.
Sef glances back at the mirror - herself again - and contemplates the signs of lack of sleep.
1.
Downstairs, Roach is frying terrible things.
Cobalt and Symmetry emerge.
"Hey" - Persephone
"Could have done with a earlier evening" - Cobalt
One by one everyone sidles in. Key has quietly emerged at the top of the stairs when...
"MORNING EVERYONE!" - Cognos, booming happily
Key nearly jumps out of her skin. Sef clutches her head
"Is there BACON?" - Cognos
He Cognoses Roach out of the way and investigates cupboards. It's not so much a shove as a bow-wave of air
in front of him that pushes people to the side.
"Where did the London guys go?" - Persephone
"I think they went back" - Cobalt
"Can't remember" - Magog
"Symm?" - Persephone
"Dunno. It's a bit hazy. Did Samael go back with Pandora?" - Symmetry
Roach shrugs
"I don't know the answer and to be honest even if I did I doubt I could be arsed to answer you. Shall I check the
sofa for beds?" - Cobalt
"SO!" - Cognos
"Very big voice at the moment, Cognos" - Persephone, strained
"Day of meeting up with old friends. Hobnobbing" - Cognos
"You should talk to Civitas" - Persephone
"No, no. I'm off to see the Canaervan gang. Crowley and Brunel and company. Have fun with the Hierarch" Cognos
"I thought you were going to introduce us?" - Persephone
"At the Convocation. Today's a day off. Bit odd to start business with a day off. Awfully civilised, but then they
are French" - Cognos
He happily rolls out, slapping Key good-naturedly on the rear as he passes.
Sef realises whose room Cognos was in, and immediately has several mental images she wishes she didn't
have.
...
Samael asks Roach if he and Pandora can get access to the Shadow Directory. Cobalt has Vidocq to meet.
"I want to go see Eddington" - Persephone
"We'll come with, just in case any of the other Cambridge delegates start something" - Symmetry
"I'll get my stick" - Magog
"The stick would be appreciated" - Persephone
"Take good care of both of them, okay?" - Cobalt, to Symmetry
Symmetry conveys, through subtleties of eye-rolling, that she considers herself to be the designated adult in
that particular trio.
It's weird getting used to Symmetry and Magog being members of the Cabal. I mean, they were present all the way
through last story as well, but now I have to think of where they are and what they're doing during more sandboxey
scenes like these.
...
The London Aetheneum - Tiresias' Library - looks like a gentleman's club, all dark wood, brass and old leather
armchairs. The Shadow Directory looks like a church catacomb. Everything is bare stone and candles. The
Proximii servants are all wearing monk's habits.
Foreboding is the word.
The books themselves are in climate-controlled cabinets inserted in the wall spaces, the curious merger of
modern technology and ancient dungeoneering. Pandora and Tiresias let Samael have first pick of what to
request from the archivist who accompanies them at all times. Whose name turns out to be Richeliu
He requests the Daemononicon of Juliet Brown.
"Sir, that is an active text that attempts to ensorcell those that read it" - Richeliu
"I know" - Samael
"If you believe yourself protected, then under the Convocation charter I am obliged to show it to you" - Richeliu
"Master, can you provide mental shielding?" - Samael
"Probably for the best" - Tiresias, nodding and casting.
And the book is brought out. It's smaller than Samael thought, looking quite fragile.
Richeliu presents Samael with a ledger of everyone who has checked the book in or out. Casting his eye up the
list, he spots Chayot's sigil and that of Porthos (the Echo Walker formerly known as Michael) who looked at it a
year ago. Also Civitas.
Samael draws his sigil and reaches for the Daemononicon. The triggered spell fizzles against the mental shield.
Samael's Attainments quickly bring up the fact that Juliet was utterly deranged when she wrote the book.
The story of how Brown was recruited. Pictures of her impressions of the Ones Before. He also notes that the
author believed Adam Goode wasn't the first Echo Walker; she thought others had tried to contact the Ones
Before. Fairly early on, though, it descends into meaningless lists of angels organised into choirs.
It does mention that the Echo Walkers used to gather in a particular church in Virginia, built by one of their
number as a base of operations. He notes the descriptions of where the book says it is.
Brown appeared to believe that the Ones Before were trapped within people during the creation of the
Omphalamos. She intended to mount an expedition to the Astral and try to tunnel through the Boundary stone,
allowing the Anima Mundi and Temenos to link again.
"I think I'm done" - Samael
Tiresias looks for music - the score to a banned opera, which has strange mental effects on those that listen. He
offers the curators a cursed violin in exchange.
Pandora is thinking ahead, to the mission to find the shards of the Star Ladder. She asks for them to be shown
to where the Directory keep their archeomantic records, so that she can begin the search for an as-yet
unexplored site.
In the chamber they're shown to, sat at a bench with a pile of manuscripts, notebooks, tomes and bound
collections on the low table in front of her, is a harsh-faced woman with short, spikey hair who isn't dressed like
a local. And is wearing sunglasses indoors.
She nods without looking. Tiresias nods back - also without looking. Samael's Attainment tells him that she and
Tiresias have the same condition; they're both blind and using magic to compensate.
Cxaxa!
For the three or four of you that haven't read Broken Diamond, this is Cxaxa, real name Amanda Foster, the ex-wife of
one of the previous Chronicle's player characters. Hers is a long and odd story. To summarise; she's the reincarnation
of an ancient Silver Ladder sorceress-queen of one of the post-Atlantis barbarian nations, who by never-explained
means (the means, in fact, will be explained in Story Eight of Soul Cage) divided herself upon death - her soul
reincarnating down the female line of descent, her knowledge held in a pair of stone eyes and her power in a swarm of
magical flies bound into a glass heart. Amanda, possessed by her prehistoric self, tore her own eyes out and installed
the stone "Eys of Salt" that are visible when she takes the glasses off. The Broken Diamond cabal destroyed the Heart
of Flies before she could perform a heart transplant on herself, banishing the possessing intelligence.
She spent the rest of Broken Diamond wrestling with it - her own mutilation, her husband blaming both her and himself
for allowing it to go that far and, in darker moments, her anger at the cabal for denying her the fulfillment of her
purpose. She ended up joining the Guardians of the Veil and played up her estrangement to her husband as part of an
attempt to be "recruited" by the Seers - that didn't work out, but she'd already burnt her bridges and they divorced.
Pandora starts looking through shelves.
"This will be slow. The trouble is; if there were records anywhere, peple will have already gone over them and
found anything. Short of paying attention and getting in on expeditions I'm not sure what we can do. I'm
guessing we don't have time to let Archaeomancy to take it's course" - Pandora
"Sooner rather than later would be good" - Samael
"What is it you're looking for?" - Cxaxa
"A lead. We need something for a matter of great significance, with a time limit imposed by a horrific entity" Samael
"Without a lead..." (puts a book back) "We're wasting our time. We can always come back" - Pandora
Samael opens his Attainment. Cxaxa has a connection to whatever it is she's reading, as though it was about
her.
He glances at the book. It looks like an account of an ancient civilisation.
"To be more specific, we're looking for something from a post-Atlantic society. Pieces of the celestial ladder" Samael
"Good luck with that" - Cxaxa
She gets up, closing her book. She nods to Tiresias and marches out.
Samael picks up the book. It describes archaeomantic ruins found in North Africa and the Arabian subcontinent.
A few dig reports of identified Temples. Lists of finds. A chapter on the idea that the Sahara was once a forest,
settled by Atlantean refugees before it was consumed by sand. Ancient Cimmeria. That sort of thing.
The woman was looking at a section on the "demon queen Queraphis", who ruled by a combination of
Atlantean artefacts and the summoning of entities from Pandemonium.
This is lead-in for next Story.
...
Persephone, Magog and Symmetry are sat in a private taxi, on their way to the Cambridge delegation.
-Are you sure this is a good idea?- D!Kosciej
She ignores him in favour of asking Symmetry where they should go after meeting Eddington
"The Louvre? The Tower? The American Embassy?" - Persephone
Which, Da Vinci Code to the contrary, is next door to the Louvre. How Tom Hanks managed to have a car chase
between them I'll never know.
"Moulin Rouge?" - Persephone
"Really?" - Symmetry, raising an eyebrow
"I always wanted to know if it was like the movies and, you know, Time magic" - Persephone
"Awesome" - Magog, neutrally
Magog has as many Awesomes as the Todd has High-Fives. It's all in the tone of voice
"What?" - Persephone
"Hey - no. I just want it on record before we meet back with the guys that going to the Red light district was the
girls' idea." - Magog
"We don't have to go" - Persephone
"I'm all in favour. I just want it in writing" - Magog
"I... I don't want to go any more" - Persephone
Their guide - an American Mage with the Shadow name of "George" who moved to France several years ago - is
telling them a very tall tale about the adventures he's had, reminding Sef of early Magog. He had a run-in with
the Knights Templar down that street, solved murders...
They pull up by a town house
"And this is where they're staying" - George
Ever played the Broken Sword games?
Sef looks at Symm and Magog, then opens the door.
"Visitors for you from Durham, which I gather is in England. Or Scotland" - George, announcing
The first mage to come to see who it is is Eddington. There are three other people - a woman and two men.
"We weren't expecting anyone?" - Eddington
The woman is middle-aged, red haired and attempting fashion. One of the other gentlemen is African, wearing
a suit. The other is a large man, powerfully built. He and Magog size one another up.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Eddington. These are my colleagues Mnemsis" (gestures at the woman)
"Usher and Hob" - Eddington
"Persephone. These are Symmetry and Magog" - Persephone
"...Ah" - Eddington
"My friend Hatfield should have already been in touch" - Persephone
"That would be your Sentinal up there?" - Eddington
She nods
"He contacted me. Mentioned that you might be coming" - Eddington
He looks at his colleagues
"Can we speak somewhere more privately?" - Persephone
"I see no reason why not" - Eddington
She nods to Symmetry and Magog, who stay downstairs with the Cambridge trio. Upstairs, Eddington pulls her
a chair
"Now, then, miss. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" - Eddington
"I'm Hades' girlfriend" - Persephone
"Yes, I know" - Eddington
"You know?" - Persephone
"Word of your exploits. Something about a car? Has reached Cambridge. It is publically understood that our
Heirarch was attempting to prevent... The official record is that our Heirarch was attempting to prevent the
Liche and Terrorist Kosciej from escaping. That Hades betrayed his order and went against Solemn's wishes was
the error that allowed Kosciej to use you. That you refused to go to Cambridge to allow Solemn to have the
demon dealt with is the error that allowed him to escape. He is now at large." (sees her face) "This is what I've
been told to say at the Convocation" - Eddington
"You know it's bullshit, right?" - Persephone
"It lies with the Truth" - Eddington
"It fucked the truth once, maybe, but she didn't phone again" - Persephone
"What a delightful turn of phrase. Hades did disobey orders and allowed Kosciej to escape. If you had gone to
Cambridge the Liche's escape would have been prevented" - Eddington
"At the cost of my life" - Persephone
"I believe my leigemen, faced with such a potent adversary, would consider that a fair trade" - Eddington
"... Do you want to speak to him?" - Persephone
"To Kosciej? I have nothing to say to him" - Eddington
"No. To Hades. He's still... Alive. Maybe. His mind is in Mictlan" - Persephone
"He survived having his body stolen? That must be terrible... I can't imagine what he's going through" Eddington
"He's blaming himself" - Persephone
Eddington sits down, heavily, and suddenly looks much older
"It seems the fashionable thing to do. The Guardians are blaming him. I am instructed to tell you that this is
your own fault, and that we will look to our own defence against the creature the pair of you have spawned
rather than assist you" - Eddington
"None of it would have happened if Solemn wasn't a Logophage" - Persephone
Eddington sits back
"Ah. But can you prove it?" - Eddington
"The proof lies in Mictlan. Or it did" - Persephone
"Because if you do have evidence that proves it, I would dearly love it. But until then we must deal with the
hands we're given. I understand your cabal is already going to be throwing one accusation of Left-Handedness
around. Unfortunately, the pair of you must bear the brunt of this. Catherine - I know you didn't meanto be
involved in this, and I'm sure that Hades is terribly sorry for dragging you into it" - Eddington
"Tell me about it" - Persephone
"I only have so much room to move. If I see an opportunity to redress what's happened then I'll take it. For now
we're just waiting for Kosciej to kill somebody. At the moment a Liche is on the loose - fine. As soon as Kosciej
proves that Solemn was right to keep him imprisoned... Let's hope it isn't during the convocation" - Eddington
"Then what?" - Persephone
"My colleagues downstairs will call for the rest of the Parliament of the Needle to be brought to book. And
declare you Left-Handed" - Eddington
"Don't worry. I have that covered" - Persephone
"I do hope so" - Eddington
She pushes her mind into Mictlan. Sees the ruins, tries not to dwell on them. Finds him there.
-Do you want me to give him a message?- - Persephone
-We're not giving up until we can fix this. Although I don't know how we're going to fix it- - Hades
-Angst later- - Persephone
She repeats that to Eddington.
"It is good to finally meet you" (glances downstairs) "now GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" - Eddington
She stands and smiles
"WE'LL MEET AGAIN!" - Persephone
She stomps down the stairs, throwing a glare at Hob.
They exit. Magog slams the door.
"That went well, then" - George
"... Yeah" - Persephone
...
Meanwhile, Cobalt is at the Convocation chamber. It's near the river, sunlit. The benches are set out - it doesn't
look especially comfortable. The various treasures of the Consilium are on show, behind layers of wards.
Napolean's flag. The Spear of Longinius.
"Is this genuine?" - Cobalt
The Sphinx's nose. An Egyptian sarcophagus that depicts no human form. It looks like a space alien, and has
High Speech runes in the pattern.
And lastly, the Declaration of Naming. Opened inside its case to the signing page where Master Razi has signed
for the Free Council and Master Xanth of the Pentacle.
Because Vidocq is a man who knows his symbolism, he meets Cobalt in front of it.
"Master Williams... I apologize, Disciple Williams" - Vidocq, correcting himself
Vidocq is turning bald, but still lean. Good suit.
"I don't stand on ceremony" - Cobalt
They shake hands, friendly.
"I am pleased to meet you at last. We have been following your career with interest" - Vidocq
"That's both reassuring and strangely worrying" - Cobalt
"At first, it was because it was unique. That the great Cognos from one of his students should produce a peacemaker and parliamentarian" - Vidocq
"I think... I have never heard it said of Cognos that he did not mean well" - Cobalt
"Many men mean well. My opposite numbers in London - both of them - speak less highly of you" - Vidocq
"The flaming car or the fight in Saint Pauls?" - Cobalt
"That would be Civitas. Cadacaeus was more concerned about a duel" - Vidocq
"I took offence at his actions" - Cobalt
"That speaks highly of you" - Vidocq
Cobalt laughs
"I have read your recent polemics and calls to arms on the Free Council net - of which I am a member. I
consider myself to be a friend of the Free Council. So... Who is this Kosciej? And what does he want?" - Vidocq
"Kosciej the Deathless was one of the more active..." - Cobalt
"Yes, I've read the books. His signature is even in here" - Vidocq, waving at the treaty
"Kosciej.. I have trouble. I do not wish to reach for the explanation that he's mad. But if he were merely so
afraid of his own death with such a paranoic intensity that he would steal the body of another, it seems illogical
that he would try to start a war" - Cobalt
"And yet here he is agitating. Therefore he's up to something else" - Vidocq
"Worst case scenario is that he's after getting enough hot-heads together to attack an Aetheneum and
distribute its goods as trophies of war and somehow fragment the Free Council from the Diamond. I don't know
why he would want to do that, unless he had a very personal vendetta or grudge. Or madness." - Cobalt
"Do you know very many powerful Mastigos?" - Vidocq
"I know one" - Cobalt
"You may have noticed that after a certain point, they stop thinking quite on the same level, such as a man
playing chess twenty moves ahead" - Vidocq
"So it's not necessarily what he wants now, but what outcome he wants from that?" - Cobalt
"Yes. We have experienced some pullback of the Assembly. Yes, even here. I can only imagine what it is like for
the Libertines living under Civitas' yoke" - Vidocq
"He's not the most tolerant individual" - Cobalt
"And that may come to bite him" - Vidocq
"There are indications that Kosciej may be hiding under a mask" - Cobalt
"It might be, then, that the war is less Kosciej's end and more his payment to his allies" - Vidocq
"Hm. But what does he get in return? Aside from a body. A following. Something - perhaps something physical"
- Cobalt
"Perhaps. Think on it. If you have any thoughts over the Convocation let me know. I understand that you have
been appointed Harlequin" - Vidocq
Cobalt nods
"In the which case you have an excellent stance from which to view the reactions of the Delegates. I will be
interested to compare notes" - Vidocq
"Yes" - Cobalt
"I am pleased to meet you, young man" - Vidocq
1.
That evening, everyone reconvenes. Even Gabrielle, who has managed to find time away from looking after
delegates.
"How did bearding the lion in his den go?" - Cobalt
"Oh, it was great. I stared off some Cambridge Arrow and Sef had a shouting match with the old guy" - Magog
"So not the best result" - Cobalt
"It's a secret" - Persephone, conspiratorially
"Ahhh. Should have realised" - Cobalt
Sef sees D!Kosciej gesturing behind Cobalt's back, and ignores him
"In short - it's all our fault" - Persephone
"Define 'our'" - Cobalt
"My fault. Hades defied Solemn and I didn't go to get cured. If only I had everything would have been fine" Persephone
"Except for you. But there are a lot of people that give a stuff about Kosciej, but not about you" - Cobalt
"Mages can be pragmatic in large numbers" - Key
"You'd think they would be more interested in saving their lives" - Persephone
"At present, your life is measured against Kosciej's zero casualties. As soon as he begins slaughtering people..."
- Key
"No offense, Key, but we've had one casualty. Cicero" - Cobalt
"More to the point, we have a problem with mass hypocrisy" - Samael
"Have you met many humans?" - Key, sniffing
"If we were to punish any group that produced a dangerous madman, the orders themselves would not exist" Samael
"Samael, if there is anything that my career has taught me it's that no one does hypocrisy quite like the
Awakened" - Key
"Exactly, and we can throw that in their faces. Any action against the Parliament would be throwing their toys
out of the pram" - Samael
"Besides, who are they going to punish? A frightened Disciple and a comatose old lady?" - Magog
"You'd be surprised the amount of stupidity that can be directed towards comatose old ladies. No, no - it'd be
too easy to get it banned and it would serve Solemn's interests if the entire Parliament were declared Left" Cobalt
"Logophage" - Key, disgusted
"Using Kosciej to prove the Parliament Left-Handed is a stretch. His actions are the actions of a sociopath, and
the most dastardly of his acts have nothing to do with his attainments" - Samael
"In fact, his actions have hurt them most of all" - Cobalt
"Could we push for that, then, before Solemn gets the chance? Kosciej's greatest victims are the parliament" Key
"Could we persue some kind of call of vengeance from the parliament against him?" - Samael
"That would escalate things" - Cobalt
"But it would keep Sef safe" - Gabrielle
"We just want to not be held responsible for his actions. His region is closedl it's not available to us, as if he
didn't exist" - Persephone
"The problem is that he's still in the Legacy, and he could still stock it with new recruits. There will be some who
might argue that destroying the parliament would destroy him" - Samael
Sef looks to Gabrielle
"Filing a greivence from the parliament against Kosciej, naming him as a runaway, would at least put that
distance on record. Not declaring him anathema, but demanding he turn up to explain himself" - Gabrielle
"Sounds like an approach" - Cobalt
"What can we do, though, to distance ourselves from what he might do in the future? How can we stop him
from filling Mictlan with his own followers?" - Persephone
"At the Convocation our options are limited" - Samael
"Can we renounce him from our Legacy?" - Persephone
"That's impossible, but you can expel him from your group in political terms" - Gabrielle
"I think there's a practical argument as well. Potentially, Mictlan is a second front - something else he would
have to concentrate on if he were brought to bear. Any attack on him would be far more dangerous if he were
forced to divide hgis attention, if you and the Cousins faced him while he was pressed in the physical world as
well" - Cobalt
"He's a Master, he can do that easily" - Persephone
"He only has one set of resources. He may be a Mastigos, but he can't split his magic" - Samael
"We're talking about legal stuff here" - Persephone
"We'll demand that he makes an appearance to..." - Gabrielle
"Be wary of any demands that would be met by his arrival. I've only have brief interactions with the man; I
don't know how eloquent a public speaker he is, but there's always the worrying option of him actually turning
up and making a persuasive argument. The other way to distance yourselves is to get to speak first" - Samael
"You could acknowledge his... This is a bit off, and I apologize to your boyfriend if he can hear this, but you
could acknowledge his desire to leave your collective and say that he is entitled to do so, but demand that he
return the group's property. Including the body he's in" - Gabrielle
"Hades does have a fairly good legal claim to his own body" - Samael
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law" - Cobalt
"I like how we can laugh about this sort of thing. Makes me feel all tingly inside" - Magog
"There was interesting speculation today, when talking to the Heirarch. What's in it for Kosciej? When we spoke
to him he said something about the Underworld.. Being trapped there. Essentially, that would never happen to
him; he would never die as long as he continued hopping bodies. So why isn't he just lying low? Why risk
everything for a war?" - Cobalt
Cobalt is very wise. Operation: So-balls-out-awesome-it-made-Djehuty-defect is still in its preparation stages. What
could he be up to?
"Power?" - Samael
"Agreed. But not magical power at this stage" - Key
"I believe the war is his payment - he needs the Precedent for something, and they want the war" - Cobalt
"Maybe. Think of the ramifications of this conflict. It will secure resources for him to pay off followers. There's a
second strata of consequences. The Pentacle and Nameless aren't alone in this universe, and conflict would be
noticed. It's possible that Kosciej's too mad to think about this, but he might end up getting killed by Seers" Samael
"There are two ways to leave this world. Dying and Ascension. He didn't manage to Ascend last time" - Cobalt
"You think this is an Ascension gambit?" - Samael
"Could be some kind of temporal power he thinks he knows how to achieve through the various lorehouses,
censoria and aethenea he's raided. Maybe he's looking for the Head of Vecna" - Cobalt
"He said he needed the Ankh. He might give it back when he's done with it" - Symmetry
"So it's to do with Souls" - Samael
"If anyone knows about the manipulation of souls, it's Kosciej" - Cobalt
"So... Do we have a plan to legally deal with this?" - Persephone
"We formally make him an outcast" - Samael
"So if he does something stupid like kill hundreds of people we won't get blamed for it?" - Persephone,
hopefully
"The convocation can give advice to member Consilii. Solemn is within his rights as a Hierarch to simply ignore
it. If we put in the minutes that the Convocation declares the parliament is not responsible for Kosciej, it gets
sent out to the member cities and entered into their Lex Magica. IF they agree" - Gabrielle
"Our legal system simply doesn't have a real authority over Hierarchs" - Samael
"And even if a local Consilium accepts the advice, if he does something and you guys meet a survivor? A cabal
of Guardians that have had their family killed? They're going to blame you" - Gabrielle
"That's why we need to stop this before it gets that far" - Cobalt
"Let's call it a night" - Samael
"At least you guys get a half-day tomorrow" - Cobalt
"You get to listen to the Silver Ladder" - Symmetry
"Listen carefully. There may be rumblings" - Samael
...
The next morning, the Cabal and cohort get ready for the Convocation. Cobalt is not impressed by courtly dress
for the Wise.
"Is that a bathrobe?" - Cobalt
The good news is that as non-ladder mages, they don't have the most ridiculous getups. But they're not exactly
scott free. The dress code requires all participants at the opening ceremony to dress in the sympathetic
colours, fabrics and gemstones of their Path, have some kind of representation of their order worked into their
regalia and - if applicable - a symbolic reference to their Legacy.
Magog is extremely grateful that Moros get grey linin. Cobalt is even more grateful that as Harlequin he gets to
ignore all of this and dress as a pirate.
He's not joking. Cobalt really is going dressed as a pirate. Arr!
"Don't forget, man; the food of the Moros is the Vegetable" - Samael, handing Magog a very symbolic potato.
"How are we supposed to take this seriously when we're all wearing stupid clothes?" - Persephone
"It's not stupid, it's symbolic. It's pagentry, and being the best stupidly-dressed people we can" - Cobalt,
adjusting his eyepatch.
Cognos appears to be wearing a tent. Samael has piled on the stained glass jewellry and put coloured glass
covers on one of his notebooks. Sef is wearing silver jewellry in a blocky aztec style. She's got brambles and
vines entwined into her hair. Cobalt has grey trousers, black shiny boots with buckles, a flouncy shirt, a tricorn
hat plus feather, an obviously fake plastic hook hand and a cutless.
Symmetry reviews the Thyrsus dress code with a sinking feeling.
"Can I get away with being Cobalt's wench?" - Symmetry
"You can get away with mostly brown. And a bit of fur" - Persephone
...
Once they arrive at the Convocation Hall through the catacombs, though, they soon realise they have
competition in the uncomfortable stakes. Key in particular is fuming - it carefully designed its costume to be
alluring and symbolic and spent hours on its hairdo. Only to find that there's another Daksha at the
Convocation with an even more fabulously revealing outfit, to whom everyone is paying more attention than
they are to Key.
"Upstaged by your own freakish kind" - Samael, very quietly
Chris: Wow, the daksha-freak comments sound much harsher here than they did during the game. Truthfully, while the
daksha element of Key weirds the cabal out a bit, he/she has proven a pretty decent person, all things considered, and
Samael at least feels no particular hostility to the lorekeeper.
The problem is the whole Daksha racial superiority thing; the Legacy's beliefs are not very nice...
"The dangers on relying on your uniqueness" - Cobalt
It quickly becomes apparant that the other Daksha is Welsh, from the Canarvan Consilium.
[color=blue]Canarvan - the south Wales consilium covering Cardiff and Newport all the way up to the English border is the second-largest Conslium in the UK according to Shadows of the UK, and is the Consilium the mystagogue
signiature character of Mage is from.
The hall is packed with people of all manner of shapes, sizes and skin colours. The Guardians of the Veil all
wear masks, ranging from a simple blindfold on the part of the scary woman Samael met to large full helmets
cast int he shape of demons.
Persephone spots Eddington in the crowd, wearing the regalia of a University don.
Pandora has gone Greek. Ashlar has gone Incan. Cognos is wearing Wizzards Robes, covered in stars and
moons and topped in a pointy hat.
Everyone else is going for symbols. Cognos turns up dressed as a wizard
Hatfield has a crook and mieter.
"Hello everyone! Nice trousers, Cobalt!" - Hatfield
"Arr" - Cobalt
"You don't have to say Arr all the time, dear" - Symmetry
Civitas is in the purple toga of a Roman Senator.
"Guys - over there!" - Persephone, pointing
Olympus - the Danish mage they met in the Astral - waves from across the hall. The Auric Horizon wave back.
"Hello again" - Olympus
"You made it!" - Persephone
"Of course" - Olympus
"How was your trip?" - Persephone
"Illuminating. And you - did you find what you were looking for?" - Olympus
"We did" - Persephone
"No swimming in the Abyss?" - Olympus
"No" - Samael
"Good" (glances at the front) "I think Vidocq is about to start" - Olympus
They cram into the seats. Most of the Auric Horizon sit together with Gabrielle, her gaunt boyfriend and
Hatfield.
Cobalt, though, sits next to Civitas. Who frowns.
Cobalt gives him a cheery grin.
Vidocq welcomes everyone, members of many cabals and consilii - some of whom weren't even invited! He
goes over some procedural points, and then begins naming officers of the Convocation. As he lists Magisters,
Cobalt begins to lead the crowd in golf-clapping. Abbott is the Durham Magister - he, Cuthbert and Hatfield are
all dressed as Bishops. Abbott's hat is taller.
The Magisters all receive, from a Page, short robes over the top of the costumes they're already wearing. They
sign their sigils into the records of the Consilium.
"And now, in order to commemorate the occasion, I will read the list of attendees" - Tiresias, in his role as
master of ceremonies.
He pauses
"Each of you will recieve a coin minted in honor of this gathering. Harlequin, if you could assist me in
distributing the booty?" - Tiresias
"Yarr!" - Cobalt, hefting a small chest filled with coins
"From Durham; Hatfield, Abbott, Cobalt, Cuthbert, Samael, Persephone, Symmetry, Magog, Fomalhaut, Lux,
Key, Breaker and Logos. From London, Civitas..." - Tiresias
Cobalt hands Civitas his coin. Decurion begins furiously castiing Mage Sight spells.
"... Decurion, Constantine, Cadaceaus, Tiresias, Pandora, Ashlar. From Paris; Vidocq, Emil, Franseque, Hastur,
Roach, Gabrielle, Richeleu, Pascal, Germaine, Gaul, Jean, George. From Cambridge, Eddington, Mnemsis, Hob,
Usher. From Washington DC, all the way across the Atlantic, we are joined by Banneker, Mycroft, Ebony and
Cxaxa. From Copenhagan, Olympus. From Canarvan; Morvran, Crowley, Exodite" (the Daksha) "Brunel, Escher,
Nimue, Cinder, Cup. From elsewhere, Cognos... And Orchid" - Tiresias
"HI GUYS!" - Orchid
Morvran is from the Mage corebook. Nimue will turn up in the GenCon game. Orchid is the longest-away of our
reoccurring characters - she was in Welcome to the Jungle and hasn't been seen since, as she's from the San Diego
Consilium. Good to see her here, though.
"Yarr! Have yer booty, lass!" - Cobalt
Orchid and Sef hug. The american Thyrsus looks... Older. More grown-up.
Tiresias frowns, and has a brief whispered conversation with Vidocq.
"...And the Gentleman from the Guy Fawkes Precedent" - Tiresias, distrustful
The last newcomer is indeed wearing one of the enchanted Guy Fawkes masks of the London Libertines. The
Auric Horizon immediately raise their Mage Sights, but can't penetrate the mask's spell with any clarity.
There is much hubbubing. Some of the Guardians are protesting that only they have the right to wear masks,
and even then are recognised by their Shadow Names.
"I demand that you introduce yourself!" - Fransesque
"I am a man of wealth" (bows) "...And taste" - Guy Fawkes Precedent
Cobalt strolls over and slaps a coin into the masked figure's hand
"Ah. The King's Shilling" - G.F.P.
The LIbertine sits next to the Auric Horizon
"We Libertines need to stick together" - G.F.P.
Samael and Pandora exchange dark looks.
"Yes. Uh. Viva La Revolution" - Samael
Civitas seems most distracted by the Precedent's appearance, and is simmering with rage.
Vidocq's speech concluded, Tiresias announces that there will now be a break, during which delegates can
change into more comfortable clothing. Except for the Silver Ladder, who are going to have a closed session
just among themselves.
"Any Convocation officials are welcome to stay, but will be oathbound to not reveal the inner workings of the
Silver Ladder. They do ask the Harlequin to suspend his right to interrupt, as the sooner they get through their
agenda the better" - Tiresias
"As you wish" - Cobalt
Everyone starts getting up and milling towards the exit.
"I have messages to deliver. To the Lady Persephone, compliments and regrets" - G.F.P.
"About what?" - Persephone
"To Master Civitas, a promise of things to come. And to Master Hob, my deepest condolences" - G.F.P.
Once everyone leaves, the Silver Ladder becomes rather informal among themselves. They talk about the
opportunity presented by this larger-than-normal Convocation. Top of the agenda is the Free Council, and what
to do about them.
Cobalt is impressed when Abbott - who he hardly knows, despite Abbott being the one who arrested Bede -
says that recent experience in Durham shows that you can't allow divisions to fester. He proposes some kind of
gesture to show that the Pentacle - all five orders - remains strongly allied. Constantine says that Civitas would
never sign off on it, which Emil describes as Civitas' own problem to get over.
Olympus suggests that what really binds a community together is an enemy to face. Some kind of Pentacle
victory would go a long way. Emil asks if he suggests manufacturing a victory, but Olympus says no - there are
enough targets. The Seers are too easy, and not in the public mind. Eddington suggests the Nameless, but the
others are leery of splitting the Free Council.
The impression Cobalt gets is that they're deeply concerned about the Libertines. The Ladder is also clearly not
in charge - they're seen as stereotypically being "in charge", but none of the Hierarchs involved are from their
ranks. Towards the end of the session, they talk about how Constantine might depose Civitas.
"And your own Hierarch" - Abbott
"Unfortunately, there is still no proof" - Eddington
"What about the Echo Walkers? They're an easy victory" - Abbott
"They're potent as individuals, but quite evil" - Cobalt
"Yes. If we can't manage declarations against the important foes, then condemn the Echo Walkers. Frankly,
they've had it coming and... Well, a Hunt for the Left Handed is always a good unifier and distraction" Constantine
"Like the Tremere?" - Olympus
"Yes" - Constantine
The hours grow on as the Ladder swap Lex Magica notes. Eventually, they ajourn for the night. Cobalt and
Tiresias wait for the Ladder mages to all leave before packing up.
"Fascinating to see how they do it" - Cobalt
"Consensus is easy when there are only ten of you. Diplomacy is easy when everyone is a king" - Tiresias,
shrewdly
"I've always thought that kings were the most likely to disagree. Reminded me more of a meeting of civil
servants, once all the MPs have left. Sir Humphrey would have fit in wonderfully" - Cobalt
"Interesting hard edge to young Constantine" - Tiresias
"He can see that Civitas' hubris is generating discontent" - Cobalt
"Rex, I can see that Civitas' hubris is generating discontent" - Tiresias, gently
"I think Civitas can, too. Problem is it's hubris" - Cobalt
...
Back at the house of ghosts, Cobalt's return is noted by his comrades
"Going to keep the pirate costume?" - Persephone
"Yeah, but I was right to leave off the eyepatch" - Cobalt
"It would have been too much" - Symmetry
Cobalt asks what's occuring
"Key and Exodite are playing Senet upstairs" - Symmetry
"We haven't heard any rumblings yet, so they're probably just playing" - Persephone
"Well, silly costume day over" - Symmetry
They pause
"A fiver says it's Kosciej" - Magog
A nonsequituer, but he meant the masked man. And the players all immediately got that he meant him
"He knows we wouldn't attack him anyway" - Persephone
"We wouldn't; others might. And we can't be sure that it's him" - Samael
"Until he reveals himself, no. But not revealing himself is not proof that it's Kosciej" - Cobalt
"The Pentacle aren't the only players in the world. The Seers could take exception to a multiple-degree Master
appearing to lead the Free Council. If he comes out of hiding he'll be a target, which is why I don't think the
masked man is him" - Samael
"I think you're forgetting he's mad" - Persephone
"I think you're forgetting how determined he was to not die" - Samael
"He's mad in a specific way..." - Symmetry, agreeing with Samael
"He's a Mastigos... Beyond a certain point, think of him as Deep Blue. Twenty moves ahead and as human as
asphalt. No offence, Quark" - Cobalt
"Oh, I've been known to boost the old grey matter myself. After one reaches a certain threshold of power, that
kind of thing tends to stick until you're no longer entirely human" - Quark
"I don't think it'll be him in person until he absolutely needs it to be" - Samael
"For my own theory; either someone here to take in the views and provoke, in which case it need not be him. It
depends if he's the type to thumb our noses and do the observation himself while laughing at us or if he's the
type to be off doing something important" - Cobalt
"I think that's more likely. Also remember he has no sense of humor" - Samael
"Which means if it IS him he's here for a purpose beyond simple antagonism and rubbing Civitas' face in his
failings as Hierarch" - Cobalt
"He wouldn't be here to just taunt people. He only does things if he has a reason, because of the parts of his
mind he put into Sef" - Symmetry
"Which means if he reveals himself as Kosciej he was here to reveal himself in order to achieve something by
it" - Cobalt
"JUST. AS. PLANNED!" - Symmetry
Pause. And then laughter.
"Sorry. He is kind of Xanatosing us" - Symmetry
"We're guessing that he's guessing that... Yeah. It is an absolute routlette going on" - Cobalt
"Problem isn't that it might be him, but that he might get to speak before I can denounce him" - Persephone
"Your order come last, but that's his order as well. Our order goes first, and I know we're worried about it. The
Arrow are worried about it" - Gabrielle
"I was going to bring it up on the Day of Swords" - Persephone
Key comes down the stairs
"Everyone, there are developments. Master Hob of the Cambridge Consilium has gone home" - Key
"His family?" - Cobalt
"His family have been involved in an accident" - Key, nodding
"And so it begins" - Cobalt
"It may not be related" - Persephone, hopefully
"Certainly, our masked friend has done his best to make it seem related, but it could just be the result of Time
magic. Provocation without actual action. Does Hob have any history we know of with the Libertines?" - Samael
"As far as I can tell he's an Arrow. He's the Sentinal for Cambridge" - Gabrielle
"He's also the security for the Cambridge delegation" - Cobalt
"There are now too few Cambridge mages here to keep in one building. They've been moved to where the
Canarvon mages are based" - Key
"The movement makes me uneasy" - Samael
"That's just the natives making sure we're contained" - Symmetry, nodding to Gabrielle
"They don't want us stirring up trouble with the local enemies. Remember Rio?" - Cobalt
Pandora looks downcast at being reminded of the Seer Cobalt killed in her presence.
"I'll work on my opposite number to..." - Key
Persephone smirks
"If I learn anything else I'll let you know. Forewarned and Forearmed. Stop smirking, Persephone" - Key
"For now, let's be off. Get some rest as tomorrow will contain..." - Samael
"...An awful lot of shouting" - Magog
"Yeah" - Samael
1.
That night, Persephone casts Aurgury to try to find what the main cause of contention will be on the Day of
Swords.
"Will someone make an accusation against me or the parliament tomorrow?" - Persephone
An image forms in her mind of Usher - the Cambridge mage - stood up and pointing at her.
"What is his accusation?" - Persephone
She sees D!Kosciej sat next to her, grinning.
"How will the crowd react?" - Persephone
Cognos looks furious, shouting back.
"Will anyone get hurt because of this?" - Persephone
Cognos and Usher fighting the Duel Arcane.
Fun.
...
Cobalt, for his part, isn't up to Augury. But he can cast Divination.
"Will I see the face behind that mask before Convocation's end?" - Cobalt
No.
Bugger that, he realises. The fact that he knows that will just make him more determined to unmask the
person, changing the future.
Mulling on a Yoda quote, Cobalt goes to bed.
...
The Day of Silver reconvenes with all attendees, not just the Ladder themselves. It's the scheduled spot for
discussing jurisprudence and the processes by which the Awakened govern themselves.
And also, it turns out, for Vidocq to accuse Civitas of heightening the tensions between the Diamond and
Libertines by his practices
"...London is too great a city to be allowed to fall for one man's pride!" - Vidocq
"We know!" - Cobalt
Constantine begins to get heated. The Cabal have a hard time telling if he's heated on Civitas' side or not.
Civitas himself makes a short and blunt statement to the fact that a) he's in charge b) they should shut up and
C) the Free Council have long since proven that they can't be trusted - the entire order, not just the scum he
has to deal with in London.
Abbott mentions the success Durham-Newcastle has had with exchanging members between Cabals as a
means of building a community otu of disperate groups. Olympus agrees with Abbott. Eddington broadly
agrees, but notes his Consilium's concern for security.
Eddington gives Mnemsys the floor.
Basically, the Magisters (Silver Ladder chairs for each Consilium) take it in turns to speak themselves and then allow
one of the audience to speak. In this way, it's hoped that one Consilium won't dominate proceedings
"Thank you, Magister. I have a question for Magister Abbott, regarding this new age of tolerance and justice in
the North. What exactly happened to Archon?" - Mnemsys
Abbott seems slightly flummoxed, before ceding to Hatfield
"Archon was murdered, and the perpetrator banished for the deed despite being held in high regard. While
Archon was held in no regard at all... No regard thanks to the LIES HE HAD BEEN SPOON-FED BY THE HEIRARCH
OF CAMBRIDGE!" - Hatfield
And then it begins.
Decurion testifies that Archon was being sought by the London Consilium. The Welsh Ladder expresses his
puzzlement that this is coming out today rather than the day of justice - as a point of order, this is the improper
time for this discussion.
Samael nods, encourages others to nod.
"Agreed. We are drifting ladies and gentlemen. The Day of Silver, if you please. Would anyone from the floor
care to comment on the Silver Ladder?" - Tiresias
The masked gentleman raises his hand. No Magister looks like he particularly wants to pick him.
Eventually, Constantine grimaces and indicates him.
"On the whole... They're not as bad as the Guardians" - G F P
He sits down again to angry shouting.
"Anyone ELSE?" - Tiresias
More angry shouting
"IN that case.. The Day of Swords" - Tiresias, banging his gavel.
The Day of Swords is where the Admantine Arrow lead participants in a discussion of the dangers facing the
Awakened. The Canarvan Consilium note a strange occurrence wherein a small A-road service station appears
to have been reduced to a smoking crater.
That would be the Rod and Cal roadshow
Abbott talks about the Lambton Worm. The Londoners discuss the Seers of the Throne, who are increasing in
activity of late. In fact, the Arrow as a whole compare notes. As far as they can tell, Hegemony down,
Paternoster and Praetorian up and Panopticon holding steady.
"And we'll be seeing a harsh front of Panopticon blowing in from the west..." - Cobalt
Banneker stands and says that it's no laughing matter - he's seen the terrible damage the Seers of the Throne
can do.
Chris: And so will we, now that the book is out!
"Furthermore. My city has no inter-order problems; the Libertines are fully integrated. I don't understand how
your European orders can still be so divided" - Banneker
Vampires and Werewolves are discussed, various monsters and grubblies. And then threats from within the
Awakened.
There have been a spate of attacks against Guardians that look, at first glance, like Banisher attacks but seem
too well trained. The implication being that it's the Free Council.
"And we haven't had a concerted effort to clean our own houses since the Cambridge purge of the Tremere.
Does anyone have any examples of the Left-Handed?" - Abbott
Samael sticks his hand up.
Cobalt looms behind Usher.
Olympus, next up, picks Samael. Samael lays out the facts behind the Echo Walkers - their founding, their
goals, how they damage people's souls and the effect that it has. The Daimonomicon. The list of names. Consilii
present at the Convocation and how they've experienced them. He's at pains to point out that being an Echo
Walker is like an addiction.
"They are still out there. They are still a threat" - Samael
Hatfield, Decurion and Civitas all testify. Vidocq says that Porthos has been in town, and that the Paris
Consilium will check for any link between Porthos' free company visiting and the collatoral damage being
described.
"They cause damage wherever they go. There is no merit in the Legacy's propogation" - Samael
"We will table this for a vote at the end of the Day" - Tiresias
Samael sits down all but certain that he has the Echo Walkers in the bag.
Usher takes his turn.
"We all know that there is a division among the Free Council, and that some of that order have chosen to blame
the Diamond for their ills. Last night, the family of one of my colleagues were killed in what appeared to be an
accident. We now know through the use of postcognition that they were killed. We suspect these elements
within the Free Council" - Usher
"Are you going to field that one?" - Cobalt, to the masked gentleman
"Without confirming or denying the gentleman from Cambridge's claims, we acknowledge that yes; there is a
struggle going on. It is not a struggle of our making. Indeed, we have attempted to avoid it for many years. But
it is one which we intend to finish" - G F P
"So... Kosciej the Deathless. What are your thoughts?" - Cobalt
"The Eminent Mister Kosciej" - G F P
"Special K to his friends" - Cobalt
"Unfairly imprisoned by the Guardians of the Veil within a tomb of his own mind. recently freed by the noble
sacrifice of a young Moros, and despite the best efforts of an unfortunately deluded young Acanthus. Do not
mistake this for a movement with a leader; this is the thing you've never understood about us. We don't have a
leader. Kosciej no longer exists. We have no names" - G F P
"How can you be people if you don't have a name?" - Cobalt
"Master Hob's family will be returned to him. As will your Apprentice, master Usher" - G F P
And then he sits, mask still smiling.
"As our masked acquaintance has so adeptly pointed out, Kosciej the Deathless is seeking to melt away. What
the Precedent perhaps don't understand about Kosciej is that he isn't working on the same level as anyone else
any more. He's left a trail of betrayal behind him. He won't melt away and become part of some petty, mindless
vengeance-seeking mob. He betrayed the Parliament of the Needle. People from the founding of the Free
Council, people who worked with him for decades. People who he killed. He's a man who stole a body simply to
continue living. A man who is terrified of Death. None of us can truly know what to expect from him next. Not
even those who try to house him. Certainly not those who would be allies with him - he's left lots of those in his
wake. He's a agent of chaos, who has left Libertines injured or dead behind him. And these masked freaks back
him up and then dare call themselves Free Councillors? This isn't a war between Libertines and the rest of us,
only the cowards and dupes who think he'll aid them in their own lost cause" - Samael
Sef stands and hestiantly explains Mictlan, the Daimon, and how Kosciej was maddened by the sight of the
Underworld. The Welsh Magister confesses that he's having trouble keeping it all straight in his head.
It IS a bit of a convoluted plot.
"Inside this head here" (pointing to Sef) "is a gate to a city! A city where free-thinking minds discuss and share
their ideas, even though most of them are dead. Locked up in the shadow of a Nameless War. But still free to
preserve their knowledge for the next generation, to study the outer realms through eyes unclouded. But in this
cuckoos nest grew a shadowy figure, a man who could not bear the absence of flesh. A dark and sinister
individual who feared his own undoing even though he could have remained there forever. He cast an evil spell
using an Artifact he stole and, in the guise of helping the other orders, he cast his wicked magics and stole the
body of the person he was meant to be healing. The price of this terrible spell left the city in ruins! Boiling off
into the Temenotic regions, like the Hindenberg! So, he jumped ship sinking the ship in the process. He has now
joined up with a collective of bright young thinkers, joining their commune of exchange and ideas... No. Wait.
I've gone back to the beginning again. Does anyone else see this ending badly? No? Maybe it's just me. Suffice
it to say that Kosciej the Deathless... Is a dick. And his greatest victims are the remainder of the Parliament of
the Needle, who he betrayed not only in body, not only in soul but in ideal." - Cobalt
Best speech of the night!
"Does anyone else have anything to say on this subject?" - Tiresias
"Actually, I do. As it is the Day of Swords, I would like to put forward to the Convocation the fact that Kosciej's
Daimon resides in my mind and ask if this can be used to track him" - Persephone
"Is it willing to help?" - Tiresias
"Yes?" - Persephone, hopefully
"We will take any advice you think you can glean from your Oneiros in the context in which it is given" - Tiresias
And at the end of the day, the Echo Walkers are declared Left-Handed. The motion is voted on and passed that
all Consilii must remain vigilant against the threat of the Seers.
As everyone leaves, though, there is an incident.
Decurion, who was getting increasingly incensed by the Guy Fawkes Precedent, confronts the masked man.
"Where do you get off, coming here?" - Decurion, angry
"Don't give him the satisfaction" - Samael
Decurion gathers his pride about him and begins to stalk off. Samael spots him reaching up for the mask a splitsecond before he does it. But he's caught by indecision, until it's too late.
The one and only time I've called for a Wits + Brawl roll
Decurion pulls the mask off. The man grows slightly in height, loses a few pounds of weight and becomes...
...Djehuty
DOG-HOOTER!
1.
"YOU!" - Persephone
"Arr. There is no him. 'tis but a mask" - Cobalt
Samael hands the mask back to Djehuty, who hurridly puts it back on.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here, Djehuty" - Decurion, dangerously
"And you, sir, should look to your defenses" - Djehuty
"So what DO you believe now?" - Samael
"The defeat of Apothis" - Djehuty
Huh?
"Well, I guess you fit in well with Kosciej. You're already learning a lot about betrayal from him" - Samael
Samael's attitude is that Djehuty - a Mystagogue - has no excuse for this shit. He's just a traitor
"I'd slap you, Djehuty, but I might dislodge your mask" - Pandora, icily
"I can't believe this. After everything you already knew about the Parliament and you're still helping him? You're
more deluded than I thought" - Persephone
Djehuty, dejected and rejected, stalks away.
Chris: Naturally, we have now completely reinforced his position as the minion of Kosciej.
Dave2: Functionally, he turned up to laugh at people for the death of their loved ones. He has no altruistic reason.
Chris: He was a Mystagogue. He's only recently Libertine. He's hiding behind the mask not to take responsibility but to
hide from it.
Dave2: For all we know, there's another cock-gobbling prophecy going on
No there isn't. Kosciej has no prophecy to work from - he's less good with Time than Cobalt. He's got a plan, not a Fated
mandate.
...
Back at the house, the speculation is hinging on why Kosciej sent Djehuty of all people.
"Maybe he sent Djehuty just to piss us off" - Samael
"If the Nameless sent Djehuty, it could be on the understanding that if he were unmasked it would be
dangerous to him" - Ashlar
"Like an initiation?" - Samael
"We need to let him know that he's being a dick but leave it there" - Cobalt
"But not do anything else. We have to show we're rising above it" - Samael
"He's being needlessly antagonistic, though. Makes me wonder if that was the intention..." - Samael
Gabrielle enters the kitchen
"Not any more he's not. He left paris" - Gabrielle
"Well.. Good" - Samael
"The other thing he represents..." - Cobalt
Samael and Pandora are getting more and more angry as time goes on; Samael's especial black bug room is
over how Djehuty had the temerity to seem suprised people reacted with hostility.
"...If we unmask him, it's someone we already know works for Kosciej" - Cobalt
"They could well have had no preconception about how we'd react - they just threw him in to see what would
happen, and they think Djehuty can be put to many purposes. Maybe they were testing him" - Cobalt
Yes, that's pretty much it, actually
"Why?" (sighs) "Urgh. Maybe, yeah. Perhaps he'd been harbouring doubts, but he went about it the wrong way
if he was. Mocking Consilii" - Samael
"That mocking tone of voice they all have? That's the mask's glamour. We have no idea what tone of voice he
was using under it" - Ashlar
"What did he say once it was off? What I'm asking is..." - Cobalt
"Is it possible they're controlling what he's saying?" - Persephone
"Penny for the bright lady" - Cobalt
"Yes, yes it is" - Pandora
"We've always thought of those masks as anonymity, security. What if it goes further - a literal hive-mind?" Cobalt
"And when revealed?" - Samael
"All he got from you was rejection" - Cobalt
"He put the mask back on" - Samael
"That's how cults work" - Cobalt
"But when the mask came off he put it back on before the tirades. If it was controlling him, it was his choice.
Besides, the things he said were provocative knowing how the mask translates things out" - Samael
"It is possible to be cordial to people when you're wearing one. We've seen it" - Ashlar
"Maybe he's been kidding himself, thinking he can go back to the Mysterium. Maybe he's only now realising
how serious this is and how people feel about his apostasy" - Samael
"Magog. What's your view? As someone who's left an organisation who tell you only they can understand you?"
- Cobalt
"You want to deprogram Djehuty, or what he's feeling after leaving the Mysterium?" - Magog
"Let's say he was only partially in control with the mask on and was then confronted with all that anger?" Cobalt
"He might have just gone back to the comfort of it, if that's what's going on" - Magog
"It may have pushed him closer to Kosciej" - Samael
"It depends what he's looking for - is he looking for fellowship in the Nameless, an ideal he thinks the
Mystagogues aren't living up to, or is he looking for a boss?" - Magog
"I thought the Mysterium were pretty fellowshippy" - Persephone
"They have a lot of meetings" - Cobalt
"Ultimately, our order is based on your reputation within the order. The network you've built up" - Key
"If Djehuty had decided that his ideals were better met by the Free Council, that would be one thing. He robbed
the Mysterium and he worked with Kosciej. This isn't a man who had a change of heart one day..." - Samael
"Is it possible he's working out of some deluded idea that he's doing the right thing?" - Persephone
Yes
"He knows things. He worked in the Aetheneum. He knows the defences. He was given all the trust of his
position - trust not given lightly" - Samael
"They never gave me that trust. Key has it, I don't, Sam doesn't" - Pandora
"You have to work for that, focus on it" - Samael
"We don't know how long he's been in contact with Kosciej. There are things we can perhaps do, in the future,
to find out, but not now" - Key
The discussion appears to be over
"Ah, Paris" - Symmetry
"I'm honestly just too angry with Djehuty right now to form coherent thoughts. I'm off to bed" - Samael
...
That night, Persephone visits the Eiffel Tower.
-Did you know, that if you drop a penny off this thing...- - D!Kosciej
...It would go splat on the pavement. And not kill anyone.
He looks at her.
-So you finally came to your senses?- - D!Kosciej
"Don't think I've forgiven you. I just can't afford to ignore you" - Persephone
-I'm sure in time, Catherine, our working relationship can be improved- - D!Kosciej
"You've made my life a living hell for half a year. I hate you, and I will find a way to make you miserable in
return" - Persephone, pleasantly.
-And yet you need me- - D!Kosciej, proud
-You can say it- - D!Kosciej
"I don't technically need you" - Persephone
-No? I'm sure you can figure out my former host's plans all by yourself- - D!Kosciej
"People don't often contact Daimons to get intelligence, and yet they live. But there are people who wish to
know your opinion" - Persephone
-So what you're saying is, to be succinct... That you need me?- - D!Kosciej
She sighs, deeply
"Yes" - Persephone
-Apology accepted- - D!Kosciej
"I know you're not doing this because you care about the people who are getting hurt but just because you're
miffed he left you" - Persephone
-I want revenge. He didn't just leave me, he tried to kill me. And to be honest - and you can be honest with us you don't really care about the lives of Guardians you've never met- - D!Kosciej
"That guy was an ARROW" - Persephone
-He was one of Solemn's followers- - D!Kosciej
"Yes, but he was still an Arrow. He didn't have anything to do with this except the oath he made to Solemn. It
doesn't matter - those were people who weren't involved, and you know I care about people getting hurt
despite not being involved" - Persephone
-Then you will have a lot of cares in the future- - D!Kosciej
"And you should care too - my cares are your cares" - Persephone
-Enough to fill the world. Almost beautiful. I could write a song - something by a boy band, maybe. A medley.
Let me tell you how this is going to go. It won't stop with car crashes and people being recalled. Kosciej is not
like us, Catherine. We are passionate, like the French. I lust for revenge, your heart bleeds when you see a
kicked puppy. Our opponent... Is not- - D!Kosciej
"I already KNEW that! He doesn't care about anyone other than himself!" - Persephone
-So why is he doing it?- - D!Kosciej
"I don't know" - Persephone
-He's not going to stop with families. He's going to move on to apprentices, friends, proximus servants. He'll
work his way up until all the Mages of Cambridge are terrified then take them out one by one until Solemn is
the last. And he's not doing it for bitter feelings of revenge for what Solemn did - that's ME, after all - he's doing
it for a logical reason. He's acting like a terrorist as part of a plan, not for it's own sake. You and I would do it for
the end - we'd want to see Solemn suffer. Kosciej is within his powers to teleport into Solemn's bedchamber
and off him- - D!Kosciej
"So why the drawn-out path?" - Persephone
-That's the question- - D!Kosciej
"He still has his vices, right? His lust for power..." - Persephone
-He likes to think of himself as a logical being. If his actions don't seem logical... We're not seeing the whole
pattern. More updates as they come- - D!Kosciej
He looks around
-Was it live and let die or the living daylights that had a chase on this tower? Or was it Team America: World
police?- -D!Kosciej
"If you want to have any part of this, you'll have to work on not pissing me off" - Persephone
There is no answer bar the pigeons. He's gone. Sef smiles to herself, happy that D!K agreed to the condition.
...
Onwards! To the last scene of the session!
In the morning, Samael gets up still feeling lousy.
"You just missed the French girl. Convocation's called off for today and none of us are to leave the house" Magog
Sef texts Gabrielle asking what's going on, and swiftly gets the reply that she can't say
"R we in danger / house rrsest?" - Persephone
"~" - Gabrielle
Samael calls Tiresias. It rings for a very long time
"Hello Samael" - Tiresias, sounding distracted
"Are you in a similar situation to us?" - Samael
"I definitely hope not" - Tiresias
Samael can hear running water
"Excuse me?" - Samael
"Our lodging house is being picked over by Guardians and Arrow I've never seen before" - Tiresias
"Is there trouble?" - Samael
"I'd say so, yes. Someone killed Decurion" - Tiresias
"... ... ... ... Shit" - Samael
"It was his ring" (coldly furious) "Decurion is... was... Not capable of casting the regeneration spell on his ring
himself. The best he could manage was a mage sight to check it was working. When someone replaced it with a
different life spell, he didn't notice" - Tiresias
"What did it do?" - Samael
"It posioned him" - Tiresias
Originally Posted by Djehuty
Look to your defences
"Could that... Could that have happened yesterday in the scuffle with Djehuty?" - Samael
"I understand that they're drafting people to look back in time to see. I've tried looking along my own timeline,
but I wasn't close enough" - Tiresias
"Mine, perhaps? I was right there" - Samael
He hurriedly cups the phone and tells the others. Cobalt and Sef both cast postcognition. As far as they can tell,
Djehuty's hands never went near him.
Cobalt's spell, though, was combined with Supernal Vision. The ring had already been swapped.
"Ashlar's in that house?" - Cobalt
Samael nods. Cobalt starts texting
"I hope patterns start to emerge to make some sense soon. Right now... I guess we wait and see" - Samael
"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" - Ashlar
"It can only have happened in a limited number of places" - Tiresias
"Is Roach about? If she's not, we can get a taxi" - Cobalt
"I'll go over every inch of this house. We need to know where he went on his day off" - Tiresias
"Keep in touch" - Samael
He hangs up
"So. Now they're really turning the heat up. Those bastards think those masks make them invincible. In time,
there'll be payback" - Samael
And that, finally and with my humble apologies, is that.
NEXT TIME ON SOUL CAGE!
Cobalt and Mycroft (Mycroft!!!) are put in charge of the investigation, Kosciej has a fireside chat, Rod and Excalibur
help out and Decurion's killer revealed to much resigned sadness. But there's a ray of hope at the end, before Kosciej's
gambit becomes clear...
1.
"Children of the Revolution"
Session 7.2
Welcome back, faithful readers! This session marks the end of the bridge between season one and season two of Soul
Cage - at least as far as our main player characters are concerned, anyway. Story Eight ("Island of Souls") is the game
that we played on the Thursday Night of GenCon. Story Nine ("What I've Done") is set six months later, when the Auric
Horizon are all Adepts.
Although the UK group played 9.1 some seven weeks before the US group played 8.1, I will be recapping them in
continuity-order so as to fit the chronicle together in a shape that is most comprehensible.
Now, then. Last time, if you'll recall, the characters were at the Paris Convocation, staying in a haunted house, and
after turning up in a Guy Fawkes Precedent mask apparantly to stir shit up Djehuty was unmasked and sent packing.
But before he left he made a veiled threat to Decurion, the Sentinal of London ("Look to your defences"). As we
finished, the characters learned that Decurion had died - someone had replaced his ring of regeneration with a copy
that slowly poisioned him. All fingers are pointed at the Free Council, especially as Djehuty's previous comments
(regarding the family of one Cambridge mage and the apprentice of another) seemed to come true as well.
Dave2: If you're reading this, Djehuty3, we're still not talking to you
The Cabal's working theory is to use postcognition to find a time when Decurion had his real ring, and work
forwards from there. Persephone brings up the possibility of just using postcognition on the cursed ring instead,
but it's been impounded by the authorities. Cobalt notes that the authorities have probably thought of that as
well.
And besides which, they're still confined to quarters like everyone else.
Cobalt, though, reckons he can look back along his own timeline to the opening ceremony, where he sat next to
Civitas and Decurion in order to annoy them. That doesn't involve going anywhere.
The phantasmal occupants of the house go about their business, puppeteered by the shackled ghost in the
attic.
Sef, feeling guilty for not having had enough time to say hi, phones Orchid. She's fine - under lockdown as well,
but fine. She came here by herself, so she's been put with the other loners like Olympus, and as Olympus is a
Magister he's being kept more informed about the situation. And he's sharing. The authorities have, in fact,
postcogged the ring. Not only did Decurion have the cursed ring on during the fight with Djehuty, but he had it
on the day before during the party before the Day of Silver. On the day of arrival, when everyone did their own
thing, he (being a Guardian) was in the Shadow Directory, which is time-warded.
They've had an Acanthus go over every encounter Djehuty had since arriving, and note that Djehuty used a
Mage Sight spell on Decurion early on - he may have noticed the thing and used it to get a parting shot, which
would make it a crime of negligence (not warning him). IF he didn't do it beforehand.
That's as far as the investigation got before Vidocq started to throw his weight around. Paris is still Vidocq's
city, Mystagogue or not, and the Heirarch is demanding to decide who leads the investigation. The Guardians
want their people on it (being the victims here). Vidocq points out that the last people they want on the case
are the angry victims.
And that's as far as things have gone.
The Cabal watch French TV for the rest of the day. Orchid texts to say that one of the Americans has been
picked to lead the investigation. Apparantly he's some kind of Guardian that the other Guardians trust to be
impartial.
Here he comes, shambling down the street...
Samael feels the loss of Pandora - she's in the London lodgings - but around noon Ashlar appears, having
gotten drunk with Cognos and therefore missed the boat.
Which I suspect is a continuity error. Not the only one - I have been through this entire recap swapping names out
when it turned out I'd forgotten the names for the Cambridge mages apart from Eddington and Hob. And I'd forgotten
which one of them Hob was...
"So you're trapped here" - Cobalt
"Yes! Trapped" (mock upset) "Trapped here with you instead of with Civitas, who by now will be climbing the
walls" - Ashlar
"Walking on the ceiling" - Persephone
They consider the problem at hand
"This is the obvious point..." - Cobalt
"...Did Omar do it?" (off Samael's look) "Djehuty. His real name's Omar" - Ashlar
And Dave2 cracked up. Omar was the Order of Hermes mage (House Tytalus) in the same oMage game that the
original Cobalt was a Virtual Adept in.
"To be honest, to go up against a noted hardcase like Decurion, Djehuty's a bit of a wet blanket" - Samael
"Djehuty's an Adept" - Ashlar
"But still..." - Samael
"Yes, granted. It does seem unlikely" - Ashlar
"He's also a master of deception. Getting a poisoned ring in..." - Cobalt
"He wasn't a master of deception by infiltrating the Mysterium. I think he *was* a member of the Mysterium
before he was turned" - Samael, butting in
"But still, to keep it hidden" - Cobalt
"Djehuty used to visit the Underworld. Our theory is that he met Kosciej and was recruited on one of his trips to
that place" - Ashlar
"In that case, he was very much in the situation, IN the right place to do what he did. I don't think he's a crack
infiltrator" - Samael
"Demeanour rather than ability. I'm not accusing him of being James Bond" - Cobalt
"Maybe he's a master of slight of hand. Quicker than the eye" - Persephone
"That's retarded" - Samael
"Quicker than you?" - Cobalt
"I don't know what Legacy he's in. There *are* Mystagogue Legacies based around.. Ah.. Subtle theft" - Ashlar
"Oh, yeah! Reclamators" - Cobalt
"He *could* be a Reality Stalker, but it's not his MO. And can you imagine Decurion taking the thing off? He's
the hard man of the Guardians. Any trouble he gets into, the ring will save him where other protections
wouldn't. It could be done while he's asleep, maybe" - Samael
"Someone at the house. No wonder Civitas is climbing the walls" - Cobalt
"Here's a Xanatos gambit for you - Civitas set up the death of Decurion to give himself an excuse to stamp
down on the Free Council" - Samael
"He already IS" - Cobalt
"No - not Civitas. Solemn. The one thing Solemn needs is for us to declare war on Kosciej's gang" - Ashlar
"Solemn's evil" - Cobalt, nodding
"Which would distract from his own perfidy" - Ashlar
"So Djehuty picked up on it, laughed..." - Samael
"If it was anyone else, he might have warned him..." - Cobalt
"But it's Decurion, who let's face it..." - Samael
"...Always gave the impression he'd like to chop Djehuty's head off even when Djehuty *was* a Mystagogue.
Not a people person" - Ashlar
"I get that" - Cobalt, dryly
"So Djehuty may have just taken the opportunity to point and laugh, and then Solemn has Decurion offed. But
finding out whoever did do it will be down to the investigation squad" - Samael
"Could a logophage remove our memories of them being here?" - Persephone, still thinking of Solemn
"He'd have to have seriously eaten his shredded wheat. To wipe all of our memories of his presence while he
walks around? No one's that powerful - that's just crazy talk!" - Ashlar
Minor Broken Diamond shoutout there; that's pretty much what Anurati did for the duration. And I'm not reusing the
same villain concept here.
"Plus, we know what he looks like from Hades' memory - even if he wipes our memories, we'd have already
attacked upon seeing him" - Cobalt
"There's not really anything we can do, is there?" - Samael
"We can be dynamic! Question is what we can do that they're not already doing" - Cobalt
"Why don't you call Vidocq and offer to help?" - Persephone
"I'll do it. He's still a Mystagogue" - Samael
"But he likes Free Councillors more" - Persephone
"I'd think he likes his own order more or he'd be a Libertine. Don't mistake his feelings. Vidocq's still a
Mysterium Heirophant. His mentor helped create your order, so he's proud of you, is all. As far as Vidocq is
concerned you're all his adopted children" - Ashlar
"And it's fun to watch us play around in things" - Cobalt
"Precocious children that he's fond of, but that doesn't mean he'll give you free reign" - Ashlar
"No free tickets to the Shadow Gallery there" - Cobalt
"I'll ask Roach about contact details" - Samael
...
Roach doesn't have the Heirarch on speed-dial, but she contacts her Provost. Samael offers the Auric Horizon's
services - Roach sniffs kind of dismissively, but passes it up the chain.
...
That night, Cobalt dreams of Djehuty.
The Moros is hurrying along a corridor somewhere. From the shape of power sockets, it's in Britain. there's a
woman marching in front of him - Cobalt has seen that sort of march on Aurora.
The woman slams a door open and Djehuty scurries along behind her into some kind of recreational room there's a sofa and several comfortable chairs, in one of which sits Hades. He looks like crap - his hair is longer,
he's thin and looks wasted. The only other person in the room is a blonde girl in her late teens or early
twenties, wearing a T-shirt bearing the legend "I taught your boyfriend that thing you like". She's stood,
attentive, next to the chair.
Cobalt looks for a reflective surface, but doesn't seem to be looking from anyone's point of view.
Kosciej (for it is he) sips from a mug bearing the legend "world's greatest dad", to which someone has added
"^e" to between the d and a. He's reading a paperback novel with the other hand.
Whoever the lady who entered with Djehuty is, she's barely controlling her fury. Kosciej studiously ignores her,
finishing his drink, then hands the mug to the girl, who curtseys and walks out without even glancing at the
newcomers. Kosciej gives it another tortuous three seconds before finally turning to address the now
incandescent woman. He flips his book shut and blinks, slowly, regarding her with a patrician-like air.
"Listen to me, you fucking Hexxer. I don't know how they did things back in the middle ages, but I am the
Strategos in the war effort. ME. I. STRATEGOS. DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? This one" (pointing at Djehuty, who
flinches) "Has told me what happened in Paris..." - Woman
"...Did he? What did happen, Djehuty?" - Kosciej, completely ignoring her
"They... Unmasked me, sir" - Djehuty
"Who?" - Kosciej, pleasantly
"Decurion" - Djehuty
Kosciej nods to himself in a smug way.
The woman starts in on a tirade regarding how dangerous it was, how Djehuty could have been killed and
demands to know why Kosciej tipped their hand against the Pentacle that way.
Kosciej glances at his novel regretfully.
"It was merely an information-gathering exercise. Besides, Djehuty was in no danger at all. Isn't that right,
Djehuty?" - Kosciej
"Er.. Yes. Yes, sir" - Djehuty
Cobalt grimaces at the "Sir", especially as everyone here is meant to be a Libertine. Clearly, the woman is
equally disgusted with the tidy setup Kosciej has going
"Any further advice on how to run the war against Civitas, you bring it to ME, okay?" - Woman
"Of course, Boudicca. Of course. Ah - Djehuty?" - Kosciej
"Yes?" - Djehuty
"There is another errand I have for you" - Djehuty
Boudicca can't stand it any more.
"Feel the love, Mr Burns" - Boudicca
She storms out. Djehuty gulps, and glances at the open door
"Later, Djehuty, later" - Kosciej, waving him to go.
Djehuty leaves, closing the door. Cobalt watches him go, and turns around again...
...To realise that Kosciej is now looking, quite calmly, right at him
"You see what I have to deal with?" - Kosciej
Cobalt reacts quickly
"Yes - yes I do. What the hell do you think you're doing?" - Cobalt
"Winning the war" - Kosciej
"Decurion? Djehuty? In the middle of the Convocation!? We have THREE more days of this shit to go, and every
day they're trying to solve this crap you're adding to my misery!" - Cobalt
"Well, I'm about to add yet more to your woes, I'm afraid, Rex. May I call you Rex?" - Kosciej
"Go ahead, Jack" - Cobalt
Kosciej nods
"We did not kill Master Hob's family. We did not kill Master Usher's apprentice" - Kosciej
"And you didn't kill Decurion" - Cobalt
"We certainly did not" - Kosciej
"But you knew every one of those was going to happen. Why make it appear as though you did?" - Cobalt
"To put Solemn on the back foot. Someone - maybe Solemn, maybe the Seers of the Throne, perhaps even the
Echo Walkers... Clearly whoever it IS is trying to blame us for it" - Kosciej
"As though you were trying to start a war" - Cobalt, with irony
"The best way to escape a trap is to march right in and put the safety back on. At the moment, things look bad.
Things look very bad. But I'm confident that now that we've increased the suspicion against us, we'll be proved
as innocent as we are, which will put everyone on the Free Council's side" - Kosciej
"And absolve you of a few things you might not be as innocent of" - Cobalt, narrowing his eyes
"If a state of war exists between Cambridge and the Free Council, then yes it would grant me certain
immunities, but that's really not what I'm worried about" - Kosciej
"Guys hitting your side - whacking *your* agents in Paris? That worry you?" - Cobalt
"I have no agents in Paris" (smiling) "Djehuty was it. I am afraid, Obi-Wan, that you are our only hope. I have it
on good authority that Vidocq is about to appoint you to the investigative team. You blow past the false
evidence that has doubtless been planted against us and acquit us. Even though you know it's me you're
acquitting. Because.. Well..." (the smile turns more predatory) "It's the right thing to do" - Kosciej
"Yes. But you have to know that I'll be watching for a false flag" - Cobalt
"Who would be strange enough to fake evidence of evidence being faked against themselves? Really. How
many layers do you think I operate in? You really do have an advanced sense of betrayal, Rex" - Kosciej
"I did chat to Mordred recently. If I know you, you've thought of a rebuttal..." - Cobalt
"But are you part of it?" - Kosciej
"Yes" - Cobalt
"Rex, I know where you live. It would be a matter of minutes to teleport a lump of Semtex into your precious
lighthouse while you're all asleep" - Kosciej, still pleasant.
"I know! But if you were going to, you'd have done that already" - Cobalt
"Precisely" - Kosciej
"I think that applies to Civitas, too" - Cobalt, shrewdly
"I'm afraid your distaste for my methods means we will not be on the same side any time soon, but rest
assured I do not think of you as my enemies. This is between me and Solemn" - Kosciej
"Good" - Cobalt
"The Libertines who have sheltered me have a perfectly legitimate cause for grievance against their so-called
'Hierarch'. Although the fact that this body lay comatose in his city for a year without him lifting a finger does
disincline me towards him" - Kosciej
"He did give us information when he thought that she was you" - Cobalt
Kosciej shrugs
"Civitas is a dick, and you're not the only one to wonder what London would be like with a different person in
charge" - Cobalt
"Like Boudicca" - Kosciej
"I don't mean like a Libertine. I mean not an old fossil" - Cobalt
"Such as your Jamaican friend? Look - my Nameless have the London Diamond on the back foot. You may not
believe me when I say that currently I am the only restraint the Guy Fawkes Precedent have against
firebombing Civitas' apartment and burning down Tiresias' Library, but Djehuty has the passcodes and the
secret ways in. They're very eager to use them" - Kosciej
Cobalt sighs
"I think we have bigger fish to fry, but if I am TOO discredited... I fear they will stop listening to me. After all"
(nasty grin) "We are a democracy" - Kosciej
Agena: Bitch
"While we're talking across the lines, what's your take on the Seers?" - Cobalt
"Irrelevant" - Kosciej, matter of fact
"Too quiet for too long" - Cobalt, musing
"These London Libertines have had more victories against the Seers than the Diamond have in Decades" Kosciej
"Because they're actually fighting?" - Cobalt
"Yes" - Kosciej
They pause
"So that's it, really" - Kosciej
"I thought it might be" - Cobalt
"It wasn't me. And you've proven quite adept at seeing past false fronts to get at the heart of matters" - Kosciej
"You've laid out your case very effectively, and you've already said that if you lose control over London things
get firebombed" - Cobalt
"If I lose control over Boudicca things will get dark, yes" - Kosciej
"What do you have against Djehuty anyway?" - Cobalt
"Djehuty? Nothing - he's a perfectly serviceable agent" - Kosciej
"Serviceable tool" - Cobalt
"Djehuty knows the Plan" - Kosciej
"Oh good. I'm glad somebody does. Anyway - thanks for the chat" - Cobalt
"I'll let you get back" - Kosciej
"Have fun" - Cobalt
He opens the door and leaves. And then he's chased by a bear, and there is cheese, and Symmetry is thinking
of getting back into the vengeance business while Cobalt drives an ice-cream truck, and then he wakes up.
Buffy references aside, I really liked the above scene - Cobalt and Kosciej play off one another in a faux-polite way that
Samael (too righteous) and Persephone (too plain angry) can't manage. They can have a civilised conversation while
knowing that they utterly dislike one another.
Cobalt sigh a deep, weary sigh before getting out of bed, trying not to disturb Symmetry.
By the time he makes it downstairs, Cobalt has opened a bottle of red wine and is swigging from it. Wine for
breakfast tastes wrong, but it serves. The only other person up is Key, whose third eye blinks at him as he
comes in
"Coffee?" - Cobalt
"The trip is not proceeding according to plan, is it, Harlequin?" - Key
"Agreed. And I think it's going to be Inspector Harlequin soon" - Cobalt
He tells her that he's had a vision of the future, and offers the Daksha a bet that he'll be tasked with finding the
killer.
Gradually, others emerge.
"Good morning, everyone!" - Cognos, booming
"Morning, Big C" - Cobalt
"Where's the French Lass? We're out of wine. Well, except for the fucking Merlot. If they're going to keep us in
these conditions they could at least feed and water us" - Cognos
Cobalt hands him the bottle
"It's red, I know, but..." - Cobalt
"As long as it's not Merlot" - Cognos
"I had the strangest dream. I think I have a future in Ice Cream... If only I could remember the third flavour" Cobalt, musing
"The third flavour is Boysenberry" - Symmetry
"What's a Boysenberry?" - Persephone
"Type of berry. To be honest, ever since the Anima Mundi I've had cravings for Vole" - Symmetry
"It's the owl thing, isn't it?" - Cobalt, concerned
"Can't help you there" - Persephone
"Why are we discussing Ice Cream flavours?" - Symmetry, smoothly changing the subject
"I had a profound dream, and I think I talked to our old friend special K" - Cobalt
"Did he mind-zap you?" - Persephone, casting a raft of spells to check
"Kosciej contacted you in your sleep?" - Symmetry
"Yeah. He was talking to Boudicca, who was..." - Cobalt, pronouncing it "Bow-de-see-ah"
"Boudicca" - Ashlar, pronouncing it "boo-dee-ka"
"...Yes, that's what he called her. She's the Strategos for the war against Civitas, between the association of
Assemblies and the Diamond" - Cobalt
"They've gone as far as to elect a Column?" - Symmetry
A Column is a war Assembly. A regional group of Libertines that defines itself as combatant.
Cobalt nods
"She's got trouble controlling Kosciej, though, who sent Djehuty here on his own initiative" - Cobalt
They consider that for a moment, before being interrupted by Roach, who throws open the door.
"Visitors and Guests. All rise for the Heirarch" - Roach, bored
They stand up, Key blinking, as Vidocq and his bodyguards enter.
"...Merlot?" - Cognos, proffering the bottle.
1.
Chris: For some reason, I have the mental image of Vidocq as being a tall man in a green pope hat. I have no idea how
or why.
Man, what?
There are no Pope Hats.
"As you have no doubt heard, there has been a murder" - Vidocq
"Yes, Decurion" - Cobalt, sadly
"We apologise for everyone being confined for the duration, but it was necessary" (Cobalt nods) "In all liklihood,
the culprit is one of the guests" - Vidocq
"Agreed" - Cobalt
"After much consultation with the Magisters, I have decided to appoint a group of neutral parties to investigate.
Master Cobalt, I believe that you knew the deceased, but not well?" - Vidocq
"That's correct. We served as the opposite seconds in a matter of honour" - Cobalt
"Would you consider yourself to be on bad terms with him?" - Vidocq
"No. We had trouble in London, but we were not the cause of it. I thought we had a mutual respect" - Cobalt
"Good. In that case I would like to appoint you to assist on the team" - Vidocq
"I would be honoured" - Cobalt
"There is a Guardian of the Veil among the Americans, a detective. He's a member of a Legacy of no small
respect in the Guardians. He has absolutely no stake in this matter and is therefore leading the material
investigation. He's bringing one of his cabalmates along as a second Guardian. I would like you to find a pair of
Mystagogues and another Free Councillor, bringing it to two of my order and two of the parties currently seeing
tension. I think it best if the Free Council and Guardians are seen to be working together on this" - Vidocq
"I concur" - Cobalt
"Whoever the culprit may be. Roach will escort your group anywhere in the city. Feel free to leave the house the Shadow Directory is open to you, though you will be escorted by an armed group inside. the Convocation
chambers have not been reopened since the night before. There is the gentleman's accomodation. I'm sure
you'll do fine" - Vidocq
"How can we contact the Guardian?" - Cobalt
"I believe he's already on the way to the lodgings before, and I quote, 'the London Heirarch tampers with the
evidence'" - Vidocq
"As you say" - Cobalt
"Master Cognos" - Vidocq, nodding to Cognos
The Heirarch bows to Key and then exits. His large bodyguards give everyone the stink-eye and then leave.
"Damn I hate that creepy old man" - Cobalt
"Which one?" - Persephone
"Kosciej. I saw Boudicca have a go at Kosciej, then Kosciej and I had a chat. In summary, he says it wasn't him"
- Cobalt
"What a surprise" - Persephone
"He says there's false evidence claiming it was, and he wants me to see past that to whoever actually did it and
absolve him. Even though he probably did it" - Cobalt
"And why should we do that? I presume he threatened you?" - Persephone
"Only obliquely" - Cobalt
"He's getting better then" - Persephone
"He pointed out that with Djehuty's information, the Guy Fawkes Precedent could have attacked the Diamond
order houses in London, and indeed have been pushing to do so" - Cobalt
"Passwords will have been changed" - Samael, dismissively
"They have been" - Ashlar
Cobalt thinks Samael is dismissing this too glibly and says so.
"The pentacle have been waging a covert war against the Seers for centuries. They will have learned
something about security in that time..." - Samael
"The point is that they haven't" - Cobalt
"...But measures will be in place to deal with just one mage going turncoat" - Samael
"Passwords have been changed, defences have been rechecked, but ultimately there's still a risk that Djehuty
could think of something we haven't or have installed his own entrance" - Ashlar
"Physical locations" - Cobalt
"We can't move the library" - Ashlar
"Yeah. There's a finite number of ways... I'm not going to plot an attack on it just to prove the point, but Kosciej
says he's being a moderating voice" - Cobalt
"Yeah, right" - Persephone, deeply sceptical
"I'm not espousing it. I'm telling you what I know" - Cobalt
"To be honest, if I were the Libertine Strategos, I'd want Decurion dead. He'd be running things from the other
side" - Ashlar
"He's not been helpful - if he didn't do it, then he can't help" - Samael
"He claims there's someone trying to frame him. I think he was aiming at Solemn" - Cobalt
"Thing is, we can't trust him" - Samael
"I know. But Djehuty knows the Plan. If we can get hold of him and sweat it out of him what's actually going
on..." - Cobalt
"'The Plan'. You can hear the capital P" - Symmetry
"Oh, you could hear the P. It all but had 'five year' written before it" - Cobalt
"Well he IS Russian. Is he Russian?" - Symmetry
"He's British. His real name's Jack" - Persephone
"So. That's the reason I'm going for this so hard. I don't know if I can get away with appointing a Mystagogue
from London" - Cobalt
Ashlar shrugs. Samael looks at Key.
(Looks at Key) "Whoever did this has a perspective on life that's a little other. I need someone used to piercing
the veils of mystery, which makes my choice clear..." (he looks at Symmetry) "Do you mind?" - Cobalt
Symmetry rolls her eyes. Key looks like it's trying to figure out if by helping it can get someone who's screwed it
over into a bind.
Magog is eating toast in the background.
"No, it's okay. Besides, if it IS Mr Krispy Bits, you'll need someone to call in as backup" - Symmetry
"Yeah. I am entirely dependent on Kosciej being honest" - Cobalt
"Why would he fake being in a weaker position than he's in?" - Magog
Samael starts to voice a theory, before Cobalt puts his hands up
"Okay... STOP. We're NOT going down the Gambit Roulette route" - Cobalt
Wise man
"I'm just saying we can't take anything he says at face value" - Samael
"I know, alright? I know that he could be faking someone faking evidence against him for some triple-blind
nefarious purpose. How many layers down do you go?" - Cobalt
"With Kosciej, I'd say about four" - Persephone
"I think I've seen this movie. It's the one with all the 'Did you know that?' 'I did' 'But I knew that you'd know'
and so on, yeah? Look - as the guy who joined the gang just before all this started, I've met Kaptain Krunch the
once. I saw him and Solemn. I think they're playing Xanatos chess, trying to out-scheme one another" - Magog
"We just can't trust him" - Samael
"It could have been Solemn sending you the dream, pretending to be Kosciej" - Symmetry
"Main thing right now is to ignore the dream" - Samael
"Let's visit the scene of the crime. Mamzelle Roach, can we rely on you for a conveyance?" - Cobalt
"I suppose" - Roach
...
In the end, it's Cobalt, Persephone, Samael and Key that end up going to the underground lodging-house of the
London Consilium. As they approach the reading room Decurion's body is still in, Civitas comes stalking towards
them.
"What are YOU doing here?" - Civitas, with much hostility
"We have been appointed as investigators" - Key, smooth
The foursome have dressed for the occasion. Persephone is wearing a skirt-suit. Key is wearing a male suit and
has put on her female body. Samael has put a tie on.
Cobalt is still dressed as a pirate.
"Vidocq sticking his oar in" - Civitas.
He stamps off, then turns toward Persephone
"Mark my words, girl. If this is the man you share your head with, I'll KNOW" - Civitas
He leaves, finally
Sef quirks an eyebrow
"I'm pretty sure he can't leave my head" - Persephone, quietly
"He doesn't see the difference between big K and little K. Best to just get out of the way of the raging Mastigos"
- Cobalt
"Okay - I shouldn't have said anything!" - Persephone, stressed
"No, no. Master Civitas is displaying more emotion about the death of a servant than his reputation would
suggest" - Key
"He's making quite a thing about it" - Cobalt, frowning.
"It's possible that whoever is responsible has succeeded in targeting one of his few real friends. How sad; he
still needs friends" - Key, in a tone of voice indicating that they're all under evolved monkeys as far as she's
concerned.
"To the body!" - Cobalt, pointing
...
The reading room once had a crackling log fire, but it's gone out. Decurion is sat, fresh as when he died, in one
of the chairs. There's a half-drunk glass of wine next to him. His eyes are closed.
He seems peaceful.
Samael, Sef and Cobalt cast Forensic Gaze and confirm what the last people to do so learned - he died of
poisioning. The night after Decurion's fight with Djehuty
"Who the hell are YOU?" - Cxaxa
It's the strange woman Samael crossed paths with in the Shadow Directory, still wearing her sunglasses
Chris: Bite down the sarcastic remark 'we're the Jehovah's Witnesses, have you heard the good news?'
Dave2: Bite down the sarcastic remark 'My name's Luke, I'm here to rescue you'
"Cobalt, Durham Consilium. We've been sent to assist by Vidocq. These are Samael, Persephone and Key" Cobalt
"Down, Cxaxa" - Mycroft
The newcomer is a shabby little man with a hangdog expression.
MYCROFT!!!!1!!!!!!!!
Ah, I missed Mycroft when Broken Diamond ended
"Mycroft. I'm the Guardian. This is my Consilium-mate Cxaxa. Have you had a chance to examine the body?" Mycroft
"Just a quick Forensic Gaze" - Cobalt
"What do you think?" - Mycroft
"Initial check said Poision" - Cobalt
"Mmm. Yeah." - Mycroft
"Did they say who found the body?" - Cobalt
"The maid. Sleepwalker. She's not saying much - just that she immediately raised the alarm" (Cxaxa snorts in
the background) "It's quite a perverse little artefact he's wearing - he never directly ingested the poison, but
the ring transformed anything he ate or drank in small quantities. Our murder weapon is a glass of wine and a
good book" - Mycroft
"So it requires no external factors beyond deployment. The murderer may not have ever come near him" Samael, semi-admiring
Mycroft nods
"Is the ring still here?" - Samael, crouching to examine Decurion's bling.
It is indeed.
"You can wear it if you like, but the health benefits have been disproven" - Cobalt
"If we can get the body out of the chair... Oh, you'll find a Death spell on the body. One of Vidocq's men has
been preserving it to prevent Rigour" - Mycroft
Samael casts Supernal Vision, seeing everyone's Artefacts and Imbued items along with active spells. One
"ping" is a Grimoire on the bookshelves. He briefly checks to make sure it's safe.
"Looks like the ring is the best target for time-scrying" - Samael
"you got anyone who can cast Track Object?" - Cxaxa
Key nods and begins the spell
"This will probably just tell us Decurion's route whenever he was in a non-shielded location" - Key
"But eventually the path will diverge" - Samael
Sef suggests taking it outside of the time-warded lodging house and using Postcognition. Samael explains the
theory he correctly assumes Cxaxa and Key to be working to; they can't trace where the Ring was inside any
wards, but they can see whenever it crossed from one to another. By seeing where Decurion went, they can
figure out when he recieved the cursed ring by process of elimination.
Mycroft notes that he's already summoned Ectoplasm to display the last thing Decurion saw. Unfortunately, he
was just sitting back with his eyes closed.
"At least he went peacefully" - Cobalt
"Mm. Probably not how he would have gone ordinarily" - Mycroft
"I dunno. He gave the impression of a fighter, but somehow I could have seen him retiring quietly" - Cobalt
"He had several bones broken and healed, some with magic. He had a lot of old scars but very few new ones.
My impression is of someone that used to be combative but had aged to the point of being beyond it" - Mycroft
Key carefully takes the ring off Decurion's finger. She holds it for a moment, concentrating and casting a
conjunctional Space and Time spell to track the item's movements in the past.
She can't trace it within this building, but that night it was in a local resteruant, then (back in time) out in the
streets, then the convocation, then back here, then the convocation, then the Shadow Directory, the louvre,
back here again, in some kind of vehicle, at the airport, in flight... And before that she can't see it.
"So it flew in, got into a car and came to this building" - Cobalt
"But we knew he wasn't wearing the false ring when he arrived" - Samael
"Certainly not at the opening ceremony, according to Vidocq's Acanthus" - Mycroft
"So someone brought it here" - Cobalt
"Can you tell how it arrived?" - Samael, to Key
"I can tell which airport, not specifically the country it arrived from, but if we know the airport and the time..." Key
"...We can check" - Persephone
Key nods and heads off to do said checking.
"He wasn't wearing it at the party. After the party he went to the Shadow Directory, and as far as we know he
was wearing it thereafter" - Mycroft
"Which means someone from here took it there, by way of the Louvre" - Cobalt
"If it was in the Directory it has to be a Guardian or a Mystagogue in order to get the permission to enter. That
flight is going to be very important" - Samael
He's distracted by the sound, from the corridor, of Pandora hearing their voices but being stopped from
entering by Cxaxa.
Cobalt waves her in
"Sorry, 'Dora. Where were you on the night in question?" - Cobalt
She looks at Samael
"Do you want a technical description?" - Pandora
Sef rolls her eyes as Cobalt gives a narrower timeframe
"We were both at the Shadow Directory... With her" (stick her thumb at Cxaxa) "We didn't see him" - Pandora
"Did you see Decurion there?" - Samael, to Cxaxa
Cxaxa shakes her head
"Did you go anywhere else?" - Cobalt
"No. We had to spend time meeting up beforehand. Some of us weren't housed together" - Pandora
"And we were in the Directory for a long time" - Samael
"Well, I'll leave you to your detecting. I look forward to everyone being gathered in the drawing room for the
revelation at the end" - Pandora
"I've a feeling it's going to be a doozy. I'd hate for you to miss out" - Cobalt
Sef announces, having been checking, that the ring came in on the same flight as the London delegation.
Including Decurion.
"Meaning it's been in someone's luggage. Now we need to find out if he went to the Louvre, and if so with who.
Time to start interviewing suspects" - Cobalt
"Start with the Raging Beast" - Persephone
"May as well" - Cobalt
"God, I wish Tom were here. He'd make the interviews short. Why didn't Tom come, again?" - Cxaxa
"Last time he was here someone set fire to a Heirarch's head" - Mycroft, deadpan
This is one of the very few times a Broken Diamond player character is referenced
Cobalt quirks an eyebrow
"Cabal tensions" - Mycroft
Cxaxa harrumphs and marches out
"Whilst my delicate companion is collaring the subject, may I ask what got you into this detail?" - Mycroft
"Familiarity with the man" - CObalt
"Vidocq said he'd get me someone who was familiar with all the possible perpetrators" - Mycroft
"Sounds like us" - Samael
"You are aware of the altercation at the hall?" - Cobalt
Mycroft nods. Cobalt explains the delicate political situation and Djehuty's betrayals. And Kosciej
"What did this Djehuty do for their Consilium?" - Mycroft
"He was a curator" - Samael
"So we have someone with access to artefacts" - Mycroft
"With a motivation to go after an enemy war leader" - Cobalt
"And backed up by a lich. So we have our means. We definitely have our motive" - Mycroft, nodding
"How are you placing him in the Shadow Directory?" - Samael
"He's lacking an opportunity" - Mycroft
"And no one was aware of his presence until the ceremony, which was after the switch had been made" Cobalt
"As far as we're aware he wasn't on the same flight. I'd have expected them to pick up on the presence of
another mage" - Samael
"I'd have also expected him to pick up on his ring being exchanged for an Artifact of Doom" - Cobalt, sourly
"For anyone like Djehuty, who has lots of motive but is someone Decurion would be wary of, it would have been
extremely difficult. We should look at those closer to him" (to Mycroft) "Civitas, Ashlar, Constantine, Pandora,
Tiresias... Anyone else? Sleepwalker retainers? Anyone help him pack his bags? Could it have been a spirit?" Samael
"The ring came here, so this place's protections against spirits and ghosts would preclude any..." - Cobalt
Key returns
"There is another complication. That flight was not solely occupied by the London delegates. The Cambridge
delegation shared a plane with them" - Key
"So our list of suspects has grown again" - Mycroft, musing
"The passage of the ring - it came here on the plane. Then to here... We can check if we have any eyewitnesses
among the Cambridge mages" - Samael
"It's a place to start" - Cobalt
...
Cxaxa reports her success, and the interview of Civitas begins;
"Oh, look. The gang's all here" - Civitas, starting it off hostile
"Heirarch. We are investigating a death, as you're well aware. We have questions..." - Cobalt
"I will say nothing with one of Kosciej's agents in this room" - Civitas, accusingly
Samael looks around in an exaggerated fashion
"Well, you're fine then, aren't you?" - Samael
He lets the pause hang
"Let me ask you this - even if you think Persephone is working for Kosciej, why do you think it would help you to
not help us find out who killed Decurion? Do you really think it'll help?" - Samael
"You do not have to say anything, however, anything you do say would be helpful" - Cobalt
"For reasons of security, I cannot reveal some of Decurion and my whereabouts to members of the Free
Council" - Civitas, snotty
"Well, then, we'll ask away and you can decline to answer. How does that sound?" - Samael
"Fine" - Civitas
Mycroft and Cobalt look at one another. Cobalt indicates that Mycroft should go right ahead.
"Master Civitas, when you arrived here on the plane and came to these lodgings did a member of the
Cambridge Consilium come here with you?" - Mycroft
"Yes, Magister Eddington. We had been talking on the plane and hadn't finished our conversation" - Civitas
"Did any of their possessions come here?" - Samael
"Eddington's bags" - Civitas
"Where did Magister Eddington stay the night?" - Cobalt
"In his own lodgings. The Page picked him up once we had completed our discussion" - Civitas
"In the day between arrival and the opening ceremony, were you aware of Decurion's whereabouts?"
"I believe he went to meet with a member of the Cambridge Consilium who he had a long association with
since the business with the Tremere" - Civitas
"And the name of that Magus?" - Cobalt
"Master Usher. You can go ask him - a man who just lost his apprentice to you maniacs - whether he killed
Decurion and see what answer he gives you" - Civitas
"Sure" - Samael
"That would be gauch. We'd approach it in a subtle manner from left field, as part of the social niceties" - Cobalt
"Did anyone go with him?" - Samael
"As I say, I believe he was with Usher" - Civitas
"Did you..?" - Cobalt
"No, I was with Vidocq. I take it the Parisian Heirarch is alibi enough?" - Civitas
"Quite. When did you next see Decurion?" - Cobalt
"That night, after I had dined at Vidocq's house. I was brought back here and Decurion was already back" Civitas
"Did you cast any form of magical sight?" - Cobalt
"Why would I scrutinise my own man? NO, I didn't" - Civitas
The Londoner seems more angry at himself than them for that last comment - if he had, Decurion might still be
alive
"Are you aware of any habit Decurion might have had to take off his ring? Or anything that could have goaded
him into doing so?" - Samael
"That ring was hard-fought for. Decurion brought it back from his Awakening in the Primal Wild. He would never
take it off" - Civitas
"Can you.. Hm... No. Evidence suggests he must have done" - Cobalt
"Yes. It would not be a difficult thing to spuress someone's waking state - if he were already asleep, and
trusting enoguh in our hosts to not cast all of his usual protections, someone could have kept him asleep" Civitas
"Thank you, Hierarch, that will be all" - Cobalt
(To Sef) "Tell Kosciej his days are numbered" - Civitas
Exit, stage left
"People keep assuming you're the person in your head?" - Cxaxa
"Yeah" - Persephone
"I get that" - Cxaxa
"You have someone in your head?" - Cobalt
"I used to" - Cxaxa
"Am I the only one here who doesn't have a stupid old man in his head?" - Cobalt
Cxaxa nods and walks out. Mycroft shrugs
They consider
"We need to postcog the gaps between shielded locations - was he wearing it when he left the Directory?" Samael
"It costs me no resources to check. I will get on it" - Key
She leaves
"Of course, in Cxaxa's case it would be like 'Kosciej' being your Shadow name. 'Cxaxa' was the woman
possessing her" - Mycroft
"Interesting choice" - Samael
"It's a long and complicated story. Too long and complicated for here. Suffice to say, Cxaxa has certain hair-
trigger issues" - Mycroft
"We can talk about it over a beer once we have our killer. Let's talk to Decurion next" - Cobalt
No, that's not a typo. They're *Mages*. The fact that Decurion is dead in no way precludes him from being their star
witness
The group prepare, casting Grim Sights and Speak with the Deads around the four remaining investigators,
getting ready for the impromptu seance.
Me: Can you actually Summon a Ghost?
Dave2: You think I know my own powers? Don't quote me on that in the thread...
Me: Actually, it's Death 5 to summon him from the Underworld if he's not already here
Agena: *IS* he here?
Me: No
They try Call Ghost, which will summon him if his shade lingered.
His shade did not linger.
They briefly consider the list of Masters of the Death Arcanum they know. Kosciej... Bede...
...Chronos!
"Could you access the Underworld?" - Samael
"Syeah - but it's *dangerous*. Living people shouldn't go there and dead people, if they go, should stay there" Persephone
"Could you stand on the threshold and shout for him?" - Samael, hopefully
Geist's existence makes this whole sequence - in fact anything to do with Mictlan's relationship to the Underworld and
Kosciej's scheme - all the much more awesome. It contradicted not a thing in my chronicle (though there's still time for
Book of the Dead to do that) and reinforced some things. There won't be a crossover with Geist: The Sin-Eaters,
though. In the same way that using Changeling detracts from the Acanthus, Geist really takes away from the Moros.
"...I'll ask" - Persephone
"While she's doing that, shall we see if there are any other spirits?" - Cobalt
"There's no struggle, no signs of combat. You should be able to feel yourself being poisoned..." - Mycroft
"He had enough Life magic to check himself" - Cobalt
"He was a Thyrsus" - Mycroft
"And likely to feel it. There's something we're missing. Someone was mucking with his head?" - Samael
"You're the people who were denouncing the Echo Walkers, right? This man was giving evidence in your
support. Could they have targeted him rather than the Libertines?" - Mycroft
"Shall we tell him who *we* suspect?" - Samael
Cobalt shrugs
"Solemn" - Samael
"I don't know the name" - Mycroft
"Heirarch of Cambridge" - Samael
"Hence the three-eye saying it was significant the Cambridge people came in with the vic. All right - when we're
done interviewing everyone here we need to talk to this Eddington" - Mycroft
"I don't see how this bears the marks of the Echo Walkers. There was one in France recently, but..." - Samael
Cobalt is inspecting the furniture and furnishings of the room, checking for differences. He explains that he's
just remembered that the Death Arcanum can change what someone appears to die of. And, theoretically, an
exceptional knowledge of Prime would let you alter what an Artifact appeared to do, too. It might, after all this,
be the same ring.
"Corpse Mask. It's a Guardian of the Veil rote. I recall a case where a senior Guardian in my city committed
murder and changed the body to be that of someone else, buried some poor unknown sleeper in an executed
mage's grave. We had to dispel it. But, as it happens, I know the method - does anyone have the Prime
Arcanum?" - Mycroft
They cast the neccessary spells... And no, the corpse hasn't been masked. The facts just don't appear to add
up. And to Cobalt's attainments, the furniture doesn't appear to have been damaged.
"I know what it's like to be posioned - Indian water will do that for you. Thyrsus are fine, and after they cast
you're fine, too. To have killed him this quickly, he HAD to be aware that it was... That it was..." - Mycroft
Mycroft uses his Attainment, then pushes back one of Decurion's eyelids and looks into the dead man's eye
"He committed suicide" - Mycroft
"Huh" - Cobalt
"He did it voluntarily" - Samael
"HE carried the ring here. But where is the real one?" - Cobalt
"If he was going to kill himself... He'd want it to be for a good cause. What would Decurion think a good cause
was?" - Samael
"Fitting up the Free Council" - Mycroft
"If he were getting old, not up to it any more... He'd want the real ring to be with someone who'd use it" Cobalt
"And the two cases back in your country. The apprentice and the family" - Mycroft
"Both close associates of Cambridge mages..." - Cobalt
"Is there anyone back there who can look into things? Anyone subtle?" - Mycroft
There is a long and pregnant pause
"... ...There may be cinematic car chases, but we can't guaruntee subtle" - Samael
1.
Cobalt puts the call through.
(sound of eating) "Yup?" - Excalibur
"Murder Mystery!" - Cobalt
"Scoobi-doobi-doo!" - Excalibur
"Same to you! How've you been?" - Cobalt
"Roaming the Earth, like Cain in Kung-Fu" - Excalibur
"Similar body-count?" - Cobalt
"Some fools needed adjustment" - Excalibur
"We've got a twisty one here. Decurion's been killed, but we've got evidence he topped himself" - Cobalt
"Came to his senses?" - Excalibur
"Agent Provocataur, I think" - Cobalt
"The good old kill yourself but make it look like someone else murdered you? Who does he want to be our
suspect?" - Excalibur
"Kosciej the Deathless" - Cobalt
"The guy who put Aquila and Atia in the hospital and killed Cicero?" - Excalibur, suddenly grim
"That's the guy" - Cobalt
"Sure you want to find him innocent?" - Excalibur
"I want the truth" - Cobalt
"The Truth it is" - Excalibur
"There were a couple of other deaths, linked to the Cambridge Consilium. Someone's family has died, someone
else has lost an apprentice. We don't know if they're related, but we're here and it happened in England. Could
you look into it?" - Cobalt
"We're in Nottingham at the minute, visiting the Sherwood Irregulars. We'll take a look" - Excalibur
"How's Natalie?" - Cobalt
"Taken with Robin. Rodriguez is very taken with Marion. It'll be good to get out of here before green clothes are
thrown over bushes and things go south. It happens all the time - we find a Cabal to hang with, Rod sleeps with
one of them, starts an argument and we're off back on the road again with the Incredible Hulk theme playing.
We'll see what we can see. Cambridge is where the memory-eating people live, right?" - Excalibur
"Right" - Cobalt
"Well, should I turn up claiming to be Napoleon..." - Excalibur
"...We'll tell you you were really Kaiser Soze. Good luck" - Cobalt
"Good luck with the Onion-Eaters" - Excalibur
"Oh, they're no trouble. We brought our woes with us" - Cobalt
"You?" - Excalibur, mock-surprised
"Hey!" - Cobalt
"I find trouble wherever I go. You *take* trouble wherever you go" - Excalibur
"It comes for us! We don't know why!" - Cobalt
"Yup. Difference between you and me, Cobalt, is that I'm pro-active" - Excalibur
"Bastard" - Cobalt
Cal hangs up
"He's on it" - Cobalt
"What's the next step? We've got the hard part down - who did it" - Samael
"But not why" - Persephone
"And we need proof beyond my Attainment" - Mycroft
"How about we look through his stuff and see if he left any kind of note?" - Persephone
"And if we find the ring... I've got ten dollars that say the ring will turn up in the possession of someone it would
be very damaging to appear with" - Mycroft
"Good point" - Cobalt
He phones Cognos
"FUCKING MERLOT" - Cognos
"Hi, Cognos" - Cobalt
"They bring more groceries, and it's Merlot!" - Cognos
"We'll get you something on the way back, okay? But I need you to sweep the house for any signs of Decurion's
ring" - Cobalt
"Hrmph. Will do. I'll get Ashlar to help" - Cognos
"Especially Persephone's things. Or yours" - Cobalt
"MY things?" - Cognos
"You had a well-documented disagreement with the Londoners" - Cobalt
"Well, you can judge a man by the quality of his enemies. I shall keep Ashlar and Roach with me at all times,
and proceed henceforth to search Persephone's room" - Cognos
"If you do find it, leave it where it is and get in touch" - Cobalt
They conclude their conversation. Samael is going through the proofs they have (mostly circumstantial) that
Decurion killed himself - his hope is that anyone will see Decurion would have been able to save himself if he
wanted to, but Cobalt and Mycroft are dubious.
Samael muses that Djehuty might have known what the Guardians were up to - if, that is, the Libertines have
been abusing the Prophecy spell.
Nah, that's a case of Samael fighting the last battle, I think. Bede is the villain that did / does that. Kosciej's the proactive schemer.
They search Decurion's room, but don't find the real ring. Decurion didn't bring a whole lot of stuff - enough
underwear for the whole trip, Cobalt notes. There's a copy of the Canterbury Tales.
"Right. Ring's not here. Let's interrogate everyone else in this building. Gently" - Mycroft
"Who first?" - Samael
"Have we properly interrogated your girlfriend yet?" - Mycroft
In the end, they decide to go for Constantine.
...
"Yes, Decurion and Usher were sat together on the plane. They're old friends" - Constantine
"Did you notice anything about his manner?" - Cobalt
"Noticeably lighter than his manner when speaking to anyone else. He seemed relaxed, which was rare for
Decurion. I'd say he trusted Usher" - Constantine
"Did he get on well with Hob or Mnemsys?" - Cobalt
"I don't know. Eddington and Civitas were talking ahead of us. I was sat with Tiresias" - Constantine
"Was there any interaction with Eddington you recall?" - Samael
"He greeted us when they arrived in London. He was talking to Civitas most of the first night though" Constantine
"How much interaction did you have with Decurion? Would you say he was acting out of character?" - Cobalt
"I spoke to him after his altercation with Djehuty. He thought Djehuty should have been arrested. Sanctity of
Convocation doesn't prevent you from being tried for crimes you've already committed" - Constantine
"That was for the authorities to decide"
"That night I had a request from Hob, actually, by way of the Page. He said he had reason to believe that
Djehuty had been a conspirator in the murder of a member of his Consilium - a man named Hades" Constantine
Cobalt snorts.
"Huh" - Persephone
"Thank you for that. Very useful" - Samael
"Have you noticed anyone suspicious around these lodgings?" - Cobalt
"No" - Constantine
"During the trip, did you notice anyone tampering with Decurion's possessions?" - Samael
"The plane was a private charter. Our bags were loaded into the hold, and Decurion set a watch-spirit over
them" - Constantine
"Have you noticed anyone interfering with his room - searching or otherwise?" - Cobalt
"Other than you? Civitas, after the body was discovered but before the Sentinels arrived. I advised him that
emotional as he was he should not disturb the room. I don't believe he took anything" - Constantine
...
Next up is Tiresias
"Do you see any patterns emerging, Master?" - Samael
"I don't think there are two players. This doesn't seem like a two-person match" - Tiresias
They run through the same questions. Tiresias has personally postcognitioned through the whole trip - the only
people he's seen Decurion interact with are the serving staff, Usher, Civitas, Eddington (formally), Tiresias
himself (formally).
"This struck an odd note. Before we set off from London, he contacted me to make sure that you three would
be present at the Convocation" - Tiresisas
Cobalt twitches
"Eddington and Civitas have been in conversation a lot. They greeted one another as though they had never
met in London, but I believe their association goes back further. At the very least, Civitas knows who Eddington
is" - Tiresias
Samael asks if he knows anything about Decurion's trips outside the lodgings. The Shadow Directory isn't
Tiresias' library, and he doesn't know why Decurion went there.
"I am, however, good friends with the Epotet and Archivist of the Directory. We've swapped catalogues
frequently - I can find out what Decurion's research was, if you wish" - Tiresias
"We should do so as part of our investigation, but it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion" - Cobalt
"Speak to Fransesque. He knows who you are" - Tiresias, to Samael
"Everyone seems to" - Samael
"No, he knows who *you* are. Professionally - he knows I've taken an apprentice" - Tiresias
"He's not another Sphinx is he?" - Cobalt
"No, he's a Guardian" - Tiresias
"Thank you for your time, sir" - Cobalt
...
"Who's next?" - Mycroft
"Do we want to re-examine Civitas?" - Cobalt
"Not yet. There's a mode to these things - if he's guilty, let him stew. We'll arrive tomorrow, using Time magic to
arrive just when he's distracted by something, and pop up with just one more question" - Mycroft
"You're playing to it now" (approving) "We might want to do postcogs on what he did when he was in the room"
- Cobalt
"Can we? Isn't it warded?" - Samael
"We're inside the ward. I suspect Civitas was looking for the ring - the *real* ring - and didn't find it. If so, it tells
us many things" - Cobalt
He and Sef cast Postcognition, Sef combining it with an Aura sight to see Civitas' emotional state. The imago
builds without a hitch, and the mists of time part to show Civitas, panicked, angry and not thinking straight,
throwing Decurion's things around until finally looking under the bed, at which point he spots something. He's
about to reach for it when Constantine walks in, and asks what he thinks he's doing. Civitas rejoins that it's the
Libertines;
"First a family, then an apprentice - now one of our own! How long before the knife is in MY back, Constantine or YOURS?" - Civitas
He storms out. Constantine follows.
The spell ends.
There's nothing under the bed.
"Postcog that spot, I guess" - Cobalt
There was a small wooden box under the bed. About five minutes after Constantine interrupted Civitas' search,
it vanishes with a flare of Civitas' nimbus. He used a Space spell to pull it to him.
"Can you tell what was in the box?" - Samael
"We can try to see Decurion unpacking" - Mycroft
"Is there a Matter spell to see through the box? Some kind of x-ray vision?" - Samael
I can't find any such spell in Mage, but based on Steel Windows, I was willing to allow it at Matter 4, due to the
sympathetic window. 3 normally.
"Find the box" - Cobalt
"Best way is to march up to Civitas and ask for it" - Mycroft
"Let's go" - Cobalt
...
"Back again?" - Civitas, arch
"Heirarch. Where's the box?" - Mycroft, smiling pleasently
Civitas stares
"The item you took from Decurion's room, sir" - Mycroft
Civitas looks very annoyed
"This would be one of the things I cannot divulge to the Free Council" - Civitas
"Can you confirm what it was you took?" - Cobalt
"Notes concerning a strategy" - Civitas
"This was part of a military operation?" - Cobalt, meaning Decurion's death
"Under a bed. In a box" - Samael, with deep scepticism
"No. The notes were regarding such an operation, though" - Civitas, cagey
"Given that only two of us are Libertines, let's leave and the Heirarch can discuss it freely with the other
members of the investigative team" - Persephone
"We accept the refusal to include us" - Cobalt
Cobalt and Sef leave
"One Guardian to another, Heirarch, I must protest the treatment of my fellows" - Mycroft
"Well fuck you too, Yankee. The box contained a list of names - and more importantly hair samples - of leading
Libertines" - Civitas
Samael looks at Mycroft
"Our interest, then, is in proving what was *not* in the box. We don't need access to your secrets, but we do
need to prove to our satisfaction that Decurion's ring was not inside" - Samael
Civitas produces the box, setting it down carefully. Mycroft casts Postcognition and then, after a moment, nods
"Thank you, Hierarch" - Mycroft
Civitas puts the box away. Samael asks Cobalt and Sef to rejoin them.
"Names and Hair samples of Libertines. Including you" - Mycroft, quite calmly
Cobalt takes that in his stride. Civitas splutters
"And a hearty Fuck You right back, Hierarch" - Mycroft
Civitas snarls and storms out
"I can see why he'd want to keep *that* secret. My ego thanks you" - Cobalt
"He considers you a viable assassination target: you've made the big leagues, man!" - Samael
"Let's go shake down Master Usher" - Mycroft
"Here's my guess - Civitas wasn't involved, but when he sees his friend dead he assumes the worst, thinks
'what could a Libertine have taken' and goes for the assassination tool" - Samael
"His protection against himself being assassinated was that Decurion would kill those responsible using that
box. He needs to find another heavy to act as a detterent. Until then, he's vulnerable" - Cobalt
"Even if it's not the tool he thinks it is it's a safety net. His reaction was to panic and grab it" - Samael
"Where did Cxaxa go?" - Cobalt
Mycroft looks around, like he's only just noticed she's wandered off
"Where DID Cxaxa go?" - Mycroft
They phone her. Turns out she's been checking out where Decurion was eating.
Mycroft doesn't seem pleased
"This kind of initiative happen often?" - Cobalt
"She used to be my apprentice. And is the ex-wife of my former cabal-mate. They both quit the cabal during
the divorce - for some reason the American courts don't take 'I was possessed by a Mesopotamian Silver
Ladder' as legal grounds" - Mycroft
"Riiight" - Cobalt
"There was a whole thing with gouging her own eyes out" - Mycroft
"Let's go find Key. She seems a lot less strange suddenly" - Samael
"Ask her about her heart at some point" - Mycroft
"...They may be blue-skinned three-eyed hermaphrodites, but they're our blue-skinned three-eyed
hermaphrodites" - Samael
"Our cabal Moros hit it with a hammer" - Mycroft
...
On the ride to the Louvre, he explains.
"In the land that time forgot, among the ancient hyperborean kingdoms, there was a very powerful Silver
Ladder mage named Querephas who took the title 'Cxaxa', which roughly translates as 'blood magic queen'.
Anyways - big magical kingdom, ruling with an iron fist, slowly descending into demonology and other lessgood pursuits..." - Mycroft
"Did she turn into a snake?" - Cobalt
"It has been rumoured. Big Thulsa Doom thing going on. Lots of human sacrifices to creatures summoned from
Pandemonium to power the Kingdom after Atlantis Fell. Anyway - said crazy witch-queen was nearing the end
of her life and decided to reincarnate into her own line. She killed everyone in her kingdom, offed herself and
then..." - Mycroft
"After killing herself?" - Persephone
"Yes. She put her mind into a pair of stone eyes and her power into a glass heart filled with Pandemonic flies
fed on the blood of the sacrificed" - Mycroft
"Eurgh" - Cobalt
"Yeah. She'd already replaced these body parts, or they were Ecstatic stigmata from probing too deep into the
Astral. When one of her female descendants Awakened, which would be *our* Cxaxa, they would be under a
geas to find the missing components and... install them" - Mycroft
"Did she get as far as the heart?" - Samael
"She got as far as cutting her chest open with her own hand. As soon as she touched the Eyes, she turned into
Querephas. Pulled her own eyes out with her thumbs. There was a struggle, and Damascus - our Moros smashed the Heart. Ever since Cxaxa has been blind, bitter and every now and again gets flashes of memory
from a Hyperborean Demon-Queen" - Mycroft
"But Querephas doesn't control her?" - Samael
"Querephas is gone, but she left big chunks of herself behind" - Mycroft
"Does she remember when she wasn't herself?" - Cobalt
"Oh, yes. And memories from the ancient world come to her randomly. Bit of a tortured mix of neuroses, and
her depression got to the point that she thought she'd have been better off completing the ritual. She blamed
us for stopping her" - Mycroft
"Better for her, maybe, but it doesn't sound like it'd be better for anyone else" - Samael
"No. But that's our Cxaxa" - Mycroft
"We'll introduce her to Cognos. It's hard to be depressed around Cognos" - Cobalt
"Intense is her middle name. And then there was the business with the Exarch" - Mycroft
Everyone stares at him
"Oh, look! The Louvre!" - Mycroft
...
They cross the courtyard, past the glass pyramid, and meet Key in the shadow of the main building.
"What have you got?" - Cobalt
"He was here with Usher - that much we already knew. They viewed the galleries in the manner of 50s spies,
not really looking at the paintings. Decurion was asking Usher about everything 'back home'" - Key
"Going as planned?"
"Not that cliched. How has Solemn taken the 'reappearance'; I think we know what that refers to" - Key
Cobalt casts Shield of Chronos and Samael quietly tells Key what they've learned so far.
"In light of that, anything telling?" - Samael
"Decurion asked about 'Brianna'. I'm not sure who that is, but in context I would say it was Usher's apprentice,
who has apparantly since been killed" - Key
"Anything else?" - Cobalt
"Usher asked Decurion whether or not Solemn had any leads. *Usher* asked *Decurion*" - Key
"Decurion's closer to Solemn than Usher?" - Samael
"Leads about what?" - Persephone
"Finding Kosciej" - Key
"It's starting to look like Decurion's death was engineered to cause outrage in the Guardians and their allies he may have been a willing sacrifice, but Usher's apprentice and Hob's family might have been killed by Usher
and Hob themselves" - Samael
"Decurion may have been a willing sacrifice because he'd just committed a triple murder" - Key
"That doesn't ring right" - Mycroft, using his Attainment
"I don't think he was the killer - I think he was in on it, but the others might not be" - Samael
"They might not even have been killed. Reports that they were reached us here, but..." - Cobalt
"They might have been killed by Decurion's co-conspirators back in England" - Samael
"I don't know Usher well enough to say if he'd have been willing to make his apprentice a sacrifice" - Cobalt
"Even if he wasn't, I imagine someone out there was" - Samael
They briefly talk about where the true ring might be - Samael voices the pessimistic opinion that sooner or later
an innocent Guardian will get a "tip-off" from a still-living conspirator.
"So.. Where next? We're gonna go to Usher or the Directory?" - Samael
"The Directory, I think. Did he have the real ring physically on him?" - Cobalt
"He was carrying both when he was here with Usher" - Key
"Then to the entrance to the Shadow Directory, where we'll scry on Decurion coming both in and out" - Cobalt
He calls Vidocq, and arranges for an escort. Roach will come to guide them to the Directory.
...
In Mictlan, Persephone hears herself being called for.
"News?" - Persephone
"Do you want the bad news or the worse news?" - Hades
"Worse" - Persephone
"Take a look at that Thing" - Chronos
The Gateway Ring is gone, ripped apart and snapped. That much she remembers from the last time she
surveyed the wreckage.
But Kosciej's Region has changed. It was always a Tower, but now it's grown, monolithic and cyclopean, jutting
out from the wreckage towards the void in perception marking the tear in the Realm's barrier against the
Underworld.
"When did this happen? Does this mean he came back?" - Persephone
"We don't know. Not long" - Chronos
"You weren't watching for him?" - Persephone, accusingly
Hades looks at the assembled shades and shakes his head.
"Cousin Yvain Passed On without telling the rest of us. Yes, we did have someone watching it, but they left their
post" - Jodrell
"In any case. That thing's Solid. He's reclaimed his Gateway, placed it within his own Region and is barring the
rest of us access" - Chronos
Hades throws a 1948 ration book - the first piece of mental jetsam that comes to hand - at the barrier, which
chimes like a glass being tapped.
"Can we cut him out? Remove him?" - Persephone to Chronos
"Not while he's in the Legacy" - Chronos, grimly
"Look at it this way, at least there's no balcony for him and wormtongue to look down at us from" - Jodrell
Doghoooooter!
"Then can we at least isolate him? Chronos?" - Persephone
"Isolation?" - Chronos
"Can we lock him in?" - Persephone
"What? Build another wall around his wall but higher?" - Chronos, with deep sarcasm
She nods
"Yes, we should be able to make some kind of no-man's land" - Chronos
"And the other thing?" - Persephone
"We should be able to summon your ghost, if he will answer. He doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to,
though. It will only work the once, and it's one of those 'answer me these questions three' deals" - Chronos
"Does he have to answer truthfully?" - Persephone
"Yes, as long as the question is reasonably clear" - Chronos
"For example, if he didn't want to answer?" - Persephone
"Depends how much room you give him to equivocate" - Chronos
She looks across the small group of dejected spectres. Smaller again than after Kosciej betrayed them.
"Look, guys - I know you hurt, but I NEED you! If you just give in, then he'll win - he'll make the lies he's telling
the truth. Without him, we can make this place like the Mictlan you always wanted it to be" - Persephone
They murmer in their best approach at a cheer, and Chronos and Sef go to the edge of the Underworld, ready
for Chronos to summon Decurion.
Mictlan shakes as Paradox creeps into the Vulgar spell. A spire snaps off and falls sideways into the
Underworld.
"It's okay! We didn't need that!" - Baal, as debris whips up into the air all around them
Chronos brandishes his walking stick as Decurion flickers into view.
"Decurion! Why did you kill yourself?" - Persephone
"To give my people the advantage in the conflict to come" - Decurion
"Where did you secrete your ring of regeneration?" - Persephone
"The ring is in the possession of Eddington, without his knowledge" - Decurion
"I *knew* it!" - Persephone
Do you get why? Oh, what a tangled web...
Decurion fades. Mictlan creaks dramatically as Persephone channels Mana into it, directing the Cousins in the
repair effort. They've lost whole philosophical superstructures, but the fundamental argument remains solid.
...
The team reach the Shadow Directory. Vidocq (who is there) explains that for their own safety they will have to
be escorted inside by Roach, and Cobalt thanks him for protecting the team against the secrets contained
therein. This is, after all, the resting place of the book of Echo Walker making.
"No doubt there's some paintings or something that melt your brain" - Samael
"Tell me, is the picture of Dorian Gray in here?" - Cobalt, conversationally
"Yes. So is the Spear of Destiny" - Roach
"Which one?" - Cobalt, who saw it in the Convocation Hall when he met Vidocq
"The real one" - Roach, irritable
"Which real one?" - Samael
If only the Vampires knew!
"The one in Vienna is a fake that we made" - Roach
"Did the Nazis hunt for it?" - Cobalt
"Oh, yes" - Roach
"Were there Nazi mages?" - Samael
"Regrettably yes. Actually, there were a disparate number of Obrimos - the occult symbols matched" - Roach
"To be fair, it could equally be evidence of supernal echoes within a martial regime" - Cobalt
"Or they were looking for the master race" - Key, mildly
Everyone gets suddenly rather uncomfortable with the conversation
The Daksha were one of the Legacies that wholeheartedly supported the Axis, thanks to their beliefs about the racial
makeup of humanity and how different ethnicities are closer or further from the Atlantean origin of the species
...
Key uses her Attainment at the entrance (no restriction on the number of times she can scry on a target for
her) and reports that Decurion had both Rings when he entered the Directory. Usher had the real one and
Decurion the venom one when they left.
"Of course he did. So - we need to talk to the guards and curator about what they did" - Cobalt
Waiting there at the entrance is a mage Cobalt recognises as "Mr Francesque", the chief Guardian of Paris.
Roach suddenly stands up straight and attempts to look professional. The master greets them politely
(addressing Persephone as "Madame" to her annoyance).
"Monsieur. As you know, there is an attempt to follow the evidence" - Cobalt
"Yes, I know. Roach" - Fransesque
Roach curtseys and leaves
"The two gentlemen were escorted by one of my men - Luc here will walk you through the Directory in their
footsteps" - Fransesque
Luc turns out to be a Sleepwalker, who explains as they walk that he unfortunately didn't overhear Usher and
Decurion's conversation - he's been trained to not stick his nose in between two Awakened, especially two
Guardians of a hard-looking set as them.
Persephone asks to see the book that Kosciej used to justify his breakout - the one that Solemn had allegedly
altered. It's off the Decurion trail, but not too far. Luc says it's past the Signing document, the treaty between
the Diamond and the Nameless Cabals.
They pause as they pass it, Cobalt stopping to look over the title page.
Luc says that after the Treaty, Usher and Decurion split up - Usher stayed there while Decurion went to look at
the histories of various Legacies. He was looking up information on the Logophages.
"Clearly he was trying to frame someone, but who?" - Key
"I don't think this is an attempt to frame Solemn, for one very good reason: we can't pin this on Solemn" Samael
And after Decurion returned, they left together.
Luc takes Sef to the spot Kosciej showed her from his memory; she takes the book Solemn allegedly altered,
casts a mental spell to decode the cypher and confirms that it's the edited "It was the Parliament of the Needle
that killed all those people" version. Cobalt's Attainment oddly confirms that it has always said this, but it
hasn't always always said it.
"That's a damn useful edge you have" - Samael
"I can only see it on physical objects" - Cobalt
"But you can detect what Solemn's altered! And he probably doesn't know that you can" - Samael
"Can anyone do it?" - Persephone
Samael explains that it's likly a function of clashing Attainments - Solemn's Attainment probably isn't
detectable with Supernal magic, but Cobalt's Attainment is similarly grounded in the Fallen World. Sef has a
further bright idea - can Cobalt use his other Attainment to create a ghostly copy of the book as it was?
He'll think it through. For now, though, they need to interview the Cambridge delegation.
"Eddington is clearly being set up, so we'll interview them all at the same time" - Cobalt
"unfortunately, there's motive for all three potential masterminds. Kosciej could be gunning for him as a highranking Cambridge mage, Civitas for knowing too much and Solemn just to get rid of him" - Mycroft
...
They pick Roach back up and drive to the Cambridge lodging house, where they find Cxaxa kicking her heels
outside.
"Ah! Cxaxa" - Cobalt, with just a hint of questioning where she's been.
In fact, much like earlier, I totally forgot about her.
"I thought I'd check out Civitas and Vidocq having dinner on that first night, and I've been tracking Civitas'
movements since. He's been meeting with all the Consilium heads - especially Canarvan - but I don't think he
had anything to do with it" - Cxaxa
"We have a working theory. Need to test it" - Cobalt
Cxaxa's been around Mycroft enough to know when to look menacing and allow others to lay their interrogative
traps, and says she'll follow their lead.
"Game faces on, people" - Cobalt
Everyone looks at him
"Okay. That may have come across slightly more serious from a guy that wasn't dressed like a pirate" - Cobalt
They enter, and meet Usher, Hob, Mnemsys and Eddington. Cobalt gives them the Stink-Eye, and discerns that
Usher is an Orphan of Proteus...
...But, more importantly, that Mnemsys is a Logophage.
:shocked:
1.
Samael, not able to cast Soul Marks, is completely unaware. Cobalt shifts uncomfortably and gets right to it.
"We are attempting to trace the route taken by Decurion, and as you were all part of that journey..." - Cobalt
"We are all his FELLOW VICTIMS!" - Mnemsys
"Mark my words - seek out who killed Decurion, and that person will be the one responsible for my family and
Brianna" - Hob
'Brianna' is Usher's presumed-dead apprentice. I don't know if I named her before this point
Cobalt sighs
"Do you watch much television? CSI? The X-Files? Columbo? We have to ask the questions to find the answers,
and that means asking the dull stuff like what you talked about on the plane" - Cobalt
"I did not speak to Decurion on the plane" - Mnemsys
"I was sat with Civitas, and as I'd been instructed to speak to Civitas urgently regarding the tensions with his
native Libertines, I was focused on that" - Eddington
"And how long did that take?" - CObalt
"The journey, and more conversation afterwards until Civitas had a prior engagement" - Eddington
"Your belongings during this?" - Cobalt
"Taken by one of the Pages" - Eddington
"No chance of them being tampered with?" - Cobalt
"Only by one of the Convocation officials" - Eddington
"Very well. Master Usher?" - Cobalt
Usher looks like crap - like he hasn't slept at all
"You were talking with the deceased?" - Cobalt
"Decurion and I were good friends, back when we were killing Tremere together. Back with Duma" - Usher
"Did you see him after the trip?" - Cobalt
"Sure. We spent most of the arrival day together, catching up. Went to the Louvre of all places, and to the
Shadow Directory" - Usher
"Did he seem under any influence? Acting out of character?" = Cobalt
"No" - Usher
"Did you have any concerns about his health?" - Cobalt
"No - Decurion's health has never troubled him. Not with his ring" - Usher
"And at what point did he give you that ring?" - Cobalt
Zing!
Usher reels as if struck
"I don't know what you mean..." - Usher
"I mean that he had both the poison ring and his own upon entering the Shadow Directory with you, and only
the poison ring upon exit. YOU had the regenerative ring. At what point was the exchange conducted?" - Cobalt,
businesslike
"He said that he was worried about it falling into the wrong hands. That it was likely the Free Council would
come after him, being a big target, and that he didn't want to see it looted and taken to some Lorehouse" Usher
"And where is the ring now?" - Cobalt
"I can go get it" - Usher
"That wasn't the question. Is the ring in your possessions, or those of someone *else* in this house? Bearing in
mind that your responses will need to be truthful as a response to our role as investigators. And that we have
spoken with his Ghost" - Cobalt
The jig's up!
"Decurion's Ghost?" - Usher
"Yes" - Cobalt
"We..." - Usher
Usher's fellows seem confused - even Mnemsys.
"FINE. He... I had the ring" - Usher
Persephone subtly presses the 'record' button on her phone
"He gave the ring to me out of friendship. He knew he was going to die - that there were people hunting him and that by coming here they would catch up with him. He said that if I ever had the opportunity, I should plant
the ring on someone I was sure was working for the enemy, to make it look like they killed him" - Usher,
agitated
"And who did you choose?" - Samael
"The man whose apprentice freed the beast!" - Usher
"Cognos?" - Eddington, thoroughly confused
"Cxaxa, Samael, could you search?" - Cobalt
Usher rounds on Eddington
"We all *know*! There's no use denying it!" - Usher, releasing pent-up hatred
Eddington makes them mental leap, and looks from his furious Consilium-mate to the impassive Investigators.
"You framed... Me?" - Eddington
"Where did you hide it?" - Samael
"In his ceremonial robes" - Usher, lip curled in hatred
"Magister. Where..?" - Samael
"In the suitcase on the left of the door" - Eddington, sadly
"With your permission, then" - Samael
Eddington nods. Samael and Cxaxa head upstairs
"If you would confirm it, Key, with your Sight" - Cobalt
Key nods and heads upstairs, with a backward look of extreme disapproval in Usher's direction.
There is silence in the parlor
"Did you suspect Decurion was going to kill himself?" - Cobalt
"He was fading. Not rapidly, but he knew. Paradox marks and old age - he didn't want to give the enemy the
satisfaction of besting him" - usher
"Are there any other provocations planned?" - Cobalt
"I'm not sure what you're implying, but no" - Usher
"We have to confirm" - Cobalt
"Confirm however you like. My friend killed himself because of the Nameless, and asked me to make it count
for something. I wouldn't have, even then, until they took Brianna. And then I just didn't care" (furious) "Mark
me - if there are any more 'provocations', Libertine, they'll come from YOUR side" - Usher
"We'll have to inform Vidocq of your part in this" - Cobalt
"My colleagues knew nothing. I take full responsibility for my crime of anger" - Usher, stiff
"I'm going to have to advise that they remove you from this house. You've already made one accusation
against your Magister" - Cobalt
"Eddington chose his Shadow Name well. He's a coward, a pacifist and a Libertine" (looks at Eddington) "And if
you're not insulted by that, you should be" - Usher
"If I am a pacifist, it at least means I've thought about my position. Idiot" (to Cobalt) "May I be excused?" Eddington
Samael, Key and Cxaxa come back downstairs. Samael nods to Mycroft, Cobalt and Persephone.
"We're done here" - Cobalt
They and Eddington exit the house, Cobalt talking to the house Page and asking that Eddington be taken to
stay somewhere else.
Everyone takes a deep breath
"I'm... Sorry" - Samael, to Eddington
Chris: I really do feel sorry for the poor guy - getting fixed up because he disagrees with them. What shits
"The one thing I did put to K in the dream was that absolving him of this may absolve him of other things - but
we still don't know who attacked Brianna and Hob's family" - Cobalt
"How long will it take Cal to find out?" - Persephone
"Longer than it'll take us to go to Vidocq. Cal's probably in Cambridge by now, though" - Samael
"If Excalibur excels at anything it is causing trouble" - Key
"Did anyone else look at the Soul Marks? Usher was a Child of Proteus" - Cobalt
"I didn't recognise Eddington or Mnemsys" - Key
"I recognised Mnemsys" - Cobalt, very grim indeed
Mycroft peers at him, then shrewdly nods.
"Logophage?" - Mycroft
Cobalt inhales the Paris air.
"Logophage" - Cobalt
"We've got a Logophage right here?" - Samael
"Bwah?" - Persephone
"What are we going to do?" - Samael
"Tell the Guardians, of course" - Cobalt
"She is a Guardian" - Samael
"Tell different ones, then. We have a selection" - Cobalt
Samael looks at Mycroft and Cxaxa
"Well, we've already told two. Civitas isn't going to be particularly interested" - Samael
"I was thinking someone French who might be interested in a Nephandus being in town" - Cobalt
"Have Logophages been declared Left-Handed?" - Persephone
"Yes" - Mycroft, Cobalt, Samael, Cxaxa and Key, in unison
"This isn't like the Echo Walkers. Logophages have been anathema for centuries - they're a humiliating stain on
our Order" - Mycroft
"Tell Vidocq. Tell the Epotet. It might end up with a knife in the back of the Logophage" - Samael
"I discovered it as part of our investigation - I'm going to tell Vidocq. What he does with it is up to him. His city,
someone elses' problem" - Cobalt
"And if he sees fit to have her killed, so be it" - Samael, approvingly
"I don't know how they do it in France. I just know he'd want to know" - Cobalt
"I'll start backing up my memories" - Persephone
"Shall we give him our information now?" - Samael
Cobalt considers, and says yes. Arrangements are made.
...
And now for the best scene in the story, in which our heroes are faced with a terrible gordian knot of a problem
The assorted gaggle arrive, some hour later, in the Convocation chamber. Their footsteps echo in the muchemptier room, and they settle in to wait. A few minutes later Vidocq and his bodyguards arrive, and Cobalt gets
back on his feet.
"Sir. We have good news" - Cobalt
"We've solved the murder of Decurion" - Samael
"Excellent" - Vidocq, pleased and relieved
"And we have identified an accomplice" - Cobalt
Cobalt indicates to Cxaxa that she should show Vidocq what she's holding in the palms of her hands - both
rings, identical to plain sight.
"Decurion took his own life. He deliberately switched the rings in an attempt to create outrage at his death. We
have confessions from his Ghost and his accomplice. When he entered the Shadow Directory he had both rings.
When he left it, Usher had the real one" - Cobalt
"The Cambridge man?" - Vidocq
"In an attempt to plant it on an enemy, or someone he percieved as an enemy of their cause" - Cobalt
"He chose Eddington, who he sees as little more than a traitor to his Consilium thanks to his appeasment
stance" - Samael
Vidocq looks displeased at that notion
"In questioning him, he did say that he was of two minds of whether to go through with the deception but was
pushed over the edge by the death of his apprentice" - Samael
"He claims it was a crime of passion" - Cobalt
"At least it got nowhere. But I am disturbed that pacifists are now considered viable targets by both sides in this
dispute" - Vidocq
"Indeed. There is another matter... Who in Paris would handle the Left Handed?" - Cobalt
"mr Franseque" - VIdocq
"I inspected the Cambridge contingent with a Soul-mark spell to identify Legacies. I believe Mnemsys to be a
Logophage" - Cobalt
Vidocq's face is a thundercloud
"We haven't mentioned this to anyone else" - Samael
"We will call her out on the Day of Justice, but you will forgive me if I have it confirmed first" - Vidocq
He considers, angry
"What a nest of vipers this Cambridge is!" - Vidocq
"I have no doubt that there are good and loyal mages of the Pentacle among them, led astray by their leaders"
- Cobalt
"But this is good - the LIbertines are innocent" - Vidocq
"Of the death of Decurion, not necessarily of the other matters" - Cobalt
"Though the timing is suspicious. He may have been attempting to buy someone time" - Samael
"We need to know within four days' time. Civitas has been agitating, attempting to stir up support. Your agents
must get word to us... before Civitas goes through with what he's threatening..." - Vidocq
The Heirarch closes his eyes, pained
"...And withdraws from the treaty" - Vidocq
"Could Civitas be... Clearly he's not acting rationally right now. He interfered with the crime scene" - Samael
"Out of grief" - Cobalt
"The same grief that's about to make him do something really stupid" - Mycroft
"Could we remove him?" - Samael, hopefully
"We can remove him with words. We cannot, I think, stop him from making his proclamations" - Cobalt
"If your friends prove the Libertines were innocent, it may limit the conflict to just the Consilii and Assemblies in
London and Cambridge" - Vidocq
"The problem is the large number of mages on both sides that appear to want the excuse" - Cobalt, sadly
"The best solution may be to just let them kill each other" - Samael
"As long as it then doesn't spill over into the whole of England. Or the UK. Or Europe" - Vidocq
"We have no way of limiting the scope or the damage" - Samael
"The best the Convocation can provide is a verdict of legal warfare; declare we cannot decide who is in the
right between SOlemn, Civitas and Kosciej and allow them to wage a Wizard's War against one another while
everyone else stays out of it. But that will legitimize their actions, give them a mandate for their aggressions...
And excuse what they may have already done in the name of that conflict" - Vicodq
"That may be what we have to do" - Samael, nodding
"No! we can't do that!" - Persephone, horrified and thinking of Hades
"I have friends in London! And, I think, we have a friend we don't talk to much in Cambridge" - Cobalt
"This is true, but fundamentally we have three very powerful figures here who want to have a fight. We may not
be able to stop them" - Samael
"But we can't just step back and say 'okay - you fight! We'll stay out of it!'" - Persephone
"What do you want us to do?" - Samael
"This is her head, remember" - Cobalt
"It's not just about that - it's everyone else, and I'll do a nything I fucking well CAN! Can you imagine how many
people will die if they get their way!?" - Persephone
"I just don't see how we can prevent it" - Samael
"So if Russia were to say 'we want to fight', you'd step back and say 'okay'" - Persephone
"I'm... Not quite sure what you're asking, there" - Samael
"She's suggesting the UN approach; everyone working together to dissuade members going to war" - Cobalt
"In case you hadn't noticed, we've been trying that for some time, but there's a limit. If they really want to kill
each other, they'll bring so much magical force..." - Samael
Cobalt, though, has realised something
"If they really really want to just kill each other, they'd just do it. NONE of them have" - Cobalt
"They're looking for our stamp of approval" - Mycroft
"Exactly! They're looking for the moral high ground. The one who makes that high ground wins, because he
gets the backing of all those outside - the sympathies of all Europe's Libertines gets Kosciej a lot of backing. A
lot of recruits" - Cobalt
"And if Civitas and Solemn look like the victims of Libertine aggression, then they come out ahead" - Vidocq
"THAT'S what Decurion killed himself for; to get Civitas that backing and sympathy" - Cobalt
"Can the Convocation declare that they're wrong? We don't know who's right?" - Samael
"Say they're all equally wrong? It's the same thing - Canarvan, Durham and Paris will stay out of it" - Vidocq
"We CAN'T stay out!" - Persephone
"This isn't a government, Sef! We have no way of stopping what they do on their own territory short of a
massivly armed magical presence... Which we don't have!" - Samael
"And let's not get involved in a land war in asia prematurely - we still have the tiniest chance of stopping this
diplomatically. Each of them wants open warfare" - Cobalt
"But they want the greater mass of mages behind them" - Mycroft
"Which means we can't give them that!" - Persephone
"Exactly. Either our Consilii get dragged into this or men like Eddington have to leave their homes or be killed" Vidocq
"One of the reasons I brought Civitas up is that he's genuinely unstable. Diplomacy that might bring someone
else back from the brink is unlikely to work" - Samael
"Possibly why Decurion did it" - Key
"What I wanted to know was... Is there any way we can depose him?" - Samael
"Depose Civitas? You would need..." - Vidocq
"London would have to do it" - Cobalt
"London would have to do it. You would need his Council" - Vidocq
"We've alienated one" - Cobalt, thinking of Cadacaeus
"And Decurion was another" - Vidocq
"So we have no way of doing it? He's a loose cannon?" - Samael, with a sinking feeling
"You would need his Councillors to vote to remove him by majority. You could persuade Tiresias to challenge
Cadacaeus..." - Vidocq
"We don't have time" - Samael
"If we're lucky, we can buy time" - Cobalt
"Is there a way to make the decision 'we're staying out and you'd better keep it within certain VERY clearly
delineated boundaries?" - Samael
"We can only suggest policy for the attending Consilii - persuading others to go along with it will be a job for
your Heralds. But some kind of statement to the effect that they have a grievence and we can no longer tell
which of them is in the right" - Vidocq
"And if you hit someone who hasn't declared themselves a valid target we'd look unhappily on it" - Samael
"It's a start. It's a message" - Cobalt
"We recommend endless rounds of duelling to sort it out" - Vidocq
"Silver Ladder run the Convocation - they have the duelling experience" - Samael
He pauses for a moment to reflect
"This is awful. Three groups, all as determined as one another..." - Samael
"They're three very cranky old men" - Cobalt
"And they all have positions of power" - Samael
"Playing three-way chess" - Mycroft
"I'm starting to think it'd be a good thing if the Seers attacked; they'd unify us" - Persephone
"Don't tempt fate" - Cobalt
"There's an argument to be made for using the Seers, but I suspect that if they *did* attack it'd be worse" Samael
"There is one final question... Where did he get it?" - Vidocq
"The false ring?" - Mycroft
"He could have made it, I suppose" - Vidocq
Cobalt uses his Attainment, and then casts a Time spell on top
"He made it himself. Less than three weeks ago" - Cobalt
"So less than two weeks after Kosciej broke out?" - Persephone
"It's a reaction to that breakout. The victory gained by Kosciej in killing him would cripple Civitas" - Cobalt
"So he dies in the best way he can" - Samael
"Offering Civitas the moral high ground" - Cobalt
"Which we're about to take away again. He's going to be fucking furious. How long do we have?" - Samael
"I'll restart the Convocation tomorrow" - Vidocq
"What's the next day?" - Cobalt
"We have the Day of Swords to complete, which shouldn't take too long. Then the Day of Sleep, the Day of
Mysteries and the Day of Justice. I believe that at the Day of Justice Civitas will call the Free Council out. Your
friends have four days" - Vidocq
"He may calm down" - Persephone
"I'll do my best to cool his head - but I've been trying that for years. If he'd listened to me or to my master none
of this would be happening" - Vidocq
"I assume the result of this investigation will be made public, in the which case he'll know what happened" Samael
"Do you want to tell him?" - Cobalt
"I will tell him" - Vidocq
"Is there anything else we can do for you?" - Cobalt
"I'll announce when we reconvene that Usher has been arrested and will be tried on the Day of Justice. For a
lesser charge connected to Decurion's attempt at wagging the dog, but it must still be redressed. And I will
announce that Decurion committed suicide" - Vidocq
"Thank you for giving us this opportunity to help" - Samael
"Thank you for your assistance, all of you. I'll let you get back to your people; normal service will now be
resumed" - Vidocq
He exits.
The group of six regard one another
"Pub?" - Cobalt
"Pub" - Samael
Sef texts Orchid to tell her House arrest has been lifted. Cobalt contacts Symmetry, Magog, Ashlar and Cognos.
Samael phones Pandora.
Pub.
...
Do they have pubs in France, or is it just a bar?
Dave2: Just a bar, I think
Fortunately, CObalt possesses the 'Barfly' Merit, and can find an appropriate hostelry in ANY city
In fine Auric Horizon tradition, the Cabal and the extended family take over a bar. Cobalt, Samael, Persephone,
Symmetry, Magog, Ashlar, Pandora, Cognos, Mycroft, Cxaxa, Orchid, Tiresias, Hatfield, Key, Gabrielle,
Gabrielle's boyfriend Hastur that they haven't met yet.
Samael looks around - Orchid is enthusiastically chatting to Pandora and Cobalt, Key is sipping wine and
speaking to Gabrielle, Cognos and Magog are having a high-stakes game of poker.
The Consilium system of the UK may be on the brink of war, with mad multiple-degree Masters about to attack
one another...
...But the Auric Horizon has a lot of friends.
"What are you smiling at?" - Pandora
"Nothing. Just a ray of hope" - Samael
"I was talking to Cal. I hope they're okay. Natalie's coming along, apparantly - though she was taken with Robin"
- Cobalt
"I don't know what that means" - Samael
"I'll tell you what it means. It means she's been too long in the presence of Rodriguez" - Persephone
"Rod is apparently throwing the leotard off with Marion" - Cobalt
"See? There you go" - Persephone
"Generally they shack up with a Consilium for a few weeks, then Rod seduces someone, starts a fight and they
move on" - Cobalt
"It's like the A-team without the Military Police" - Symmetry
Samael climbs on a stool
"A toast! To solving mysteries by watching too much CSI and Columbo!" - Samael
"CSI and COLUMBO!" - Everyone
"And thanks, man, for letting me do the big reveal" - Cobalt, to Mycroft
Mycroft shrugs his rumpled shoulders
"I'm used to it" - Mycroft
"The tension in the room when you were grilling Usher.. I mean - that man has lost the plot. And knowing what
he's capable of!" - Samael
"That's why I had the mental sight on. First sign of him hulking out and I'd have been off like a shot" - Cobalt
"I'd watch my back" - Cxaxa
Key just smiles
"And thank you for letting me have the reveal as well - you were doing all the postcog" - Cobalt, to Key
"Key's Postcognition, Cxaxa's investigation, Mycroft's Mycrofting, Sef's Ghost Interrogation..." - Samael
"...And what did you do?" - Cobalt
"very little!" - Samael
"Did you love it?" - Cobalt
"Yes! I got to snarl at Civitas! Someone had to play the bad cop, and I enjoyed playing it... So that's one
problem solved and many more created" - Samael
"What do you people do when you're not averting wars?" - Cxaxa
"Start new ones" - Samael
"Technically, we're Archaeomancers by vague trade" - Cobalt
"Lots of us are" - Pandora
"We're looking for our next dig. Specifically, I think a long way away from Britain" - Samael
"... A long way away from Britain I can do" - Cxaxa
Samael turns serious
"I'm looking for Shards of the Celestial Ladder" - Samael
"He's looking for that. I'm looking for specific magic rocks that do what he needs. I have an image to maintain"
- Cobalt
"I might have a lead. I might need to read up some more and visit other Consilii. I'm assuming Mycroft told you
what happened to me?" - Cxaxa
Mycroft is halfway through his pint
"Whuh?" - Mycroft
"I must say, your American Guardians are much better than our European ones" - Samael
"Immediately after what happened... Happened... I was extensively interviewed by Mystagogues and Thearchs.
It's one of the things I've had cause to regret since" - Cxaxa
"Because you told them stuff?" - Samael
"I told them some things I shouldn't have. In any event, I have some more reading to do but it's possible that
the location of her city might now be able to be discovered. Some people are close to finding it and there are
things there that, no offence to your order, an innocent Mystagogue should not uncover" - Cxaxa
"Okay. Is this a straight fight or a bug hunt?" - Cobalt
"It's a Daemonic Artifact hunt" - Cxaxa
"Right" - Cobalt and Sef simultaneously
"I have a list of Things That Should Not Be that belong in a Censorium or Destroyed, and I need a team of
diggers" - Cxaxa
"If there's one thing we're good at, it's finding things like that" - Persephone
"The other problem is that some of the people I told later turned out to be Seers" - Cxaxa
"Did this city hold any legendary monsters?" - Samael
"Other than my former Incarnation?" - Cxaxa
"Yes" - Samael
"It's likly to be trapped, cursed, possibly demon-haunted..." - Cxaxa
"Death Scarabs?" - Cobalt
"Do you still have those?" - Persephone
"I'm still trying to sell them!" - Cobalt
"So yes. Adventure. It will be hot" - Cxaxa
"It always is. But we're interested" - Cobalt
"Jungle hot?" - Persephone
"The high Sahara" - Cxaxa
"Okay" - Samael, using Forces magic to chill his beer
"Scorpions!" - Cobalt
Everyone groans
"If we meet any demonic scorpion-men, Rex, it's YOUR fault" - Ashlar
"If we meet the Scorpion King, I won't be impressed" - Pandora
They have a brief digression to the plot of "The Scorpion King" and how personally disappointed Samael was in
the movie
Sef checks her messages - she invited Eddington to the party, but he hasn't shown
"...Can I come? To the desert?" - Orchid
"Not enough things trying to eat you last time?" - Samael
"Including the Seers, to be fair" (to Cxaxa) "We knocked over a local nest" - Cobalt
"But thinking about it, there is ample scope for Sandcastle building" - Ashlar
"I'm thinking three rings of fortifications. I'm not one for cyclopedian architecture" - Cobalt
"Samael - can you make a flying carpet?" - Persephone
"Would it break your heart if I say no?" - Samael
"Yes" - Persephone
"No" - Samael
Eddington doesn't show. Sef phones him, but he's had a little bit too much at the moment. She promises him
possible proof of Logophages.
And then Samael gets a text message.
His eyes go wide, and he shushes everyone.
"Guys! It's from Excalibur... 'Have Just Rescued Brianna From Guardian Stronghold. Several Things On Fire.
Making For Border'" - Samael
1.
There are cheers.
"'Awesome'" - Samael, texting back
He gets a reply
"He says she tried to leave for the Free Council. THIS information is going to Vidocq... Shall we tell
Usher?" - Samael, grinning
"No. He's in custody - let Vidocq decide that" - Cobalt
"Can he bring her here?" - Persephone
"We're in FRANCE. He's in the UK!" - Samael, forgetting
"HE CAN TELEPORT!" - Persephone
Samael texts the question.
"He says 'Rodriguez Says We Shall Not Take The Maiden Into The Belly Of The Beast. Besides, She
Doesn't Want To Go. Understandably Paranoid'" - Samael
"We need her as a witness" - Persephone
"Record a statement - that'll get Usher from reluctant angry guy to.." - Cobalt
"NO. You know what this will do? This will get *everyone* behind Kosciej" - Ashlar
"We know there are a bunch of guys fucking about. We also know at least in that case it wasn't
Kosciej's faction behind it. We can't give him this legitimacy or he'll have this war. For now - she's
safe. That's what's important. Right now all three factions are roughly equal, balanced in the
public eye..." - Samael
Cobalt, though, shakes his head. He can see the Gordian Knot forming around him again.
"I'm not going to lie, Sam. They'll ask about Brianna. I'll say she doesn't want to come because
she's afraid of the Guardians" - Cobalt
"Good man" - Mycroft, approvingly
"I'll cause an almighty shit storm doing it, but... Okay. Civitas is off the rails. He has been for a
while. His policies are Draconian, authoritarian. He's already in denial of the treaty. Solemn is Left
Handed and flat-out evil. Kosciej - whatever else he may be - is in the right" - Cobalt
"He's a psychopath" - Samael
"Yes" - Cobalt, simply
"He's fighting a century-old war and using us all as weapons" - Samael
"Yes. But one could say that the battle between God and the Devil has been going for a long
time, and it was a mistake to involve mankind. I don't see people running around suggesting
demon worship" - Cobalt
"Kosciej is a remorseless killer. He does not have the best interest of the Free Council at heart" Samael
"He's killed friends of ours" - Hatfield
"I know! All right!? The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy and nothing more..." - Cobalt
"I don't think he's better than Solemn. I think they're both fuckers" - Samael
"I think it's Solemn's fault Kosciej is this way, but it's been so long he's lost that justification" Symmetry
"What was it you once said, Cobalt? He who acts like a dick to achieve great things is still a dick?"
- Persephone
"Yes" - Cobalt
"Your words" - Persephone
"Civitas is more mundane. He's just broken" - Samael
"Decurion was trying to push Civitas into Solemn's camp. That was the move we saw played
here" - Cobalt
"I hope London can get sorted out. If this revelation doesn't smack him back into reality, he's
going to go completely off the rails" - Samael
"And it becomes a matter for the post mortem to count how many of us die in the trenches" -
Ashlar
Cobalt sighs
"Bollocks" - Cobalt
...
The Convocation begins to move again, resuming the agenda.
Persephone meets Eddington with a plan to have Ashlar conjure a phantasm of the book Solemn
altered, but he says it's not even circumstantial. Eddington's plan relied on carefully maintaining
his position, gathering evidence and having Solemn removed, but no one there appears to trust
him any more. He's going to move Sanctum.
...
Samael gets word from Cal that the guys have dropped Brianna off with the Libertine Assembly in
Bristol, and that they're now returning to Cambridgeshire to look into Hob's family - taking
several Bristolian Libertines with them.
...
The Day of Sleep contains no major revelations, beyond admonishments to be careful of Paradox
and to guard the Veil. Civitas gives a ranting speech on the subject.
Mycroft goes to meet him afterward to try to present their case, but returns sadly saying the
Heirarch was not conducive to peace. Civitas doesn't understand why Decurion did it.
...
Then the Day of Mysteries. The Mysterium talk about new finds and new discoveries. Ashlar gives
a talk about his and Cobalt's Legacy. Olympus shares the results of his explorations of Mars.
Samael talks abotu why certain auras are certain colors.
And then Banneker stands up
"As some here have tried to say" (indicating Samael and Cobalt) "The Seers are a great
menance, but pale in comparison to their overlords. I speak as a survivor - I have come face to
face with an Ochema, a soul of an Exarch, and somehow survived with my life..." - Banneker
And then he tells the story. How Washington DC left the Seers alone too much, allowed them to
gather enough power. Eventually, the two sides clashed and the damage caused warped reality.
They weren't proactive enough against the Seers, and things got so bad that an Exarch decided
to Manifest.
The discussion is rambling, the account fearful, but the message is clear - ignore the Seers and
lose one's life.
Will there be an ochema in Soul Cage, after the finale of Broken Diamond? You never know - they have
stats now, and can therefore be kiled.
Cobalt talks about the Barghests and Karen Newman. Samael and Pandora about the Ungula
Draconis site in Brazil
...
That evening, Cal confirms to Samael that Hob's family are in fact dead. Rod used postcognition
and reports that on first glance a group of people in Guy Fawkes masks cast spells on the car, but
that's a false history - after the Bede problem, Rod is used to such things. He doesn't know who
*did* it, but whoever it was wants everyone else to think it was the Free Council.
...
And then, finally, comes the Day of Justice.
Usher and Eddington have a shouting match - Usher accusing Eddington of being some kind of
liberal. Eddington very coldly accuses Usher of pinning the murder of his friends on people. He
implies that Solemn had something to do with it.
Vidocq notes that Usher is now Banished from Paris, and if Solemn wishes to participate in any
future Convocations he will have to make restitution.
Usher challenges Eddington to a duel, to which Eddington refuses.
Before he leaves, though, Samael lays out what *actually* happened, and tells him that Brianna
will be in touch soon.
And with that, Usher leaves France.
...
And then Excalibur turns up, to much hugging and manly clapping on the shoulder. Rod and
Natalie have stayed in the UK, but he's here to give evidence.
And the evidence is damning.
Under postcognition they saw Brianna get jumped and stabbed by men in Guy Fawkes masks.
That false history was dispelled, revealing that they in fact knocked her unconscious. Cal and
company gave chase, saw the warning marks of a Guardian safehouse, deeply considered the
political ramifications for all of twenty seconds and drove the Land Rover through the front gate.
Technically, the safe house was outside Cambridge's territory, but - says Cal with a big grin - that
just means it was a covert operation. Brianna was being kept inside; they got her out and away.
He mentions some things only Brianna would know to prove it, and then tells her tale - Brianna, it
turns out, had told Usher of her intention to join the Free Council repeatedly, and Usher had
threatened her in response. Excalibur is of the opinion that Usher set her up, and Brianna - who
demanded to be dropped off with an Assembly - never wants to see any of the Cambridge
Consilium again.
"She also mentioned that if the Free Council want anyone to put on recruitment messages, she'll
be volunteering" - Excalibur
"Oh, great" - Persephone, with a sinking feeling.
They couldn't trace who killed Hob's family.
Next up is Sef, issuing the formal Grievence of Mictlan against Kosciej. Half of their living
members have been critically injured, and Mictlan casts off any responsibility for Kosciej. She and
Gabrielle worked for hours on the speech, and it goes down well.
And then Vidocq announces that he knows damn well someone in the room is Left Handed. He's
had it verified and they can do it without embarrassment by turning themselves in quietly
afterwards or make a spectacle of it by trying to run.
Mnemsys appears to go for "quiet"... At least until she creeps close enough to the door. Cobalt
trips her, and she is set upon by Arrow enforcers.
"This woman is a Logophage. And we have reason to believe she's not the ONLY one in the
Cambridge Consilim..." - Vidocq
And then Vidocq begins to rant. He has heard the deposition of the Parliament of the Needle
about Kosciej's insanity and crimes - he appears to take Kosciej's attempts to drag the Libertines
back a hudnred years to be a personal insult. And then there's Cambridge...
"...What can we say about Cambridge following this afternoon? At least there's ONE good man
among them" - Vidocq
Nor does London escape the Parisian Heirarch's scathing tongue
"I am sorry to say this Civitas - I have said this many times - but your house is in disarray. I beg
you; sue for peace. We cannot and will not stand with you. I put the motion forward that
everyone not in these Consilii or the Columns opposing them will take no part in this selfdestructive conflict. If any Cabal not yet involved becomes so, the member Consilii will know" Vidocq
...
Afterward, Tiresias and Ashlar bring word of Civitas' response.
"Decurion's death was meant to wake him up - and it worked. He's awake. Before, he declared
that the Assembly was not a legitimate part of the Consilium. Now, he's put a bounty on Guy
Fawkes masks" - Tiresias
"I hope for your sake that he's removed soon" - Samael
"I can't speak about that" - Constantine
"If you need help getting London to move into the future" - Samael
"We'll let you know. If we live that long" - Constantine
...
And that's the end of that.
The Auric Horizon pack their bags in the haunted house, mulling over the outcome of the voting.
Kosciej has his war. The Convocation has expressed it's disgust with him, but recognises the
conflict and washes its hands of him. Civitas is agitating for supporters, but has lost his best
friend and is increasingly unstable. Solemn has all but been outed as a Logophage - everyone
going home today from Paris is well aware that Solemn is Left Handed, but there is still no solid
proof.
Those going back to war zones think carefully about whether they want to.
The Fellowship of the Pub disbands with fond farewells. Everyone that wanted to come to the
desert is on notice.
And Cobalt goes to see Civitas
...
"I overheard something you didn't want me to. I'm prepared to keep that secret on one condition
- Symmetry comes OFF that list" - Cobalt
Awww!
"And yourself?" - Civitas
"I don't have enough cards in my hand. And besides, I'm trying to make peace here" - Cobalt
"You're doomed to failure, but I accept your offer. I hope we never meet again" - Civitas
...
Orchid and Sef organise Orchid visiting for a while.
...
Just before they leave, Mycroft has a word of caution for them all
"These shards of the Celestial Ladder you were after. What were they for?" - Mycroft
"No, we're not trying to rebuild it" - Samael
"Because the clusterfuck where the Ochema manifested? Caused by someone trying to Ascend" Mycroft
"We're trying to send something back. And no, the Exarchs won't like it" - Samael
"Then my advice to you, once they notice, is to run. Do any of you have any ancient prophecies
about you?" - Mycroft
"I'm going to die at sea" - Cobalt
"Are there supernatural creatures interested in you?" - Mycroft
"We beat them up every now and again?" - Persephone
"But no Ananke? No prophecies of yore? In that case, you may have a chance" - Mycroft
"They'll never see it coming" - Cobalt, cheerfully
...
The Cabal take the train home
"You realise what we're going to do now?" - Cobalt
"What?" - Samael
"Blog about this" - Cobalt
"You're kidding" - Samael
"'Today I went on Holiday and was put under house arrest while my boyfriend played Sherlock
Holmes'" - Symmetry, arch
Cobalt winces
"You can do the next one" - Cobalt
"You know what you should talk about? How crazy all this is - so if there are any young Libertines
out there reading it, they know not to get involved" - Samael
"That's what I meant" - Cobalt
"Sorry. Being slow" - Samael
"I'm not talking about emo poetry. Reporting what happened"
"Get some of those viral memes out there. LolKosciej. Image Macros - 'Would you follow Kaptain
Krunch?'" - Samael
Magog beams
"Probably the best thing you ever came up with, man. Also fliers: 'Solemn is a Logophage' 'delete
all of these, fucker'" - Samael
"Make Amazon listings for books: 'Solemn: Logophage?'" - Cobalt
"We have the beginnings of an aggressive marketing campaign" - Samael
"You sure you're a Mystagogue? That's awfully up to date" - Cobalt
"You'd be surprised what we get up to in the media" - Samael
"And so the dark secret of Paris Hilton is revealed..." - Cobalt
...
The door to the Lighthouse is opened.
"We made it!" - Persephone
"Check for deathtraps, bombs and sinister messages" - Samael
"Well. I guess you three had a success" - Symmetry
"I got to have a glower-off with the guy who turned out to be the bad-guy" - Magog, satisfied
"Child of Proteus. You'd have to force-pike him in the nads before he hulked out" - Cobalt
"Overall, I call this a draw" - Samael
"I think we lost" - Cobalt
"No, man. Kosciej tried to manipulate you" - Samael
"And he was wrong, honey. He's just as much a shit as the rest of them" - Symmetry
"He tried to play you and he lost" - Samael
"He lost" - Symmetry
Cobalt seems dubious
"Now, do we believe?" - Symmetry
"We believe" - Cobalt
"Can a Lich cope with the internet?" - Samael, happily
.
.
.
.
.
.
As it turns out, yes.
One of the things on MagTube, as the three sides look to gether supporters while Cobalt tries to
get people to give peace a chance, is a video message from Brianna. The Nameless have taken
her on as a symbol - a voice of the resistance. She speaks earnestly to camera about how, when
she tried to leave for the Libertines, her own people attacked her until a Libertine rescued her.
Cobalt sits in his and Symmetry's room, the video paused.
Because he recognises Brianna.
She was in the room.
The only other person in the room is a blonde girl in her late teens or early twenties, wearing a T-shirt bearing
the legend "I taught your boyfriend that thing you like". She's stood, attentive, next to the chair.
She was in the room with Kosciej.
BEFORE Rod and Cal "rescued" her.
"Who would be strange enough to fake evidence of evidence being faked against themselves?"
Kosciej would.
Played for, and got!
Dave2: I know too well how you operate for the story to slip past me without knowing something was up... I'm just far
too slow on the uptake. Grrr.
And with that typically Soul Cageish ending, we conclude this Story.
Hob's family, by the way, was Civitas' men attacking Solemn's faction whle pretending to be Kosciej's faction.
Brianna was Kosciej's faction double-bluffing, setting up an attack on a fake innocent so that people would suspect
them until Cobalt "exonerated" them
And Decurion was Solemn's faction striking a blow against Civitas while making it out to be Kosciej
So all three of them did it, they all pretended to be Kosciej, and Kosciej was being entirely truthful when he said he
didn't kill anyone. This time.
COMING NEXT, ON SOUL CAGE!
"You are one Beautiful Bastard" - Rodriguez
8.1: "Island Of Souls"
A very special Soul Cage, in which Excalibur - depressed over being manipulated in this very recap into starting
a war - seeks solace in a nice easy little Seer-hunting mission that gets much more complicated, Taliesin, Adder
and Haruspex are introduced and Rodriguez discovers that self-love can go too far.
In Wales.
After which, we will next see the Auric Horizon - and their friends - six months later in character, as they journey to the
lost city of Cxaxa Querephas and face Seers, Blood, Flies and the minotaur
1.
GenCon Game
Following my call for players on the thread, I had responses from a set of three gamers that all wanted to play
and a PM from a fourth. I also had a few PMs from people that were interested but dropped out for one reason
(not actually going to the Con) or another (not actually going to the Con).
That all four players were guys decided the shape of it - the Rod/Cal/Nat lineup (which would have been
problamatic given Nat's much lower power level) was now well and truly out of the window. I needed original
characters to fill out the roster. The game had been pencilled into my mind as "How Excalibur got his groove
back" and now expanded to have themes of acceptance, moving on and beating depression.
I decided to set it in Wales, knowing of few more depressing places in this world than Snowdonia. Besides, I
hadn't done "rural" in either Soul Cage or Broken Diamond, and I wanted to emphasise that Mages don't always
live in cities. Plus the region comes complete with local Arthurian legends, linking it to Cal.
The game's prep was ever-so-slightly delayed by writing part of a book for White Wolf, but as soon as the
deadline for *that* came and went, the following was sent to the foursome;
Originally Posted by DaveB's Email
Hi Guys!
Not many weeks to go, now, and while I'm steaming ahead doing yet another recap for Soul Cage (which I am
about to spoil for you entirely), we have some things to sort out.
Namely the game, and who's playing what.
Story Eight: "Island of Souls" is set in Autumn 2008. A Thearch Thyrsus who moved to rural Wales to retire after
his Sleeper family died has been having odd visions, and consulted a Mystagogue Moros in his old Consilium.
That mage, recognising a curious mixture of Seer of the Throne symbols and Arthurian imagry, has called in the
experts. Excalibur and Rodriguez.
The theme of the story is acceptance and moving on. All of the characters are stuck in some way, brooding on
their situations and needing a kick up the backside to change them.
Excalibur is a Roman-themed Adamantine Arrow Obrimos of the "Tamers of Fire" Legacy. He's the bearer of an
Artifact gladius that he used to joke was actually Excalibur, but in recent months he's started to wonder if
maybe it *is* and what that might mean. He's exiled himself from his home Consilium after learning he's fated
to kill his mentor and Hierarch; it would be in a good cause, but still break his oaths. Right now he's blaming
himself for a war erupting between factions of the Free Council and Diamond in some of the UK's Consilii - he
was tricked into supplying the faked evidence needed to legitimize the conflict.
(NB - that hasn't happened in the thread yet: it's in 7.2. Don't post spoilers)
Rodriguez is a Mexican Free Council Acanthus of the "Children of the Hour" Legacy, usually called "Spoilers".
Formerly a drug-smuggler, Rod spent most of his life as a hired pair of guns for the Pentacle until the vagracies
of fate led him to linking up with Excalibur. He's deadly but lonely - things and people around him tend to
explode and/or die, and despite the easy-going bluster he's never had a long-term relationship or held down a
Sanctum in a Consilium. He's keenly aware that luck must one day run out, and looks back on his life
wondering if he's achieved anything at all. He considers himself to be irredeemably tainted, morally, sinking
lower in karmic stakes with every person he kills but not able to see a way to achieve grace. He looks up to
Excalibur as a paladin who tries to do the right thing.
Haruspex is an English Mystagogue Moros specialising in divination through corpses - he's named after a type
of soothsayer that used the livers of calves. He's a member of a Legacy based on that interest that's invented
for the game. He's also the join-character holding the character party together - an old colleague of Taliesin
and a friend of Excalibur. His own weariness is less pronounced than the others; he's risen as high as he can in
his order and Consilium and is considered dependable but unremarkable. He's never made a big enough
discovery to be truly respected in the Mysterium.
Taliesin is a Welsh Silver Ladder Thyrsus, formerly of Haruspex' Consilium, who moved out to the mountain
country of northern Wales after his family were killed by Banishers. He chose the location for it's isolation and
the ancient societies that used to be there - close to his home are several sites linked to King Arthur or Merlin,
and the island of Angelsea just to the north was the centre of power for the Druids before the Romans came.
Although his background is Welsh, Taliesin isn't anywhere near as conversant in the old legends as he feels he
should be - he spent his time before moving here in the Cryptopoly, and the weird images plaguing his dreams
are so much gibberish to him. His only neighbour is a Mastigos named Nimue, who says she's not in an Order
and has no desire to be in one. He's slightly more powerful than the other three, but isn't in a Legacy by way of
compensation.
So. Who wants what?
1.
GenCon Game
The players then assigned the roles to themselves; a process which proved amusing as everyone was too polite
to take Rodriguez, figuring he was both the easiest to play and the most fun, until the player who was coming
to the game by himself finally bit the bullet and took him on. I was pleased by the arrangement, as it offset the
natural effect of the other three guys all being friends already - I'dve have been worried if he'd ended up
playing Taliesin, for example, about the group gelling. This was to be my first convention game ever and I had
heard horror stories.
While that was going on I settled down to statting. It took a while, because I decided to do it properly (starting
characters to final character sheets using the proper systems).
My initial estimate was that to stat Excalibur and Rodriguez to the level of competance seen in Soul Cage would
take around 200 Experience. In the end, they wound up at over 500 (I'll post the actual total later when I can
get access to the files).
Halfway through the statting, though, I was emailed by a friend of the trio who'd decided to come to GenCon
with them. He very politely (seriously - he called me "Mr Brookshaw" and everything) asked if there was room.
And so a fifth PC - a Guardian Mastigos from the Concordant of Serpents Legacy, to complete the perfect circle
of splat types - was added to the roster. I now had *another* PC to stat.
Once the stats were done, I set about writing up the character backgrounds, taking my cues from the "ready
made pcs" pdfs White Wolf brought out around the same time. This involved reproducing all special rules and
spells not in the Mage or nWoD corebooks, in case the player didn't have access to them, designing magic
items, selecting rotes and carefully balancing magical styles, personalities and abilities within the group so that
everyone would have a roughly equal amount of face-time. Cal and Rod are both notoriously seat-of-the-pants
mages, so Taliesin and Haruspex (especially Haruspex) were designed to be more careful and to prefer
extended spellcasting. I threw in bits of Mage that I'd always liked but never got the chance to use in Broken
Diamond or Soul Cage - the Masque system of the Guardians, the "uber-Path" Legacies from Summoners that
don't grant third Ruling Arcana but instead vastly emphasise the core abilities of their paths, the Adamant Hand
fighting styles, the Driving Techniques from Midnight Roads... All of it went into the pot.
When I get home tonight, I'll post the characters as they were sent out to the players.
1.
Island of Souls Preamable
This is the opening text for the GenCon game character pack...
Originally Posted by DaveB
Mage: The Awakening
The Soul Cage
Story Eight: Island of Souls
Hello everyone! This is the background document for the GenCon game. I’ve tried to keep it as short as
possible, as the last thing we need for a five-hour game is a background it takes 15 hours to write. I also don’t
want to prejudice how you play the characters beyond a few pointers. This is, after all, your game.
Anarchy in the UK
The game is set in October 2008, during a time of escalating violence between Pentacle mages in Britain. The
Silver Ladder is notably smaller than the other orders numbers-wise (while in America it’s the Guardians who
are tiny), leaving most “traditional” Consilii to be run by the Mysterium or Guardians of the Veil. The Free
Council are the largest order, but other than a few stronghold Assemblies where they’ve managed to take over
entirely the Libertines find the UK’s Consilii to be stricter and less friendly than they’d like.
(The irony being in that all those American Libertines complaining about the Ladder don’t know how good
they’ve got it – turns out that when the Ladder lose power to the Guardians, the Libertines really suffer)
After years of tension, this has finally kicked off in two flashpoint Consilii; both Guardian-led. Cambridge and
London are now in open warfare between their Assemblies and Consilium Councils, and hard-done-by or
excluded Libertines in other Consilii are agitating to join their brothers and sisters in solidarity. The hardcore
rebel Libertines reject the Free Council’s membership of the Pentacle and call themselves “Nameless”. Others
aren’t willing to go that far, but provide aid to their revolutionary brothers and sisters.
During the early days of the conflict, Guardians from Cambridge kidnapped one of their own apprentices and
tried to pin it on the Nameless in a play for public support, until Excalibur and Rodriguez rescued her. She has
since become a Libertine herself, the face of the resistance, and the controversy led to the war gaining a
certain amount of legitimacy – other Consilii, disgusted with both sides, are refusing to get involved while those
that have fallen to conflict rip themselves apart.
If you have a problem...
Ever since he was exiled from the Durham Consilium for the manslaughter (third-degree murder) of a guest he
knew to be Left-Handed, Excalibur has travelled the country getting into various forms of trouble, sometimes at
the request of people he knows from his earlier career in an Arrow Free Company. He is joined first by
Rodriguez, a Mexican Libertine in need of a direction for his life, and then by Natalie, a newly-Awakened
Obrimos who Excalibur has taken as an Apprentice. The duo-come-trio roam the country in the tradition of an
Adamantine Arrow “Free Company” (essentially magical mercenaries), but only take payment from those that
can afford it.
Until the start of the war.
That rescue from the Cambridge Consilium weighs heavily on Excalibur and, though they don’t feel it as much,
on Rod and Nat by proxy. The famous “Guardian plot” to frame the Free Council was nothing of the sort –
although they can’t prove it Excalibur and the allies who tipped him off to the mission now know that it was the
Nameless framing the Guardians for framing the Nameless. The rebel Libertines engineered their own
victimisation to look good to those Consilii still on the sidelines.
Excalibur hates the thought that he’s been used to start a war. He kicks himself for not spotting the deception,
or realising that Brianna (the rescued woman who now serves as chief propagandist for the Nameless) was a
little too quick to leave their protection and go live with the war cabals in London. It’s spoiled his fun, and
brought the thought of the things he was avoiding back in Durham with that fun back.
Far off, Unhappy Things
The War seems a long way from Chester. A small town in the corner of England next to the Northern end of the
Welsh border, Chester holds a dozen mages, mostly Mystagogues. Too small for the War to have arrived in
person, the tiny Consilium still feels the tensions rising in the big cities of Liverpool and Manchester – both of
which are Libertine strongholds – that are its nearest neighbours. The Heirarch, a Mystagogue named Vitrix,
spends her diplomatic efforts on keeping her town out of it all.
Chester has its own problems.
16 months ago, in the summer of 2007, a Banisher cell Awakened in the industrial town of Crewe and cut a
swath across Cheshire targeting isolated Mages in the countryside before finally arriving in Chester, twenty
miles away. The Consilium captured and executed the Banishers, but at the cost of two apprentices and the
mortal family of the Silver Ladder Provost, a highly-respected Lictor (mage lawyer / roving sheriff) named
Taliesin. Grieving, Taliesin moved away from the town back to his roots in rural Wales, off to the West, leaving
the Consilium to rebuild.
Taliesin doesn’t quite know why he ended up living in Snowdonia – he’d gone out to Wales to try to reconnect
to Magic and what he felt was his culture, but rather than end up on Angelsea he found the mountains calling
to him.
But in the last few months he’s felt something else – his dreams are disturbed by odd visions and symbols.
Having given up trying to understand them by himself, he calls back to Chester to ask their opinion.
Recognising Seer of the Throne symbols among the confusing sketches Tiresias faxed through, Haruspex and
Adder have decided to head out there. But first, they’re calling in a favour Haruspex earnt by providing a
critical translation to banish a spirit several years ago, and Excalibur and Rodriguez are on their way to
Chester. As far as Cal is aware, Haruspex just wants to ask him about the Arthurian symbols mixed up in
Taliesin’s dreams. Privately, though, both he and Adder have colluded to get the famous Free Company to
Chester. They’re counting on Excalibur not turning down the possibility of giving any Seers a bloody nose.
1.
Excalibur
Brian “Excalibur” Summers
Virtue: Charity. Excalibur lives up to the Adamantine Arrow ideal of mastery through service, giving his efforts
freely and cheerfully to those he meets and fighting for what he perceives as the little guy.
Vice: Pride. Excalibur is also, unfortunately, as stubborn as a mule. He is obstinate in the face of difficulties,
has trouble working with people who don’t appear to be supporting him and expects his many sacrifices for
others to be recognised with gratitude.
Background
A former soldier in the British Army, Excalibur Awakened while on tour in the former Yugoslavia. He was
disgusted with the war-torn region and the atrocities he saw there and Awakened to the Aether feeling a sense
of power, purpose and above all honour. He was picked up by an Adamantine Arrow Cabal (who got to him just
before a Praetorian Pylon) and wholeheartedly picked up the sense of martial pride and service to others. In
Cal’s ideal world, conflict would be settled by groups of champions and there would be absolutely no civilian
casualties.
After a few years roaming Europe with his Cabal as a “Free Company” (basically Arrow mercenaries-for-hire,
who take up the causes of Consilii in exchange for Tass and resources), Cal decided that he needed to find a
community he could champion full-time. He parted on good terms with his comrades and went home to his
native Newcastle, where he met both a Cabal of Arrow and Guardians dedicated to protecting the city from
threats “beyond the wall” and an Arrow Heirarch devoted to the same ideals of championing others as he.
Aurora (the Heirarch) inducted him into her Legacy and he rapidly became the war-leader of the Cabal.
His Sword helped. Cal doesn’t know where he got the Sword from – for some reason, it slips from his mind and
he forgets. Nor do the other members of the Free Company. He didn’t have it when he was in Europe, but did
once they arrived in the UK. One of his old colleagues is of the opinion that he found it just before feeling the
urge to protect a community, becoming a heroic champion of a group of people. Either the sword caused the
feelings or it was attracted to them. Cal himself jokingly calls the sword “Excalibur”, noting that one origin for
the myth of Arthur’s sword is that the roman governor of a region had a ceremonial gladius as a badge of
office; there really was, at one point, a sword which signified the owner as being the ruler of the island.
And then the King lost his Kingdom. Aurora became aware of a strong potential future in which Excalibur would
kill her and began to distance herself from him, curtailing his powers as her Sentinel and removing his authority
over the other Cabals of the city. The final straw came when he, enraged by his ill-treatment, challenged her for
leadership of the order and summarily executed a visiting mage he believed to be Left-Handed. She banished
him. It has since emerged that the prophecy had extenuating circumstances – Newcastle is bedevilled by a
terrible monster, one of the Bound, that can only be banished by the one who kills it then killing the first person
he sees. Aurora as Heirarch, as an Arrow and as a Tamer of Fire would volunteer to be the sacrifice, and
Excalibur as the foremost warrior would be the one to face the creature. His banishment was overturned, but
his Pride forces him to stay away – he refuses to break his oath to his mentor, even for such a cause.
His companions on his wanderings are Rodriguez and lately Natalie, a newly-Awakened Obrimos he’s training as
his apprentice. She hasn’t picked an order or Shadow Name yet, and Cal doesn’t want to prejudice her choice.
Privately, he notes that being an Adamantine Arrow has caused him great pain in the last few years. He’s still
devoted to his order, but realises at last that it isn’t for everyone.
Description
Cal is large, handsome and blond. His emotions seem turned up to eleven – he’s usually cheerful as a summer’s
day, but can instantly turn scarily resolute or be sent into a brooding depression worthy of having
thunderclouds over his head.
He dresses in hard-wearing clothes, denim and wool, with boots. He knows that – Highlander to the contrary –
you can’t hide a sword in a trenchcoat so doesn’t try. Excalibur is usually inside a backpack, ready to be
strapped onto his belt when trouble looms.
Roleplaying Hints
Cal likes to be the leader of a willing team – both aspects (him being in charge and the team) are equally
important to his happiness, and he has a tendency to take charge without asking and bark orders like “my
gang! This way!” without thinking.
He’s a bit of jock – he likes team sports (especially ice-Hockey; he supports the Newcastle Vipers) and beer with
his buddies.
He’s gay, but not in a relationship right now. His last boyfriend was one of his Cabal up North which ended
amicably but left him with the impression that fraternising with his own “unit” was a bad idea. But he’s also
equally sure that the life he leads would get a Sleeper or Sleepwalker lover killed very quickly.
Cal feels responsible for whatever happens under “his watch”, whether he actually is or not.
Cal is focused on the moment. He doesn’t take care to think through the future or decide what might be
behind a situation. He’s a man of action, and sometimes misses deep plots.
Cal hates the indiscriminate nature of modern warfare. Collateral damage is unacceptable to him, and he mildly
dislikes firearms (his own Firearms skill has atrophied since his Awakening). He hates bombs. As a Tamer of Fire,
he has the ability to control flames, which he uses to shield the innocent from being caught up in conflagrations
caused by his own magic.
Magically, Excalibur has a preference for Instant spells over Ritual spellcasting, especially Forces spells which
he can channel through his sword using the Adamant Hand training the Arrow provides. When he does cast
ritually, he does so using Roman trappings – his Oblations are performed underground, in the full armour of a
centurion, as per the Mithraen tradition.
Path: Obrimos
Order: Adamantine Arrow
Intelligence 2, Wits, 2, Resolve 3
Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2
Willpower 6, Gnosis 5, Health 7, Wisdom 6
Academics 2, Computer 1, Crafts 2, Investigation 2, Medicine 2, Occult 3 (Roman), Politics 1
Athletics 4, Brawl 3, Drive 1, Firearms 1, Stealth 2, Weaponry 4 (Sword)
Empathy 2, Expression 3, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 4 (Inspiring), Streetwise 1
Forces 4, Mind 3, Prime 4, Space 3
Merits: Artifact Sword of Britain 6, Artifact Scabbard 5, Fighting Style: Aggressive Light Sword 4, Fighting Style:
Sword and Shield 2, Fighting Style Adamant Hand (Forces): 3, Status (Arrow) 3, Allies 2, High Speech, Unseen
Senses, Contacts 1, Resources 2, Language 1 (Latin)
Rotes: Emotional Urging, Read Matrices, Dispel Magic, Supernal Dispellation, Portal, Scrying, Omnivision
Attainments: Can cast Influence Fire or Control Fire with Presence + Expression + Forces and Emotional Urging
or Will of Fire with Presence + Persuasion + Mind.
Excalibur’s Legacy grants Mind as a third Ruling Arcanum
Non-Core Rules
One of Cal’s Attainments duplicates the Spell “Will of Fire” which isn’t to be found in the Mage Corebook. It’s as
follows;
"Will of Fire" from Legacies: The Ancient snipped
Cal has two mortal Fighting Styles and one Supernal one. He normally fights using his Artifact sword with
Aggressive Light Sword (and doesn’t habitually carry the shield needed for Shield and Sword), augmenting
attack spells with Adamant Hand.
Aggressive Light Sword and Sword and Shield from Armory: Reloaded and Adamant Hand: Forces from
Adamantine Arrow snipped
Excalibur’s Sword is a pair of Artifacts (the blade is one, the scabbard is another) that resemble an ornate
Roman gladius. The hilt is decorated with a pair of Dragons and the blade appears to have something written
on it in the High Speech that, as it isn’t a spell, can’t be translated by modern mages except for a handful of
exceptionally knowledgeable Mystagogues.
The Sword itself does 2(L) damage as a sword, holds 12 Mana and when drawn can cast Emotional Urging on
those that see it, Alter Integrity on anything it hits and grants two dots of the Destiny Merit. For one of it’s
mana points, it can “flash”; the sword rolls Gnosis versus an opponent’s Composure, reducing their defence by
successes for a turn.
The Scabbard is a last-ditch defensive item – it holds 10 Mana. When the sword is drawn, incoming Lethal
damage is converted to Bashing for one Mana per attack. Damage converted like this still “wraps around” into
Lethal but doesn’t cause a roll to remain conscious, and once enough of it has been done to wrap around again
into Aggravated the wounds don’t bleed and deteriorate.
1.
Rodriguez
Carlos “Rodriguez” Diaz
Virtue: Fortitude. Rodriguez is a survivor, a scrappy individual who can take anything the world throws at him
and walk away smiling while guitars play in the background. Or at least, that’s what he likes to portray himself
as. In fact, his Fortitude is also towards his own life – Rod’s weariness at his existence and the knowledge that it
is his burden to bear.
Vice: Gluttony. Rod distracts himself with pleasure, both of the opposite sex (when he can get it, which is
again less often than he makes out) and of simpler vices like gambling and drinking. He doesn’t victimise the
people he dallies with – that’s the vice of Lust – and his trysts hurt no one but himself.
Background
Carlos was a smuggler. A pilot and driver for a gang that ran across the Southern border of Mexico, bringing
illegal immigrants, drugs or any other cargo, he was trapped in his plane when a rival gang sabotaged it.
Escaping first to Arcadia and then back to Earth, leaping free with a single bound, he spent months using his
new-found powers of luck before finally meeting another Mage. That individual finally told him what had
happened, trained him and inducted him into the Free Council. Naming himself “Rodriguez” after the man
who’d tried to kill him, Rod decided what he would do with the power of Arcadia.
Rodriguez was a smuggler. If the mages of Mexico city – or any of the other supernaturals for that matter –
needed transportation for themselves or any “special” cargo, by air, sea or land, Rodriguez could arrange it. He
took over the remains of the gang he once worked for and took great pleasure in wiping those who tried to kill
him off the face of the earth, arranging an especially cursed death for his namesake. Then he turned his
attention to becoming rich in both mundane money, Tass and favours. He transported vampires from city to city
by day, cheerfully sold artifacts of the Mexica to American mages and helped Mystagogues ferry Unwise texts
and artifacts away from the Guardians.
It began to pale. Twenty years later, and Rodriguez (older than he looks) has realised at last that he was meant
for something more than his own aggrandisement. He had many contacts – though most have long since fallen
by the wayside – but few friends. He took jobs ferrying other mages around, protecting them from Seers and
the things that bump in the night he used to take money from. Finally, he left Mexico for good out of boredom,
selling it to himself as a brief trip to duel those insulting one of his few friends. He never went back.
Rod knows that his life has been wasted – he’s killed too many men for petty reasons and squandered his
magic on daring escapes when he should have not put himself into danger at all. His legendary survival is more
to do with lots of rewinding time than skill (although he is very skilled). He knows he is less Wise than he should
be, but doesn’t see how to cleanse his tainted karma. For now, Rodriguez watches Excalibur’s back, knowing
that the Obrimos doesn’t see all of the enemies they have. Some things can’t be solved by a hero with a sword.
Many of them can be solved by a pair of guns wielded by a man whose soul is already tainted. Rod does what
needs to be done, saving his friends from the moral damage of doing it themselves. It’s a very Guardian trait,
as more than one Guardian has noted, but he’s passionate about his membership in the Free Council. Especially
the part about Humanity being Magical – Rod still hopes that one day, perhaps, he can be saved.
Description
Rod is Mexican, the son of both a Spanish-Mexican and a Native, thin and wirey with old scars criss-crossing his
body. His mustache and beard are well-groomed, and he wears his long hair in a ponytail. He dresses in faded,
thin suits over T-shirts and habitually has a flower in his lapel as an affectation. Urim and Thummim are
holstered on his sides, beneath the suit jacket.
Roleplaying Hints
Rod’s demeanour is exuberant, romantic and over-the top. He speaks of himself in the third person, purrs
at the ladies and exudes iron-clad self-confidence, never betraying worry or alarm no matter the odds. He
knows that he can survive a million-to-one chance, and honestly feels like nothing can kill him.
In private moments, Rod’s depression comes out. He knows that his talent for daring escapes and explosions
makes him useful, but he’s so tired of it without having any way out. He believes he is destined to die alone,
and tears his way through life’s adventures leaving wreckage and breathless women behind him.
Magically, Rod was never one for Cursing, Divination or Postcognition. Seeing the past or the future never really
appealed (though he’s capable of doing it as any other Adept Acanthus) bar the occasional use of Prophecy to
see what the outcome of sacrificing his life for a particular cause would do, morbidly seeing if he would leave
any kind of impact on the world. Cursing one’s opponent is unsporting, though when pressed he’ll do it.
Instead, Rod’s magic is virtually always cast upon himself or his personal equipment (vehicles included) – he
grants himself 8- and 9-again frequently, enchants vehicles with Lucky Coin and rewinds time when it all goes
wrong to have another go. He makes the impossible possible by stacking the deck heavily in his favour.
Path: Acanthus
Order: Free Council
Investigation 2, Medicine 1, Occult 2
Athletics 3, Brawl 2, Drive 5 (Pilot), Firearms 5 (Two Handguns),Larceny 1, Stealth 2, Weaponry 1
Empathy 1, Intimidation 1, Socialise 3, Streetwise 3 (Smuggling), Subterfuge 2
Fate 4, Life 2, Mind 1, Prime 2, Space 2, Time 4
Merits: Imbued Item; Urim and Thummim 6, Gunslinger, Driving Style 4, Contacts 2, Barfly, High speech,
Unseen Senses, Stunt Driver, Status (Free Council) 1
Rotes: Lucky Coin, Perfect Timing, Temporal Eddies, Spatial Map, Sharpshooter’s Eye, Self Healing, Supernal
Vision, Exceptional Luck, Bestow Exceptional Luck, Gift of Fortune, Present As Past, Acceleration
Attainments: Rod is permanently under the effects of the equivalents of Flip of the Coin and Quantum Flux – he
automatically succeeds (or fails) at any simple, uncontested action with only two outcomes and can spend up
to three turns “aiming” any action to reduce dice pool penalties. With an instant action and by spending a point
of Mana, he re-take his last action as per “Shifting Sands” or grant his next Action 8-again as per Superlative
Luck.
Rod’s Legacy does not grant a third Ruling Arcanum.
Non-Core Rules
Rod has gone one further than simply buying the Stunt Driver merit (can drive and perform another action
simultaneously); while some people have Fighting Styles, he has a Driving Style.
Driving Style Merit from Midnight Roads snipped
Urim and Thummim
Rod’s twin handguns (which he named after the twin artifacts of the Seers of the Throne in mocking fashion)
are altered Magnum Research Desert Eagles, made for him by the Free Council Heirarch of Mexico City. They’re
Damage 4, Capacity 7+1 and require Strength 3 to use. They’re imbued with Invisible Object (which they cast
upon themselves), Ephemeral Enchantment and a Mind spell that grants the Ambidexterity Merit to their user
for a scene on a successful activation roll. They’ve also had their Durability magically increased by alloying
Orichalcum onto them, which makes them rather ostentatious. Note that the Gunslinger merit lets him fire both
in a turn, the second attack being at -1. He loses his defence for a turn if he fires them at separate targets.
1.
Haruspex
Dr Steven “Haruspex” Turner
Virtue: Prudence. Haruspex is careful in all things to the point of checking major decisions with magic before
committing to them. His prudence has served him well in guarding the knowledge of the Mysterium and
keeping Chester out of the troubles the UK faces.
Vice: Envy. Haruspex isn’t a Heirophant. He is respected but not liked in his order, and younger, more reckless
mages gain prestige in a fraction of the time it takes him to. His Guanxi, the network of favours and obligations
that the Mysterium use for counting coup among themselves, is based almost entirely on his position as a
Curator. He is afforded respect as a protector of knowledge, but those who find it are afforded more. And he
hates it.
Background
Steven was an Archaeologist and Historian, interested in the religious ceremonies of the Roman Empire and the
practices of dead religions in general, morbidly concluding in his Doctorate that the ways of religions such as
the cult of Mithras, the Druids and other forces that helped shape the Western world have been lost forever,
dead along with the last of their priests. Chester had once been the Roman capital of Britain, but no temples
remained. The Druids, based not eighty miles away, had an oral tradition and recorded nothing in more
permanent ways.
He Awakened one night while performing an experiment, attempting to capture the feeling of one of those dead
religions by dressing a basement as a temple, burning the correct incences and finally sacrificing an animal to
shower in it’s blood. The blood dragged him down to the tomb-world of Stygia, where all dead and forgotten
things dwell, and he wandered for what seemed weeks through the temples of a thousand lost and
unremembered gods, witnessing shades carry out rites stretching back to Humanity’s first evolution. Finally
arriving at the Watchtower of the Lead Coin, he returned to the Fallen World a Moros.
As a member of the Mysterium and a Necromancer, Haruspex was able to make the study of ancient religions
his own; he could stir the few ancient ghosts of the occupation remaining in Chester from their torpor and
converse in broken half-Latin, examine ghostly buildings now only existing in Twilight and direct his Sleeper
Archaeologists to prizes located with Matter spells. From another Mystagogue he contacted through the order
he learned to internalise the practice of Divination, glimpsing the future in the wake left by a living being
passing from life, and named himself Haruspex after the priests who foretold the future in the entrails of
beasts.
The discoveries ran out, though. Chester isn’t a large city – it’s only a “City” because it has a Cathedral, and
even that was converted from a Monastery during the Reformation – and there were few dig sites remaining to
uncover. Every now and again a major building is demolished allowing Haruspex to direct his Sleeper contacts
in the recovery of a few more trinkets and foundations, but as far as the order is concerned there is nothing
more to learn. His wise counsel and careful nature have led him to become Curator of the Aetheneum, a
position of no small value in the order, but he can’t advance further without... Something. Some leap of
experience he hasn’t been able to make.
Description
Haruspex is a small, dark haired man in his forties, all sensible haircut and well-groomed nails. He wears
spectacles and sober clothes in the manner of many Moros – dark fabrics and heavy wools – and puts many
people in mind of an Undertaker rather than an Archaeologist. When leading a ritual he carefully applies the
ceremonial garb of the religion used.
Roleplaying Hints
Haruspex is careful – he dislikes acting without thinking things through properly and always wants to assess
the facts before making a decision. Usually after using magic to seal the deal. His nature was always inclined
towards careful, painstaking study, piecing together fragments of history while avoiding making leaps of
logic, and that attitude has only carried on given his magical abilities.
Haruspex prefers to sacrifice rather than perform Oblation in order to regain Mana. He prefers extended rituals
to instant spellcasting, and has been known to elect to cast Instant spells as extended simply because he
thinks it takes more care and attention.
Haruspex thinks of the cultures he studies like a scientist, detached and analytical, except when he performs
their rites. For whatever reason (he believes the Shades of Stygia chose him to bring their practices back to the
Fallen World) he gets caught up in the mystery plays and rituals, feeling alive while he worships dead deities.
Path: Moros
Order: Mysterium
Academics 4 (History), Computer 1, Investigation 3, Medicine 2, Occult 5 (Divination), Politics 2
Drive 2, Larceny 2, Stealth 2, Weaponry 2 (Knives)
Animal Ken 2, Empathy 2, Expression 2, Persuasion 3, Socialize 2, Subterfuge 2
Death 4, Fate 2, Matter 4, Prime 1, Time 4
Merits: Mystery Initiation 3, Resources 3, Status (Mysterium) 3, Encyclopaedic Knowledge, High Speech, Unseen
Senses, Contacts 2, Library 2, Language 2 (Latin & Ancient Briton), Artifact 4, Imbued Item 4
Rotes: Augury, Ghost Summons, Forensic Gaze, Temporal Eddies, Speak with the Dead, Glimpsing the Future,
Divination, Prophecy, Temporal Pocket, Interconnections, Haunting, Healing the Dead
Attainments: Haruspex gains double the normal amount of Mana from sacrificing a living animal, though he’s
careful to keep quiet about the fact that that applies to sacrificing humans as well. He is permanently under the
effects of Momentary Flux, knowing if a particular course of immediate action will be beneficial or not to him.
By Sacrificing an animal, he can cast “Divination” as per the Time 3 spell without having to spend Mana and as
though he rolled successes equal to the animal’s size. Temporal Sympathy does not apply (there being no roll
involved), and the effect does not then prevent him from casting Divination, Prophecy or Augury using the Time
Arcanum on the same target that day (normally, you can only read the future of something once – the
Attainment doesn’t use up the temporal signature like the spell does)
Haruspex’s Legacy grants him Time as a third Ruling Arcanum
Non-Core Rules
Haruspex is, in Mysterium terms, a Daduchos Superior; one of the experienced backbone of the order’s
members. He’s been at this level of initiation for years – the promotion to Heirophant will only come when he is
ready according to the criteria set down by the order. The difficulty is that the criteria for each level are secret
until a mage has achieved that level, so he doesn’t and can’t know what it is he has to do.
Still, there are some benefits. He is within his rights to receive training in any Arcanum up to the fifth dot or any
rote up to the fourth dot, receive an active copy of the Corpus Mysteriorum Grimoire (the text the order is
based on, written by an Archmaster many years ago – copies available to lesser members than Haruspex aren’t
proper Grimoires), examine Artifacts and Imbued Items up to seven dots and borrow those up to four – he’s
statted for this game with two four-dot magic items which he’s taken out of the Chester Aetheneum using this
authority for the duration of the game.
More importantly, he is connected to the Mysterium egregore, the theoretical group mind of the organisation.
When he participates in a group ritual casting with other mystagogues he automatically adds one die to the
spellcaster’s final roll. The bonus to social rolls from Mysterium status applies even if he’s never met the
mystagogue he’s interacting with, and he has the Eidetic Memory merit when recalling facts about the order or
it’s membership.
For this mission, Haruspex has borrowed two items; the Parma Magica and the Amulet of Tongues.
The Parma Magica is an Artifact ring set with a pentagonal-cut emerald that holds ten mana and grants the
wearer a Potency ten, 5-dot “Magic Shield” spell.
The Amulet of Tongues is a small piece of amber in the shape of a tooth which appears to have some kind of
coiled silvery wire buried inside, the entire thing hung on a simple leather thong. It is an Imbued Item, granting
the wearer the “Universal Language” spell.
1.
Taliesin
Rhys “Taliesin” Jones
Virtue: Faith - Deep down, Taliesin believes (hopes) that his tribulations have a purpose behind them. He feels
like his life is waiting for something, paused between the death of his family and whatever comes next.
Whatever it is, he thinks, it will be something he was meant, somehow, to do.
Vice: Sloth - For now, though, he is content to wait, to sit through his grief in the middle of nowhere. It is
Taliesin's natural inclination to not act unless pushed, to hold fast in the faith that tomorrow things may be
different. And if they aren't, maybe they will be the next day.
Background
Taliesin likes to say that he was born of the pit closures. Not literally - he's old enough to have been a teenager
when the Coal Industry of Wales closed down in the early eighties, but unemployment led to his family moving
to England in search of work, and that led to the village lad becoming a city man. Attending University in the
mid-80s, he became a barrister (lawyer) and after a short stint as a crown prosecutor (don't know the term in
US law - the prosecution lawyer in a non-federal crime of a "the state vs" nature) decided that defence was
much more his forte. He Awakened after a 40-hour research session, trying and failing to find a defence for a
man he knew was innocent. That didn't surprise the Awakened of Chester, who'd had their eye on him for
months.
The fact that he Awakened as a Thyrsus did.
Taliesin has devoted his magical life to the understanding of conflict's causes - the Shadow World is a metaphor
for the nature of life, in which every organism must follow it's own drives at the expense of one another. Where
those drives conflict, suffering ensues, and Taliesin tries to find a way to guide opposing parties to each achieve
their goals - their actual goals, not that which they think are their goals - without consuming one another. He
sees biological need behind human action but not see that in a dismissive way - Taliesin sees something
wonderful in the notion that human is a thinking animal, as it allows him to resolve people's differences where
an approach based on the "higher" drives would fail.
Within a few years of Awakened, Taliesin was a respected Lictor – a roving Silver Ladder judge and lawmaker
who solves disputes among the Awakened. He had few enemies and many friends, was regarded as a fair
arbiter by diverse groups and built an ever-growing reputation as the man to call in the North-West of England if
there was a matter to resolve peacefully. He served as the Silver Ladder’s representative at a minor
Convocation – only three Consilii attended, but the experience means that his proper title in the Awakened
Community is “Magister” not “Adept”.
A year and a half ago, his life fell apart.
When the Banishers arrived in Chester they’d already identified Taliesin as one of the leaders of the “witches”
they hated and feared, and the Lictor’s Sleeper family - his wife and two children – were targeted and murdered
magically in an attempt to sow chaos. The Consilium rallied around Taliesin and tracked down the broken Mages
who perpetrated the atrocity. In the end, they were executed despite Taliesin pleading that they be spared.
He couldn’t continue his role as Lictor. He could barely look at his books on the Lex Magica and the detailed,
exacting rules of a Magely society that allowed Banishers and Seers to exist outside of itself. Feeling the need
to leave the city, not having anywhere else in mind, he felt drawn back to the land of his birth. Taliesin went
home to Wales, to the tiny village of Llanberis, nestled deep in the Snowdonian mountain range. His only
neighbour was an apostate Acanthus named Nimue, he had a small Hallow sufficient for his needs and was
content to spend the rest of his days remembering his loved ones.
Two months ago, the dreams started. Five-headed Dragons, fighting one another in deep caves. Avalanches,
mud-slides (there was a famous national disaster in that part of Wales decades earlier, where the cast-off from
a mine slid in an earth tremor and levelled a school, burying the children alive), caves, the number seven, odd
runes that seem like High Speech... He doesn’t know what, if anything, they mean, but he contacted Haruspex
back in Chester and described them. And now Haruspex is on his way with some “specialists”.
Description
Taliesin has the ageless look of a Thyrsus, eternally in his late thirties, friendly laugh-lined eyes looking out over
a white-blond beard and hair that have grown wilder since he left the Consilium. His skin has tanned through
exposure to the elements, and his hands are picking up calluses. He dresses in rugged mountainous rural wear
– rubber boots, waxed overcoat, thick pullovers and so on.
Roleplaying Hints
Taliesin is understanding – he tries to see everyone’s point of view in a discussion and more importantly tries
to share that perspective with the participants. He asks follow-on questions, inquires as to what speakers mean
when they say such and such and always keeps an eye on motivation.
Taliesin is interrupted. His life was meant for something, but it’s been stalled, trapped by his personal tragedy.
His old friends like Haruspex would want him to return to his old position but that doesn’t feel right either. He
can’t shake the feeling he should be doing something.
Taliesin is still grieving, but in a straightforward way – he doesn’t feel the need to talk about his family
constantly, and will ask people prying into it repeatedly to stop, but he feels their loss every day.
Magically, Taliesin is adept at several Arcana both instant and ritualised and would, if he’d kept to his studies,
have been a Master by now. He is especially practiced at spells manipulating the Life / Mind interface; things
that trigger instinctive behaviour or hardwire reflexes. He is capable of drilling into the memories of people he
meets but considers it a false benefit of speed that is more than outweighed by the perilous wisdom cost and
the temptation it offers – he reserves Breach The Vault of Memory for cases where he is acting officially, not
casual interrogation.
Path: Thyrsus
Order: Silver Ladder
Academics 4 (Lex Magica),Crafts 3, Investigation 2, Occult 2, Politics 4 (Consilii)
Athletics 2, Brawl 1, Survival 2
Empathy 4 (Negotiation), Expression 3, Persuasion 3, Socialise 2, Subterfuge 2
Life 4, Mind 4, Prime 3, Space 3, Spirit 4
Merits: Resources 3, Hallow 2, Sanctum 2, Status (Silver Ladder) 3, High Speech, Unseen Senses, Library 2,
Dream 4, Destiny 4
Rotes: Pulse of the Living World, First Impressions, Mental Shield, Spirit tongue, Supernal Vision, Magic Shield,
Counterspell Prime, Alter Aura, Telepathy, Read the Depths, Breach the Vault of Memory, Ban, Scrying, Channel
Mana
Taliesin is not in a Legacy
1.
Adder
Christopher “Adder” Molton
Virtue: Justice – Adder carefully measures his own sins, in the manner of many Guardians of the Veil. He's
aware that he must kill on occasion - it's his duty to do so, if it prevents the dwindling of magic in the world or
keeps power out of the hands of those that would misuse it - but he's determined that he will only do so when
it's deserved. He has a complex and only partially verbalised checklist of factors that he weighs up before
making the decision to act, making sure that his punishment fits the crime.
Vice: Wrath - When he does find himself facing irrefutable evil, Adder acts without hesitation; the unrepentant
Left Handed, Seers of the Throne that show no signs of being able to be rehabilitated, inhuman monsters that
prey on humanity rather than seeking to live quietly under the radar and most especially mages that damage
or destroy the souls of others can all provoke his righteous anger, in which he leaves no stone unturned in his
effort to destroy them. He acknowledges that he gets carried away in these situations, punishing the wicked
not only for their own crimes but for those that had extenuating circumstances, releasing all of his pent-up
anger on the unfortunate that justified a killing response. His executions are not clean and clinical, but brutal
and overpowering. His fellow Guardians have recognised this aspect of his personality and taught him to
examine it through the use of the Masques (see later) and channel it to useful ends, but even so he worries that
in his desire to see justice done he might one day be used and directed at the undeserving.
Background
The stereotypical Guardian of the Veil arrives after a Mage has done something questionable for the sake of
their objectives to chide, lecture and in the cases of those that have caused Manifestations or broken the laws
of the Awakened punish. But what's the good in arriving after the damage has been done? While grim-faced
punishers of the wicked do exist (and Adder has put down more than his share of the Left Handed himself),
most Guardians would rather they were able to turn the Wise away from the actions that would require
intervention *before* it became an issue. As Adder sometimes says when speaking to newly-Awakened
apprentices, it is better to catch unstable mages when they're Anakin rather than once they've become Vadar.
The Concordat of Serpents is one of the earliest Mastigos Legacies - possible *the* earliest Mastigos Legacy,
dating from the first arrival on Atlantis or so the Diamond Orders claim. They fulfil the role of adversaries - they
know the struggle to cling to one's higher nature in the face of the World of Darkness, and consider every act of
virtue in a world designed by the Exarchs to reward vice to be a statement of defiance against the Fallen World
itself and worthy of being promoted. But they know that the ability to resist one's vices improves through
practice - that unless someone, especially a mage, is used to doing the right thing in small ways they'll fail
under duress. The Concordat's members, with the power to evaluate someone's higher calling and to draw
power from adversity, tempt and test people in an effort to make them better able to resist temptation and
testing, training them to rise above the easy path of the Unwise.
This, then, is Adder's role in the order. He moves in Awakened circles, watching his fellow mages for signs of
weakness. At some point in almost every mage's life, they will be faced by something difficult or impossible to
resolve *except* by the application of banned magic or the betrayal of their Path "just this once". Adder steps
in and helps them to resist the temptation... And strikes when they can't. He encourages Right Behaviour in
mages around him, and takes special care to test apprentices for signs of resentment or the desperation that
leads to forbidden paths to power.
Adder long since abandoned his Sleeping life and now lives behind an assumed identity, but he began his
magical career as a parole officer, Awakening to Pandemonium when contemplating his battle to save his
charges from their own worst natures. In a Mystery Play, he saw the forces tempting his cases as coiling
serpents writhing around their unfortunate souls. Newly Awakened and without a sense of what he had
stumbled into, he described his visions to a colleague while waiting for a man he was assigned to be trialled.
He was overheard by Taliesin, who hooked the young Mastigos up with the Consilium.
Although he travelled around the UK on business for the order, Adder maintained a Sanctum in Chester. It was
Adder who killed the Banishers that murdered Taliesin's family, and he's still conflicted about the pleasure he
took ripping them apart with his magic. He's going with Haruspex out of his respect for the old man, and
because he thinks in some way that Taliesin fleeing the Consilium is his fault.
Description
Adder is a tall, gaunt black man, originally from Birmingham but with only faint traces of that city's very
distinctive accent remaining in his voice after long practice at sounding neutral. He's whipcord-thin and doesn't
blink quite enough for people's comfort, though when he's resting his eyes half-close as though he's drifting off
to sleep.
He dresses to fit in with his surroundings. On official business he carries his staff, a long, thin walking staff of
dark wood with a metal snake wrapped around the top foot or so.
Roleplaying Hints
Adder is observant - he watches, quietly, as others talk and assesses both what's going on and what lies
behind their words. He waits until he has all the facts before making judgement but unlike some of the
characters in the story isn't content to wait for the facts to come to him - he goes out and finds them, bridging
the gap between the careful characters (who he thinks should inquire more) and the gung-ho ones (who he
thinks shouldn't jump to conclusions).
Adder has a hell of a poker face. When he decides to attack someone he shows no sign of it until he's ready.
Adder is Instructive. His Legacy and his remit from the Guardians require him to seek out ways to encourage
other Mages to follow their Virtues, often by first emphasising their vices.
Adder understands shades of grey. He's not an Interfector, and realises that people (especially Adder himself)
often fall short of their higher nature. That's why the struggle to act in the Right-Hand path is so important to
him, *because* it's difficult. He forgives minor slips, understands when people feel weak, but he has a stringent
line of behaviour he will not tolerate anyone crossing. It's just set rather further back than Free Council
propaganda about the Guardians would portray.
Path: Mastigos
Order: Guardians of the Veil
Academics 2, Computer 2, Investigation 4 (Backgrounds), Occult 3, Politics 2
Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 2, Stealth 2, Weaponry 3 (Staff)
Empathy 4 (Motivations), Intimidation 2, Persuasion 4 (Tempting), Socialise 2, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2
Death 2, Life 3, Mind 4, Prime 2, Space 4
Merits: Artifact 7, Occultation 2, Resources 2, Trained Memory, Masque: Apprentice Forge-Coal, Masque: Lord
Asp, High Speech, Unseen Senses, Status (Guardians of the Veil) 2, Fighting Style: Staff 2
Rotes: Incognito Presence, Mental Shield, Cleanse the Body, Pulse of the Living World, Transform Self,
Counterspell Prime, Supernal Vision, Magic Shield, Ban, Teleport, Healing Heart, Self Healing
Attainments: Whenever Adder takes an action that reaffirms his Virtue, he can choose to not regain willpower
as normal but instead spend a point of Mana to connect himself temporarily to Pandemonium; for the rest of
the scene, any action which directly and forcefully upholds or is benefitted by Adder’s Virtue of Justice receives
two bonus dice. As a reflexive action, by spending a point of Mana and succeeding on a Resolve + Empathy +
Mind roll, he can extend this ability to a willing individual who has fulfilled their Virtue condition under duress.
With a successful Wits + Empathy + Mind roll (contested by Composure + Gnosis), Adder can determine the
Virtue of any being within sensory range.
Whenever Adder is wounded to his last three dots of Health, he recovers a point of Willpower automatically for
every subsequent dot of Health filled with Lethal or Aggravated damage.
Whenever Adder successfully resists Wisdom degeneration or any circumstance that would cause him to gain a
Derangement, he recovers a point of Willpower.
Adder’s Legacy does not grant him a third Ruling Arcanum
Non-Core Rules
Adder has a Merit that isn’t in the core rules:
"Trained Memory" Merit from Guardians of the Veil snipped
Masques
The Guardians of the Veil are often required to go undercover, and they have ritualised the effort into a series
of 49 “Masques”, one each for every combination of Virtue and Vice. The Masques are set personality types
that the Guardians categorise people into. Through training, a Guardian can learn to assume one of these
archetypal identities by means of rote-like mnemonics – the Guardian-in-disguise must carry a certain “token”
object, dress in a certain way and act in a certain way, and he becomes accepted as that “kind of person”,
gaining +2 to Disguise rolls associated with the Masque.
Adder has been trained in two Masques – the first, the King of Asps, is the personality that his fellow Guardians
judge Adder himself to be. When on a mission, he sometimes assumes the identity to over-emphasise the
“remorseless Guardian” aspect of himself to make his work easier. The second, the Apprentice Forge-Coal,
comes in useful when approaching one of his usual targets.
King of Asps and Apprentice Forge-Coal Masques from Guardians of the Veil snipped
Adder’s magical staff is both a weapon, a spy and the basis for a Fighting Style.
Fighting Style: Staff
Adder usually uses this style with the snakestaff, but can use it with improvised weapons as well. Remember
that using a polearm in combat grants +1 Defence as well as the bonuses from his Fighting Style merit.
Fighting Style: Staff from Armory Reloaded snipped
The Snakestaff
The Concord of Serpents passes down the Snakestaff, an artefact of the Primal Wild recovered hundreds of
years ago. A long, thin staff of dark wood inlaid with silver, the Snakestaff has the durability of steel. The last
foot of it’s length is decorated with a metal snake coiled around grooves in the shaft, the snake’s head making
a metal tip to the weapon. When the Artifact is activated, this snake comes to life, animating (it is still made of
supernal steel) and following the weilder’s mental orders. It grants the wielder a sympathetic window as though
it were a familiar and radiates an Incognito Presence spell. Animating the snake costs a point of Mana from the
Staff’s supply of 10.
The snake is also deadly poisonous, its bite having a Toxicity of 6, but using it costs another of the staff’s Mana.
The snake is size 2, durability 4, Structure 6. It attacks with Dexterity 4, Brawl 4 and has a Bite of 1(L) (but if it
succeeds on a bite it can inject alchemical venom as above). Its Defence is 4.
1.
Island Of Souls
Island of Souls
GenCon 2009 Special
Session 8.1
Starring!
Alec as Excalibur!
Jason as Taliesin!
Mike as Haruspex!
Nick as Rodriguez!
Phil as Adder!
In the free roleplaying tables of the Marriot, hidden from view behind a raucous game of Kobalds Ate My Baby!
And as if that wasn't special enough, the debut of our new game recording technique - rather than use a laptop with a
microphone taped to the outside exporting mp3 files (a typical session taking one and a half, such that we have to
keep an eye on the clock and stop / start the session after three hours), Island of Souls was recorded on a brand shiny
new digital dictaphone, which has a USB connection for easy export. And the sound quality is a little better, too.
Which is a great help when trying to transcribe dialogue that was given in unfamiliar accents.
CHARACTER ERRATA -
Haruspex's fourth attainment power was "Devouring the Slain". And yes, Rod is meant to have Strength 2. The guns
themselves are altered to be useable at lower strength.
Everyone except Taliesin had 453 Experience and 50 Arcane Experience. Taliesin had 486 and 60.
And on the 10th of October, the dreams come to Taliesin again. They've been more frequent over the last
month, to the point that he's starting to think they're not going to stop.
He wakes in the small hours of the morning. The red of the pre-dawn is interacting with the constant rain.
Only a few images remain of the dream. Five-Headed Dragons, The number seven. Cold. Feeling frozen.
Strange High Speech Runes which defy translation.
He looks out the window. The predominant color is grey - the slate mines may have mostly gone, but they
made their mark on the village.
Cheery place, North Wales.
Jason: I'm dealing with my grief, really
Me: He's not wallowing at all. And this isn't racist against the Welsh - my Wife's Welsh. It's just realistic
But at least Haruspex said he was on his way within the next few days.
With the "specialists".
...
A couple of hours later and about fifty miles to the East, the sun is shining and the birds are singing.
Mike: Not racist at all
Me: Well, maybe a little racist.
Haruspex and Adder are waiting for the specialists, mulling and wanting to get going as soon as possible.
Haruspex hasn't told Taliesin this - he didn't want to worry him until they got there - but the Rune from Taliesin's
dream appears into be a partial Iron Seal. It's the name of an Exarch, written in their native tongue. But
Haruspex hasn't been able to determine which one, given how scant details of the Seers' mad religion are
among the Pentacle. As for the number seven from Taliesin's dream, he's aware that some Seers practice
numerology based on Exarchs - The Unity is one, the Father is Three, the General is Two and so on. He's not
aware which one Seven is, though.
Oh, yeah, this game was brought to you by Seers of the Throne. Also bad childhood holidays in Snowdonia.
...
The Landrover of Justice has left the motorway and is tracking into Chester. As is usual, Excalibur is at the
wheel. Rod is sat in the back, as is the Cabal's custom - if Rod sits shotgun, he tends to offer "helpful" advice.
"So what are we doing?" - Rodriguez
"Helping someone with a Seer problem" - Excalibur
"Will there be damsels in distress?" - Rodriguez
"From what I know of Haruspex... Probably not" - Excalibur
Rod seems downcast at that
"Cheer up, Rod. There might be lonely village girls" - Natalie, helpful
"Are we there yet?" - Rodriguez
Nick: Rod is trying to hide his displeasure by being a petulant child
As they pull up into the car park, they spot Haruspex and Adder. Even if he weren't sat next to Haruspex,
everything about Adder screams "Guardian". Never mind, though; some of Excalibur's best friends were
Guardians.
Rod has known Guardians.
Haruspex and Excalibur shake hands
"Good to see you again" - Excalibur
"And you" - Haruspex
Introductions are made. Adder has heard of Rod
"Good! Then you know my reputation" - Rodriguez, beaming. And warning.
"Taliesin is going to need assistance, so I thought I'd bring someone who could help him through this" Haruspex
"So you're a psychologist?" - Excalibur
"No. Not in so many words" - Adder
"Great" - Excalibur
"He's here because he can help. You're here because you know stuff" - Haruspex
Adder sizes them up, reading the details of Excalibur and Natalie's better natures; Cal's desire to help out,
especially. He can't read Rod, though, which isn't helping his mood.
"Shall we get going? It's an hour or so" - Haruspex
"Sure! I'll drive!" - Rodriguez
"... ...No, it's okay, Rod. I've got it" - Excalibur
"Shotgun!" - Rodriguez, happily
"Shotgun does not actually mean Shotgun, Rod" - Natalie
Rod seems rather put out by this.
...
From Chester, they drive out along a main road. After a few miles the street signs become bilingual. Hills
appear. Crags appear. The road winds its way along the coast, past decrepid seaside resorts that were once
popular before British holidaymakers could afford to inflict themselves on Spain instead, and are now mile after
mile of deserted promenade.
"As you can see, there's a reason why I'm concerned for his mental health" - Haruspex
"Perhaps he should move" - Excalibur
"He did. To here" - Adder
Haruspex fills everyone in.
"Was he prone to dreaming before?" - Excalibur
"No. It seems to have been shaken loose in the move" - Haruspex
They turn as they see the bridge to Angelsea and climb along twisting mountain roads past scrubby fields
marked out with stone walls into the mountains of Snowdonia. Finally, an hour after leaving Chester, they pass
a sign welcoming them to the town (more of a village, really) of Llanberis.
Pronounced "Clan berries". Roughly. With a sort of hoogie sound going on on the initial C. Welsh sounds like Klingon to
the untrained ear, but in general a Ll is pronounced kind of like a "Kle" and a Dd is a "Th". So Gwynydd is "Gwin-ith".
Llanberis is a real town, home to the Snowdonia slate mining museum and miniature railway.
The high street consists of a tourist information shack, a general store, a shut-down and boarded-up post office
and an off-licence which is doing a roaring trade. It's the mid afternoon by the time the Land Rover rumbles its
way down the narrow streets, seeking the cottage on the edge of town that Taliesin has taken as his retirement
home.
It's reasonably picturesque. The mountains will look more majestic when they're snow-capped. The sign for the
miniature railway speaks to Rod of grand adventure and to the others as... Not so good. Past the obligatory pub
(the "Vortigern") is Taliesin's cottage/farmhouse.
Taliesin keeps sheep.
Which for Haruspex's purposes are a size three animal.
Jason: And lovingly looked after.
Mike: Are there any you won't miss?
Taliesin hears them pull up and comes out to welcome them all. Hands are shook, names exchanged.
"Excalibur" - Excalibur
"Ah, yes, I've heard of some of your exploits" - Taliesin
"Good, I hope? And this is Rodriguez" - Excalibur
"Come to solve your problem, my friend" - Rodriguez
Taliesin and Adder nod
"Good of you to come out" - Taliesin, mild
"It's an honor, sir" - Natalie
"Well, please do come in" - Taliesin
Cal, last to go in, gets a nagging sense of deja vu. He looks around at the landscape. He's sure he's never been
here before, but there's the sense of... Familiarity.
Taliesin busies himself getting drinks.
"So, you have a problem" - Excalibur, ducking to go in through the front door and join the others
"Haruspex has told you about my nightmares?" - Taliesin
"The symbols of Seers or Exarchs" - Excalibur
"There was something new last night. Cold. I was freezing" - Taliesin
"Were you cold when you woke up?" - Haruspex
"Not particularly" - Taliesin
It's quite warm in the cottage, Taliesin has a gas fire going and the stone walls are keeping the heat.
"More of a psychological issue than a climate one. Has there been anything that spurred it along?" - Haruspex
"Not that I've seen. It's quiet out here" - Taliesin
"Any neighbours?" - Haruspex
He thinks about it, and decides to tell them.
"Nimue is the only villager I've noticed of note" - Taliesin
Haruspex and Adder pick up on the stress on that word. Rod and Cal, though, recognise the name. Nimue was
at the Convocation in Paris - one of the Mages attached to the Canarvan Consilium.
As far as Excalibur was aware, she was a Mystagogue. He wasn't paying that much attention to her (Rod, once
he finally turned up for the post-Convocation party, paid a little more but there were many ladies present). Cal,
though, was mostly getting drunk with Samael.
"We should go by and see her sometime, since she's in the neighbourhood" - Rodriguez, to Cal
Adder is instantly suspicious.
"How much have you told her about it?" - Adder
"Nothing" - Taliesin, confused
"How much were we planning on announcing our presence?" - Excalibur
"I would prefer to keep this low-key. If we are in Seer country; who are they?" - Haruspex
"If we are in Seer country, should we not warn the isolated neighbour?" - Rodriguez
"Once we know she's not a Seer. If she is, and we herald our arrival, they could come out shooting" - Haruspex
Rod considers that, and then shrugs.
"We shoot back" - Rodriguez
Adder rolls his eyes.
"If there's something general, she could be having the dreams too" - Natalie
"She could be a damsal in distress!" - Rodriguez
"You think so?" - Excalibur
Natalie shrinks slightly under the accumulated attention of the four experienced Mages. She stares at her feet
and mutters something about how Nimue could be, maybe.
"It's up to you guys" - Natalie
Cal, though, has her back. He nods.
"If she's been here longer, she may have been having the dreams for longer too" - Excalibur
"Perhaps we can think of a way of asking her about it indirectly" - Haruspex
"Subtlety is not my strong point" - Excalibur, ruefully
"I'll talk to her!" - Rodriguez, with great enthusiasm
"From what I hear, Subtlety is not your strong point, either" - Adder
"I didn't say what I'd talk to her *about*" - Rodriguez
"What do we know about her?" - Haruspex
"She's an Apostate" - Taliesin
"Okay. No connection to a Consilium?" - Haruspex
"No. She belongs to the Path of Thistle" - Taliesin
"I like her already" - Rodriguez
"Hang on. I thought she was a Mystagogue" - Excalibur
Haruspex frowns.
A little-known fact about the Mysterium - it's members are connected, on a level beyond the other orders. All
Mystagogues are inducted into a shared subconcious media for knowledge called the Egregore, and Haruspex is
particularly advanced in it. He can tell if someone is a Mystagogue, by comparing their Shadow Name to the roll
of inducted members he's got compressed and filed away in his mind. And this Nimue isn't.
Adder knows that look, and raises a long finger to ask a question.
"Did she present herself as a Mystagogue?" - Adder
"It's unlikely if she's living anywhere near Chester" - Haruspex
"So she was lying" - Adder
Adder has now honed right in on a suspicion of "Seer"
"Who was she with?" - Haruspex
"I don't remember much about that night" - Excalibur, after wracking his brains and finding nothing
"She's lied at least once that we know of - and in a serious way, too" - Adder
"It's not uncommon for people to pass themselves off as members of other orders. Guardians, for instance" Excalibur
Adder's reply is lost to the shouting from the Kobalds Ate My Baby game next to us
Excalibur and Adder stare at one another for a long moment. Finally, Cal smiles, trying to break the tension.
Adder doesn't smile.
"We're all on the same side here" - Taliesin
That brings them out of it, Adder cracking a small smile in apology to Taliesin
"We should pay her a visit" - Haruspex
"Ask her if she's seen anything strange lately" - Taliesin
"Perhaps some of us should remain quiet and observational" - Haruspex, forming the outlines of a plan
Cal doesn't like the sound of that. He's not the quiet and observational type.
"You want us to spy on her?" - Excalibur
"Adder for instance" - Haruspex
"So.. What? You want one of us to go in and talk to her while the others use spells?" - Natalie
"Or we can all go in, but some of us play the part of the queter party" - Haruspex
"If all six of us go, it's quite a show of force" - Excalibur
Rod has the answer, he waves languidly
"Or invite her over; you have visiting friends" - Rodriguez
"But if she has Seer paraphernalia in her house, we could spot it" - Haruspex
"Have you been in her house before?" - Excalibur, to Taliesin
The older man shakes his head. No, he hasn't.
"Seer paraphernalia? I've only been on the road with these two, but I haven't noticed any Pentacle
paraphernalia. There's no 'Pentacle Welcome Here' mat in this cottage" - Natalie
"I don't necessarily mean obvious things, just.. When you walk into a professor's house, you can tell what
they're like from their bookshelves" - Haruspex
Natalie looks around at Taliesin's bookshelves
"Okay" - Natalie
"So a few of us go visit. Perhaps one or two of us" - Taliesin
"This mission is getting better and better" - Rodriguez
"So who's going?" - Excalibur
"Myself, Adder and Rodriguez" - Taliesin
"I'll drive!" - Rodriguez
"It's a ten-minute walk" - Taliesin
"I could scry on one of you, but she may notice" - Excalibur
Rod casts a quick Time spell - would it be help them to split up?
Seven successes. Beejezus. I felt the need to go better than "No" for the truly exceptional success
"It's not going to change anything, let's just all go up there and say Hi together" - Rodriguez
1.
Island Of Souls
After taking the time to load up on buff spells (Taliesin pre-casts Unseen Spy, Haruspex Interconnections and
Touch of the Grave modified to have a longer Duration factor and Adder Mind and Space Sights. Mage Armors
are on. Cal tops off his Combined Forces/Prime armor with Omnivision. Rod has a prolonged Accelleration and
has enhanced his luck.
The sorcerous six walk past the pub, Excalibur doing a double-take at the pub's name. The Vortigern.
"A tie there for you" - Haruspex, to Cal
"Huh" - Excalibur
"Taliesin, I can't help but notice that this place is a bit... Morose" - Haruspex
Taliesin looks at all the grey
"It'll get better in winter" - Taliesin, a little bit lamely
"Any time you want to come back, you're welcome to stay" - Haruspex
"I like it up here" - Taliesin
"Would you consider at least moving somewhere else?" - Haruspex
"We'll see what we find" - Taliesin
"Somewhere there's life..." - Haruspex, trailing off.
Speaking of life, Haruspex observes that there are the normal background level of Ghosts - three in Twilight,
drifting along so far, which is about right. Two looked like they died in old age and are lurking around the
church. One looks like a mountain climber who died of exposure, and has over-emphasised ice forming off him.
People think that Snowdon can be climbed in a T-Shirt, because after all it's in Britain, and we don't do real mountains
in Britain. And then they die.
It's a relatively pleasant walk. Cal can smell apples again, though as he doesn't remark on it he doesn't find out
the others can't. Rounding the corner by the church, they approach Nimue's cottage; much smaller than
Taliesin's house. About three houses before it, they cross the perimeter Ward and, as Adder watches under
Space sight, a Scrying window snaps open above them.
"She knows we're here" - Adder
"That's the idea, isn't it?" - Excalibur, cheerfully
As they approach, Nimue emerges from her front door. She doesn't appear to have any spells in her pattern
other than the obligatory Mage armor.
"Taliesin?" - Nimue
"We meet again" - Rodrigez, smiling
"Forgive the intrusion. My friends and I are looking into a matter and thought you might have seen or
encountered something strange that might pertain to it" - Taliesin
"Not an intrusion! Please - we should talk about business inside rather than the street" - Nimue
"Agreed" - Adder
He eyes a dog in the distance suspiciously
Nimue's cottage is smaller and more cramped. Adder is having to lean over to fit inside.
The mages begin casually looking over the room for signs of Seerdom. Adder activates his Attainment, trying to
read Nimue's better nature.
Those looking around did so with Investigation + Intelligence + Occult - 5
There is a predominance of Sevens - both collections of objects and the number itself. Haruspex notes with
displeasure that there are seven individuals present as well. There's a celtic knot painting over the fireplace
which has the partial Iron Seal from Taliesin's dream worked into the design.
"Quite a nice cottage you have here" - Haruspex
"You noticed the painting?" - Nimue
"Yes!" - Haruspex
"I made it myself, after a dream" - Nimue
"Do you often have dreams like this?" - Haruspex
"Sometimes. Plus, I Awakened when I was asleep. Not as traumatic as some. Oh! I know where I've met you
two..." - Nimue
Adder notes the smoothness of the transition there. Adder is not amused.
"...I met you in Paris, didn't I?" - Nimue, friendly
"Have you dreamed of Rodriguez often?" - Rodriguez, all teeth.
That got a laugh at the table.
"Oh, god... You're here about *that*. Look, I know I said I was a Mystagogue, but they needed an order to allow
me to attend and one of the guys I went over with said it was okay. He said no one would mind if I..." (off their
looks) "...You're not the Mysterium Police?" - Nimue
"My dear, we don't have police. We have Scholars" - Haruspex
Everyone - including Rod, who is a ham but also a jaded soul - has her under constant scrutiny for whether she's lying
or not. As far as they can tell, she hasn't lied yet.
But note exactly what she has and hasn't said.
"So before Taliesin arrived, were you up here alone?" - Excalibur
"Yes - that's probably why I'm not in an order. The Consilium I trained with is miles away, hours of driving.
There's nobody up here but me" - Nimue
"Lonely" - Excalibur
"You poor child" - Rodriguez
"Except for Taliesin arriving" - Nimue
"Lived here all your life?" - Excalibur
"Since my Awakening" - Nimue
"When was that?" - Rodriguez
She looks from one to the other, a little weirded out. Taliesin attempts to make small talk to let her get her
defences down again. Eventually, she apologises again to Haruspex
"I don't know much about your order - I'm not one to sit in a library all day" - Nimue
"That may be true as a stereotype, but there are those of my order who take greater risks" - Haruspex
"They get paper cuts" - Rodriguez, in a conspiratorial whisper
Haruspex clears his throat
"Regardless - if you do get lonely, feel free to come to Chester" - Haruspex
"It's good to meet new people - are you visiting Taliesin just to visit?" - Nimue
"I've been having some odd occurances of late that Haruspex was concerned about" - Taliesin
"I'm a friend of Haruspex, and Rod's a friend of mine, as is Natalie" - Excalibur
Natalie smiles uncomfortably in the background.
Taliesin studies the painting - now it's been pointed out, he does see it. There's more - Nimue has a
paperweight of some kind on her mantelpiece, a geode (a round, hollow rock with coloured crystals growing
inside, split open for decorative purpose) that seems naggingly familiar to Taliesin.
"Where did you pick up this Geode?" - Taliesin
"The tourist information shack; it's just a paperweight. Do you want it?" - Nimue
"It's fine" - Taliesin, putting it back
"Well, while you're all here, if you want to be shown around..." - Nimue
"...I'd be delighted" - Rodriguez
"...There's not much to see. The lake, maybe, but..." - Nimue
"Tell me about this dream and Rodriguez will tell you about his dreams" - Rodriguez
Adder rolls his eyes so hard they nearly exit their sockets.
"...Excalibur, why don't you and Rod go on ahead to the pub. Get a table" - Taliesin
"Sure" - Excalibur
"I'll be over later" - Nimue, to Rod
"I'll look for you" - Rodriguez
The two of them leave.
...
Cal and Rod cross Nimue's garden to the road. Rod grins.
"She'll be over later. That's right" - Rodriguez
"Whatever, man" - Excalibur
"I'm just saying" - Rodriguez
They leave the Ward, heading down the street
"Well, that was interesting" - Excalibur
Rod, now sure he's not being observed, drops the act a little.
"I don't think they know what they're doing. They invite us along, they send us away... I'll follow your lead, I
guess" - Rodriguez
"I understand. Play it by ear. This could go bad - really bad" - Excalibur, frowning
"The girl doesn't seem much of a threat" - Rodrigeuz
"I've seen some mean girls in my time" - Excalibur
...
Inside, Adder, Taliesin and Haruspex look at one another. And then at Natalie, who has a facial expression
something like 'should I have gone with them?'. Eventually, Taliesin indicates with a wink that she can stay,
before returning to the subject of the painting.
"I saw something similar to this in my own dreams" - Taliesin
"I honestly can't tell you any more. I think I just... Had it. It just came to me - I doodled it down as soon as I
woke up, but I can't remember anything more" - Nimue
She is a lying lier what lies on that one, as indicated to the group by comedy head-shaking
Haruspex concentrates on his Interconnections. There's the expected ones from himself to Taliesin and Adder.
There's one from Taliesin, to the painting and to Nimue. Oddly, there's one from Taliesin to Natalie.
And the Shadow Names are setting off his distrust in coincidence. Not just them, either - the pub name.
Vortigern. Taliesin. Nimue. Excalibur. They're all Arthurian; if only he could tell what they *mean*.
Vortigern was a King who had two Dragons imprisoned under his castle and sought a pre-Arthur Merlin for advice.
Nimue was the lady of the lake and Merlin's student/lover/captor. Excalibur is the Scabbard of the Sword of Britain, or
sometimes the Sword provided by Nimue when it differs from the Sword in the Stone. Taliesin was a bard, Merlin's
mentor and in some stories his father.
Oh - and the five-headed Dragons from Taliesin's dream. Pendragon.
Haruspex produces a notebook and starts scribbling in a cypher.
"Why... Don't we go to the bar?" - Haruspex
"Okay, sure" - Nimue
...
They leave, Nimue locking up behind them
"Tell me about this lake" - Haruspex, friendly
She gestures to the slope to the East - the town is built in a valley between the mountain and one of its
foothills, carved out by a glacier, the valley getting much deeper to the East where it eventually fills in with
glacial melt-water. The resulting lake shimmers in the reflected late afternoon sunlight.
"There it is. Llyn Padarn" - Nimue
"Lake Padarn". Padarn is a Saint, I think.
There are people wind-surfing in it.
"That's... The lake" - Nimue, lamely
"My god, is he *nuts*?" - Haruspex
"I've seen people swim in it. With a good wetsuit it's... Still freezing cold" - Nimue
When they leave the boundary of Nimue's Ward, those observing Nimue's mental state closely note her sense
of relief that they're out of her domain.
...
And then there's the bar. Rod and Cal have already taken over a corner. The building is very old - all wood
timbers and mad old men that warn of werewolves waiting for hikers. It is a local bar for local people. The few
inhabitants are speaking Welsh.
As is traditional, there are two rooms - the larger restauranty bit and the small smokey strange old local men
bit.
Nick: To the Back! Do you want an Awakened discussion around tourists or crazy old men?
The back room contains two old men drinking their strange, room-temperature drink, smoking pipes, playing
dominoes and muttering away in Welsh. Haruspex is wearing his amulet, so can clearly hear them noting what
an odd bunch they make. Fortunately, years of dealing with Ghosts have taught him how to avoid eye contact
and pretend that he can't hear someone he's trying to block out.
Speaking of which, a Ghost drifts through the wall in Twilight, peering mournfully around before gliding off
again.
Haruspex has moved the gentle interrogation on to why Nimue chose her Shadow name - he's no longer
thinking entirely of their mission, and all the Arthurian signs appearing have honestly got his interest. Nimue
says that someone told her about Acanthus and the associations therof. Her Awakening had a lake in it, and she
googled some likely legends.
"So should you go first with your dream, or should I tell you mine?" - Rodriguez
She says she was walking out in the village and saw that symbol - the celtic knot - burning into the mountain.
"Which mountain?" - Rodriguez
Nimue points out of the window at Snowdon.
Taliesin turns the geode - which Nimue ended up giving to him after all - over in his hands, examining it under
Mage sight. It is heavily connected to her.
"What made you buy this geode?" - Haruspex
"I just needed a paperweight" - Nimue, lying
It has, to Taliesin's scrutiny, a very strong resonance of mentorship, which is unusual for a rock. It's strong, like
the resonance of a blackboard used by an especially beloved teacher. It's also magical.
"To be honest, I heard... I bought it because I'd heard there was a way to make... Soul Stones" - Nimue
Remember that - ubiquitous as they are - they're still regarded with some illicit mystique by Mages, who recognise that
making them is wrong but often do it anyway for the utility they provide.
Adder looks around, checking noone overheard that.
"I was intending to... Well, I didn't, obviously, but that's what I had in mind when I bought it" - Nimue
Adder frowns. That was nearly a lie. Not quite, but nearly. She's being very careful what she says.
"That's not something you should do lightly" - Haruspex
Adder and Taliesin both cast Telepathy on Haruspex. He squints as the two sets of thoughts enter his brain
independently
-It's definitely magical- - Taliesin
-She's been lying a lot, especially about that stone - Adder
-Has anyone seen my baby? - Ghost
And that, sir, is what you get for leaving Speak With The Dead up. Consider yourself lucky - Sin Eaters can't turn this
sort of thing off at all, and have to cultivate the same attitude to Ghosts' pleadings as normal people do to, say,
homeless people.
Haruspex double-takes, then shakes his head irritably
"Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and be interrupted by a Ghost?" - Haruspex
"Can't say I have" - Excalibur
"Something similar with Spirits occasionally" - Taliesin
"Well it's damned annoying" - Haruspex
"...So we eating or what?" - Excalibur
"My round" - Nimue
"I'll help you carry" - Adder
Phil: Juuust in case she puts something in them
They leave, and the remaining Mages look conspiratorial.
"We have a situation here" - Haruspex
He points at Taliesin
"You are bound, sympathetically, to Excalibur and to Nimue. And Natalie." - Haruspex
"He Is?" - Natalie
"Yeah. I've not quite figured that out yet" - Haruspex
Rod blinks in the background, then picks up the Geode
"Oh, and Taliesin told me that thing's magical" - Haruspex
"Yes, it is. Very strong resonance. Don't drop it" - Taliesin
"Mind if I have a look?" - Excalibur
Cal casts Analyse Magic Item.
"You think it could be some sort of Soul Stone?" - Rodriguez, handing it over
"That's what I was thinking" - Excalibur
"How would a rock become a tool for mentorship otherwise?" - Haruspex
"I think you should accept it - we can figure out how to contain it" - Haruspex
"Alright" - Taliesin
Cal puts it back on the table, considering
"It's like a Soul Stone, but it isn't actually a Soul Stone. A Soul Stone warps the world towards a particular
Supernal Realm. This thing is emphasising the Fallen World around it. It isn't good - Mentory. Very, very
mentory. But it feels like a trap. If it's a mentor, then it's one that plots behind your back" - Excalibur,
emphasising that last part
Rod and Nat grimace at Cal's expression. Rod slaps him on the back.
Nimue and Adder return.
"So I had this dream about a goat..." - Rodriguez, bounding up to Nimue
And gets a flat zero on his socialise roll
Nimue and Rod fall into chatting. After a few minutes, Rod's heart sinks - it's not that he's failing to chat her up,
but years of experience have taught Rod to judge how well he's doing. And he's doing better than he should be.
Nimue is allowing herself to be flirted with - she's faking her interest in him.
And that means it's a trap. A sexy trap, to be sure, and Rod feels up to the challenge, but it proves to his
satisfaction that she has something to hide.
While he's buying them time, the others huddle.
About an hour in, Taliesin suddenly remembers where he's heard of this sort of thing before. He asks Haruspex,
and he agrees.
It's a Temple Stone.
Seers of the Throne sometimes make things called Temple Stones - artifacts dedicated to a particular Exarch.
He considers why Nimue would be trying to give it away and then, in a flash, remembers something about
normal Soul Stones: They're pretty much useless unless in a Hallow. Logically, Temple Stones might be the
same. And he has a Hallow while Nimue doesn't.
"Be careful. She's watching. I believe she's a Seer. She has the stone, the seal, she's watching us.. And Mr
Rodriguez is not doing as well as he thinks" - Adder
"He's like that" - Natalie
"It would be interesting to see her reaction if confronted with it" - Adder
"And we took her to a public place" - Excalibur
"We can't take it to a Hallow or it might Activate" - Haruspex
"The stone is the least of our worries. If she's a Seer, we need to deal with it" - Adder
"I disagree. It's important enough that she's trying to get it into Taliesin's Hallow. Maybe it's what she was
ordered to do, and that might lead us to what the plot is" - Haruspex
"Meanwhile she's a Seer" - Adder
"I'm not saying we leave her, Adder, just that we find out first" - Haruspex
"We can deal with it on my farm" - Taliesin
"I may need to borrow a sheep. Do you have a sickly one?" - Haruspex
"I can find you a sheep" - Taliesin
"I'll leave this to the more experienced hunters" (nodding to Excalibur and Adder) - Haruspex
"We should interrogate her" - Excalibur
"I don't want any bloodshed" - Taliesin, to Adder
Adder pauses - his actions killing the Banishers that sent Taliesin out here weigh on him, but after a few
seconds he visibly calms himself and does his duty.
"Taliesin, I know your recent past has been traumatic, but it's people like her that make this world unsafe" Adder
"I'd still rather see her have a fair chance at a defence" - Taliesin
"...Yes, Lictor" - Adder
"Plus, it might be to our benefit to have several people ask questions" - Haruspex
"I'll leave the acquiring of Nimue to the more Martial members of the group" - Taliesin
"Rod's doing pretty well" - Natalie
"Meanwhile you and I" (to Haruspex) "Will try to figure out what to do with the Temple Stone" - Taliesin
"Sounds good" - Haruspex
"If she's trying to seduce him to get him alone, is there a way to tell him to seduce her to get her alone?" Natalie
"Good point. We need him to take her to our place" - Adder
He casts Telepathy.
-Rodriguez, This is Adder. Don't react. Get her to take you back to your place. We believe she's a Seer, and we
can't deal with her here in the bar- - Adder
-I'll play along for Cal's sake- - Rodriguez
Nick: Rod is not happy....He doesn't care much for this sneaky Guardian crap. Nor does he like having a *Guardian*
poke around in his head and give him orders
Haruspex and Taliesin stand up
"Wait a second. I'll come with you" - Adder
Excalibur and Natalie stay. Nimue and Rod rejoin them.
"Where are you three going?" - Nimue
"We're going to head back to Taliesin's" - Haruspex
"Okay" - Nimue
They try to smile, and walk back. Well, Haruspex and Taliesin walk back. Adder lurks around the corner, waiting
for Rod to lead Nimue out.
...
"Still having a good time?" - Excalibur
"Great time" - Rodriguez
Rod grins and puts his arm around Nimue.
...
"There's a couple of things we need to address. Have you ever met Natalie before?" - Haruspex
"No" - Taliesin
"She's too old to have babysat for your kids..." (off Taliesin's expression) "...Shit. Sorry, man. That was the only
way I could think of she could have come into contact with you before. But she doesn't have a connection to
Nimue. Just to you... Have you considered taking an apprentice?" - Haruspex
Taliesin looks quizzical
"I'm not going to push the issue, but she seems... Lost" - Haruspex
"Mmmhmm" - Taliesin
"There's something that connects you to her - it could be the current situation. It could be destiny" - Haruspex
"I'm bothered by the resonance of mentorship here" - Taliesin
"The stone?" - Haruspex
"The stone, the dreams" - Taliesin
...
Excalibur and Natalie now have the idea that Rod and Nimue would like to be alone.
"Have fun, you kids" - Excalibur
Rod grins - weeping slightly on the inside - and he and Nimue get up to go.
"Show me more of these celtic knots..." - Rodriguez, wiggling his eyebrows
They exit, as Natalie thumps her head against the table.
"And five...four...three... two...." (gets up) "one... Follow them" - Excalibur
1.
Island Of Souls
"You know what? Let's go to mine" - Nimue
Rod indicates that he would like that very much
And team Ninja prepare their ambush...
-Make space, quickly!- - Adder
As Rod lets go of Nimue's hand and jumps to the side, Adder drops a Ban, keyed to Life, on Nimue.
A tactic I have not seen before, which took me pleasantly by surprise. Well done to Phil! Added benefit that the Ban is
so tight around Nimue she can't raise her arms to perform Rote mudras.
Nimue looks around as much as she can, trying to find who cast that. Adder, though, is still in hiding.
"...Okaay" - Nimue
Adder closes his eyes, raising a hand up, and casts Read the Depths. Nimue grunts slightly, fighting off the
mental attack.
At which point we roll for initiative. Natalie's on 19 (I rolled a ten) Rod's on 17, Excalibur's on 11, Nimue's on 10...
Adder's on 6. Ah, well.
Nat and Cal start running
"We have questions about you maybe being a Seer" - Rodriguez
Nimue tries and fails to Teleport as Adder tries again to get into her mind. Unsuccessfully.
Just as Nat and Cal get there, Nimue Teleports.
Adder curses, loudly, and pops up out of hiding. Everyone starts running towards Nimue's cottage.
Cal and Adder both try to cast Scry, but without knowing Nimue's name it's an almost impossible task.
"Okay. Hold up" - Adder
He reaches for his tenuous sympathetic connection to Nimue - he's met her, after all - and casts New Threads,
trying to strengthen it.
Changing the penalty for scrying from -10 to -4
"It's going to be you and her?" - Rodriguez
"I'm not going to open a Portal" - Adder
Course not - Vulgar!
He focuses and casts the spell.
Nimue is in a ruined building - no ceiling, and grass and earth for a floor. She's hurriedly casting something he
recognises as an anti-scrying ward. Adder counterspells, the magics twist together but in the end, when she
finishes casting, the scrying window is destroyed
Adder curses again and tries to remember any such buildings they saw on their drive in.
"She's in an abandoned building" - Adder
"Do we go back to the others or search hers?" - Natalie
Which would be a 50:50 chance! Rod's attainment kicks in!
"This way!" - Rodriguez, pointing to Nimue's cottage
The five of them set off again.
...
Haruspex has dressed in his robes and is sharpening his knives
"Any requests?" - Haruspex
"I'd like to know about Natalie, the resonance, the stone, the Seers... Hmmm. Caves. My dreams contain
caves... And Nimue in legend bound Merlin in a cave" - Taliesin
"Perhaps the Exarch is... No, I've got nothing" - Haruspex
"There was a landslide near here that levelled a school. maybe that's connected to it. Something sealed away?
But how is that related to the Seers, or to me?" - Taliesin
"...Being out here" - Haruspex
"I'm mourning my family in my own way" - Taliesin
"Sure. But this place seems to be deepening your grief" - Haruspex
"Your point being?" - Taliesin, an edge in his voice
Haruspex raises his hands, surrendering
"I mean maybe you were drawn here" - Haruspex
Taliesin considers it.
"Ask about the stone. If you have any further questions, try to find out about the other things" - Taliesin
"We'll wait until the others get back with Nimue" - Haruspex
After the neccessary preparations, Haruspex raises the knife
-Haruspex. Nimue got away - she's at some kind of abandoned building. Meet us at her cottage- - Adder
-But I'm about to kill a sheep!- - Haruspex, petulant.
-Now. And bring the geode - it's connected to her- - Adder
"Damn it!" - Haruspex, putting the knife down again
"What?" - Taliesin
"She got away" - Haruspex
"How?" - Taliesin
"I have no idea. But it's *extremely* frustrating" - Haruspex, whining a little.
Taliesin contacts Adder via Telepathy.
-So what's going on?- - Taliesin
-Nimue's escaped. She's in a building with no roof, grass on the ground. She broke through my Ban and
Teleported- - Adder
-So she has some skill with the Space Arcanum, then?- - Taliesin, wryly
Teleporting is the mark of an Adept of Space. Nimue's already shaky cover as a rural witch of small power is looking
even more dubious.
"She's in a ruin" - Taliesin
"I know. He told me already" - Haruspex
Haruspex casts Augury on the move, trying to ascertain if Nimue will be at the school that was buried by a
landslide.
I totally shouldn't have mentioned the school. It was a real disaster, but the players latched onto it as a red herring...
The temporal sympathy to Nimue is weak (he's only met her once), so he picks up the Temple Stone, hoping
that it will provide a better connection. And that is his mistake.
Haruspex feels the spell go wrong, as though it had caused a Paradox. But the feeling is not that of the Abyss
interfering with the Supernal laws being drawn down - rather, the Supernal Realm he's calling on is shifting,
somehow. Shifting in an intelligent way.
He feels a terrible sensation of scrutiny - one of the great powers of the Supernal has noticed his spell, and is
not pleased. Not pleased at all. He stutters, unable to break off the spell. A trickle of blood runs out of the
corner of his left eye, and finally - in agony - he manages to stop casting.
He has taken an Aggravated Wound, and (when the players later check) suddenly manifested the Destiny Merit, which
he did not previously had.
Remember kids - Do not use a Temple Stone dedicated to the Exarch of Time as a shortcut when casting a Time spell.
Especially if you're a Pentacle Mage.
He/She doesn't like it at ALL.
"You okay?" - Taliesin, concerned
"Erugmm" - Haruspex
"You're bleeding" - Taliesin
Haruspex wipes the blood on his cuff.
"This... Is very dangerous" - Haruspex
"We shouldn't use it in any of our magics again. Ever" - Taliesin, grim
"Yes" - Haruspex
...
They return to the others, who are turning Nimue's cottage upside-down. Cal is of the opinion that the Temple
Stone belongs in a Censorium, an opinion which Adder shares.
They find the name Nimue has been receiving her post in (it's hard to get your power bills to "Nimue"), but it
isn't her real name. They find her stash of Sacraments and ritual items for Extended spellcasting in a trunk
under her bed. In Adder and Taliesin's considered opinion, Nimue worships either the Exarch of Time or the
Exarch of Fate, despite being a Thyrsus herself.
After dispelling the Invisible Object cast upon it, they discover a journal in which she records all of her meetings
with Taliesin. By flipping back, though, they find that Taliesin is not the first; Nimue has personally observed at
least two other mages in her time here.
Come to think of it, Taliesin did get his house cheap.
The other mages have "Gone to the Cave".
"Either they're dead or actually in a cave" - Haruspex
"Taliesin. Are there any ruins near to a cave?" - Adder
There are indeed; there are some cave systems nearby that allow tourists inside. Even some of the disused
coal mines.
"I can find out where she is, but I need to go back to Taliesin's to do it properly" - Haruspex
"No time" - Adder
"We've been searching for an hour and a half already! You're the one who let her escape!" - Haruspex
"She was an Adept of Space!" - Excalibur
"I'm not rushing in blindly!" - Haruspex
"Haruspex... I know you like to do things properly..." - Taliesin
Excalibur looks at the three Chester mages.
"Come on. We're going back to the farmhouse" - Excalibur
"No" - Adder
Haruspex grimaces.
"Alright, I'm going to do this here and now - but I would just like to point out that if she's at 'The Caves' we're
walking into a trap" - Haruspex
He looks at the Geode, which Taliesin is holding
"And get that thing away from me" - Haruspex
Haruspex casts Divination, forsaking his usual Extended casting. It doesn't work - Nimue has some kind of
shield on her timeline.
Haruspex growls and casts Prophecy.
It fails.
"So... tell me again why I'm rushing this and not doing it properly?" - Haruspex
Excalibur and Adder both try to Scry on her. And fail.
Taliesin senses the growing air of frustration in the room, and tries to get everyone to calm down.
"Let's do this the right way. Let's all go back to my farmhouse and..." - Taliesin
"I do have another option. If I wander out there, I'm pretty sure I can find her" - Rodriguez
Using a variant of 'Gift of Fortune', Rod is attempting to make fate conspire to bring Nimue to him as soon as is
convinient
The spell appears to succeed. At some point, no matter what happens, Nimue will come for Rod.
"My work here is done" - Rodriguez
...
On the way back, Haruspex apologises for his frustrated outburst
"But on the way here I think I attracted the attention of an Exarch" - Haruspex
"Well, that can't be good" - Excalibur
While Rod waits outside with the Temple Stone, Cal, Taliesin and Adder refill their Mana at the Hallow. Haruspex
has no time for Mana - the time has come for him to finally get to kill something. Without breaking stride, he
pulls a sacrificial dagger and marches into Taliesin's shed, where a Sheep has been selected and corralled. In a
swift motion, he kneels and slits the animal's throat.
And as it's an Attainment, there's no roll, so Nimue's Shield of Chronos is blasted right through. Three Questions.
Is she at the school where the disaster happened? No.
Is she at the caves open to the public? No.
Is she setting a trap for them? Yes.
And his Willpower refreshes for fulfilling his Virtue condition.
...
Back at the Hallow, Adder, Excalibur and Taliesin attempt to build a powerful Scry spell, aided by Rod casting
luck enhancements on them.
The scrying window flickers... And opens
"FINALLY" - Adder
Nimue is in the ruined building, along with two men the mages haven't seen. They're all tree wearing robes and
appear to be casting some form of extended spell. A humanoid figure is slowly appearing inbetween them.
The building is next to one of the lakes.
"Is there anything that can help you narrow it down?" - Adder
Taliesin squints.
"Actually, I have an idea" - Adder
The Seers appear to be so into whatever it is they're doing that they haven't noticed the scrying window. Adder
throws a Spatial Map spell through the conduit, trying to get some idea of the local terrain so that he can later
match it up to a real map.
"Got it" - Adder
They leave the Hallow - in Taliesin's basement - and enter the farmhouse proper. Taliesin rummages through a
bookcase to find a Hiking map of the area. Adder scribbles what he has down on a piece of paper.
"Okay... Look for a matching shape..." - Adder
"Got it" - Rodriguez, jabbing a finger.
Haruspex comes in, blood on his hands and vindication in his heart.
"They're setting a trap!" - Haruspex
"They're summoning something. Here" - Adder
"Well then - let's go!" - Haruspex
"We wanted to do things properly" - Taliesin, smiling
"Portol" - Excalibur
Adder grimaces.
"Come on, man. It'll take me half an hour - you can do it now" - Excalibur
"It's Vulgar" - Adder
"Oh, come ON" - Excalibur
"Breaking a law of magic?" - Adder
"They're summoning something into this world!" - Haruspex
Adder hunches reflexively, resolute
Nick: one of the great things I thought about Phil, and its to bad that the write up can't capture this, but I was sitting
next to him and he literally BRISTLED at this point
"... I agree with him" - Rodriguez
Everyone stares at Rod. Even Adder.
"...This way, I get to drive!" - Rodriguez
1.
Island Of Souls
"You're kidding" - Excalibur
"You should have let me drive" - Rodriguez, throwing his hands up as if to say "what can you do?"
"It's down the main road. About ten miles" - Taliesin
Rod leads the way, at a run, to the Landrover.
For the uninitiated, a Brit landrover of the old school, such as Excalibur's, is four-wheel drive and built like a tank, but
only has seating for two - three at a push - at the front. Any further passengers have to sit on the long equipment
lockers that line each wall of the cargo area, at ninety degrees to the angle of travel. Some models make allowances
for comfort by putting seat padding and lap-seatbelts onto the lockers. Cal's doesn't.
"Maybe I should stay here..." - Haruspex, balking at the thought as Rod revs the engine
"Your assistance would be greatly appreciated, Haruspex" - Taliesin, gently shoving him up the step and into the
back.
Fortunately, Rod treats the maximum speed of vehicles as the safe speed. They're all going to be scared out of their
minds, but okay.
The sun has long since gone down, it's heavily overcast and starting to drizzle.
"Headlights, Rod. Headlights" - Excalibur
"And let them know we're coming?" - Rodriguez, scoffing at the danger
Everyone casts their protective spells of choice as Rod starts off at high speed down the valley. Haruspex
seriously considers Divining if he's going to die. Perhaps, as as they round a corner someone attempts to cast
Monkey's Paw on the landrover. They feel the spell come in, and Excalibur bats it down with a Counterspell.
Haruspex casts his Divination. If he were to quit on them now, would he survive?
No, he'd get ganked by the flanking Seer
"While we're focused on the front, there's one moving around us" - Haruspex
"Who's watching the rear?" - Excalibur
"On it" - Adder
They approach their turning - a small roadside building that serves as a parking place and supply store for
hikers marks the start of a walking trail. That it is not designed for vehicles matters not to Rod. At least there
won't be any hikers out there. If Rod loses control of the vehicle, though, it will roll happily down the steep hill
they're driving along and into a lake.
The very steep hill. Those on the left hand side of the interior are several feet below those on the right. Taliesin
begins coaxing the spirit of the vehicle, trying to encourage it to hold together.
And Excalibur can smell apples
"Can anyone else smell that?" - Excalibur
"Smell what?" - Haruspex
"Apples" - Excalibur
... And then Haruspex realises where "Nimue", Apples, Vortigern, Excalibur and Caves fit in together.
"Er... Excalibur. She's the lady of the lake" - Haruspex
"Who is?" - Excalibur
"Nimue. That's the Lady of the Lake" - Haruspex
He realises something *else*.
"Taliesin - the water down there. It was 'Llyn Llydaw' on the map, right? This is one of the possible lakes!" Haruspex
"What - THE Lake?" - Excalibur
"THE lake. The one she keeps the sword in" - Haruspex
"What's with the Apples?" - Excalibur
"'Avalon' means 'Isle of Apples'" - Haruspex
"Ookay. So we're going to Avalon" - Excalibur
In the lore of the Pentacle, there isn't any consensus about Arthur, but Merlin himself is supposed to have
existed at one point - an Acanthus Archmaster, probably of the Silver Ladder.
While Haruspex muses on that, someone makes one of the landrover's wheels explode.
While Rod adjusts his manic driving to compensate for the missing back wheel, their path begins to descend.
They're rapidly approaching the ruins they saw the Seers in.
"How fast did you want to arrive?" - Rodriguez, a hint of concern breaking into his voice
"GO THROUGH!" - Haruspex, throwing Matter spells at the landrover to reinforce it's structure.
Rod doesn't take telling twice. He floors it.
Cal draws his sword and braces for impact. Adder slides to the floor and puts his back against one of the chairs.
Yes, they're driving through the wall of the Seers' Hallow. It's a ruin, and their car is magically armoured
At the last second, the landrover hits a boulder (that Rod deliberately aimed for) and leaves the ground.
And, after carefully calculating the vehicle's speed, structure and the exceptional success Rod got aiming it, twentyfive damage dice. The most I've ever seen in an nWoD game.
If in doubt, throw a landrover at them at over a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately, the car tumbles in the air the wrong way, hits the wall and crumples like a tin can.
Rod uses his Shifting Sands Attainment.
At the last second, the landrover hits a boulder (that Rod deliberately aimed for) and leaves the ground.
And this time *does* manage to break down the wall
The landrover hits the ruin with the sound of falling stone and tearing metal. There's a brief scream as one of
the Seers is crushed beneath the falling stones and the vehicle, which slams down onto the top of the pile of
rubble.
"Fix the car!" - Rodriguez, drawing his guns
While Haruspex gets right on that, the others swing themselves as fast as possible out of the dead landrover.
Taliesin and Adder cast Spatial Map. Cal can see in the dark.
Roll Initiative!
The landrover's lights flicker back on as Haruspex makes progress, illuminating the interior of the ruin.
"Where are they?" - Adder
"Right behind us. The guy that tried to curse the car" - Excalibur
From Spatial Map, Adder gleans that there's a Seer in one of the other buildings nearby, desperately buffing
himself. And picking his way towards their building while wielding a shotgun... Is Rodriguez!
Huh?
Adder double takes with Rod stood next to him.
"I'll leave him to... him" - Adder
He and Cal start running towards the Seer, countering whatever it was the Seer was casting. Upon having his
spell countered, the Seer runs out to the edge of the lake and shouts something that's lost to the rain and wind.
And now on the Spatial Map, there are drowned hikers emerging from the lake.
"Damn Moros" - Excalibur
Adder narrows his eyes. He was inclined against the Seer to start with, but raising Zombies is Vulgar.
Rod, meanwhile, leaps out from behind the rubble and confronts Fake!Rodriguez
"Damn, I'm handsome" - Rodriguez
Which momentary distraction allows the doppelgänger to fire first. It narrowly misses the real Rod, who raises
his guns and fires right back. The double takes both bullets to the face, obliterating the back of it's skull and
spreading green ichor across the grass. The body topples backward with a thump.
"Still handsome from the neck down. Okay - who's next?" - Rodriguez
He turns and heads for the Seer, trying to catch up with Adder and Cal. Haruspex cautiously leaves Taliesin and
Natalie repairing the landrover and goes to investigate the body of Fake!Rod.
Excalibur boosts himself with Forces and leaps over a ruin wall, landing on the Seer Moros and knocking him
flat. Taliesin, casting via the miracle of Spatial Map, casts Trigger the Lizard Brain on him.
"Er.. guys. He's not dead" - Haruspex
He refers to Fake!Rod, which he just tried to draw Mana from. The doppelgänger appears to be regenerating,
which is worrisome. As Haruspex backs off, Fake!Rod gets back up again - and shoots at him! Haruspex is
winged by buckshot
Real!Rod turns around again at Haruspex' shouts and opens fire again. Fake!Rod is dropped again, and Rod
shoots the body while it's on the ground, just to be sure.
Back at the lakeside, the Seer has gone foetal. Cal clocks him with the scabbard from his sword. Adder can't
resist getting a swift kick in for good measure.
Rodriguez hunts Zombies, cleaning up what's left of the scene. Taliesin looks back just in time to see fake!Rod
get back up again.
"It's back!" - Taliesin
"Persistant, isn't he?" - Excalibur
The Seer rolling between Cal and Adder, tries and fails to cast something.
Cal has had enough. The rain is getting harder, and the Seer scrambling to get away from him. He casts Call
Lightning.
The Seer somehow stays conscious - screaming and, for that matter, steaming.
"Leave him to me" - Adder, dangerously
Again, a shout out to Phil's physical roleplaying here. The LOOK on his face was pure righteous fury. Excellent work!
Excalibur hacks down a zombie, then starts back towards the vehicle. Nimue is still out there somewhere.
Haruspex fumbles drawing his knife, but manages to stab Fake!Rod back down again.
He uses his Attainment - having just killed a living being - to try to discover how to permanently kill it. He sees
a horrible car crash, Rod stumbling out bleeding from a head wound.
So Rod has to die for fake Rod to die? It shows them all - Rod included - standing over Fake!Rod
Is this a Manifestation paradox? No.
If they burn it, will it come back? He sees it's charred corpse in the remains of a campfire. Then he sees Rod,
back in Chester, leaving a club with a woman, then he sees the creature twitch and start to be reborn.
"This.. raises MORE questions!" - Haruspex
Adder, meanwhile, takes down the Moros with all the righteous fury he can muster. He's faced Seers, danger
and surprise tonight. He's at his most angry.
The Snakestaff hits the Seer at the back of the neck with a snapping sound, and the Seer drops.
And Adder refills his Willpower for fulfilling his Virtue. Inh a very viceish way.
Back at Fake!Rod, experimentation is in operation. They've kicked the Shotgun away, but Fake!Rod has started
moving yet again, trashing around and kicking at Haruspex. The blows bounce off Haruspex' armour, but he's
shaken.
"We need time to think!" - Rodriguez
He casts Temporal Stutter, absorbing the Paradox as damage. Fake!Rod vanishes in a flash of red light.
"We have a little while" - Rodriguez
Haruspex hurriedly describes what he saw as they run back to the Landrover. Natalie pokes her head out of the
vehicle wreck.
"Are they all gone yet!?" - Natalie
And then they all feel someone - probably Nimue - scrying on them
"Can you go after her this time?" - Adder
"If I can" - Excalibur
Taliesin, Excalibur and Adder all scry back through Nimue's sympathetic window. Nimue is in her house,
desperately grabbing seemingly-random objects. She freezes as she sees them seeing her.
Adder casts Psychic Assault. Excalibur casts Call Lightning. Taliesin casts Counterspell Prime in case Nimue tries
to cast anything else.
Adder'd do Lethal damage, but he's limited by Sympathetic range.
Nimue clutches her head as Adder's spell strikes. She casts some kind of Time-based Fraying spell right back at
him - Taliesin's countering takes some of the edge off it, but his bones suddenly ache.
And then there's the sonic boom as Cal's Call Lightning hits the roof of Nimue's cottage. Taliesin continues
Counterspelling and Adder attacking Nimue's mind. Cal starts to use his Attainment to control the fire
spreading through the building.
Nimue and Adder continue to slam Fraying spell after Fraying spell into one another, while Taliesin runs
interference. Cal concentrates on making the fire move around and spread to consume the cottage efficiently.
Barely conscious, Nimue stumbles for her front door.
Back at the car, Haruspex finishes magically repairing it. Rod turns the ignition with a hollar of triumph, and
reverses off the rubble pile. Natalie - who's by now climbed out - shivers in the rain.
Rod spins the wheel as he reverses, positioning the landrover such that it's pointed at where Fake!Rod
vanished. He revvs the engine experimentally.
The grudge match between Adder and Nimue continues. After another Fraying blast from Adder, she manages
to cut the scrying window.
Limited to bashing damage, they've now attacked one another three times. Nimue is having to roll to stay awake every
three seconds, and she's in a burning house, but Adder is by now in the mood to make certain of the kill...
Phil: I want to watch her DIE
Haruspex casts Alter Efficiency on the landrover. Rod adds a Lucky Coin. It's still not as enchanted as it was in
the chase over the hills, but it's back to being shiny and new-looking.
There's a blue flash of light as Fake!Rod reappears, still lying on the floor.
Haruspex, feeling like he should gild the lily, enhances the landrover's acceleration.
Adder, in a killing rage, opens a Scrying window of his own. Nimue is dragging herself through her garden;
there are bystanders rushing to pull her out of the way of the flames and smoke. Adder considers the innocent
civilians, but decides that he can't take the chance that they get her to a hospital.
Fake!Rod stands up. He appears to be standing a pose. Excalibur, seeing what's going on, casts Telekinesis. Cal
is quite a bit stronger than Rod, and the double is held fast.
"You are one BEAUTIFUL bastard" - Rodriguez, releasing the handbrake.
By the time the Landrover impacts with Fake!Rod, it's going at nearly 80mph, which takes Rod by surprise Haruspex didn't tell him that he enhanced the acceleration.
Unable to brake in time, the landrover - and Rod - go into the lake.
1.
Island Of Souls
There is a tense second, before Rod breaks the surface.
"I'm okay!" - Rodriguez
...
Seeing the look on Adder's face, realising that he's working himself up into killing Nimue, Taliesin casts Read
the Depths and slips into Nimue's mind. He searches for why she targeted him, but doesn't get the answer he
wanted: It's not her, it's him.
This place "targets" people. Every so often pentacle mages turn up and stay here for the rest of their lives.
Occasionally they wander off into the mountains and vanish. It is Nimue's task, handed down in her dreams, to
remain here and make sure that they do. It's not an active trap - people just seem to be repeatedly Destined
and attracted to this place. They're always great teachers, or those destined to be so. The Seers noticed the
phenomena long ago, and Nimue is the latest in a long line of "caretakers".
The guys mused on that for a few seconds, and declared that sure, it was odd, but it made the scenario so far make
sense. Which was nice.
Adder gestures.
"No! We could learn more!" - Taliesin
Adder's spell, miraculously, fails. Taliesin gets another shot at reading Nimue's memories.
Adder is burning through Willpower here
...
Rod climbs on top of the sinking Landrover
"I live!" - Rodriguez
At which point, Fake!Rod gets back up *again*.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding" - Rodriguez
...
Taliesin is learning more - people destined to be teachers are drawn to this place. The Fake!Rod creature, in her
memory, is a "Green Knight": it's a servant granted by The Prophet, a Nemesis linked to the Fate of a
sympathetic donor. In this case, Nimue imprinted Rod on it; whenever Fate goes Rod's way, the creature
regains Essence.
Or, put another way, whenever he gets an Exceptional Success it starts to regenerate.
Nick: I'm not sure he can stop!
If it's dead, and empty of Essence it will go dormant. If Rod then suffers a personal failure it will finally die.
Jason: Okay - you have to *suck*.
Nick: I can make myself suck. Just give me some time.
"Are you done?" - Adder
Without waiting for an answer, he reaches out with Pandemonium and snuffs out Nimue's mind, bursting blood
vessels in her brain and killing her.
Taliesin just stares at him, disappointed.
And that was his *Vice* condition
...
Fake!Rod is trying to shamble towards Real!Rod again, held fast by Excalibur's Telekinesis while Haruspex hacks
at it.
Taliesin and Adder, fresh from killing Nimue, add their own magics to the affray - Taliesin tries a Life Fraying
spell to sap it's strength. Adder lands a bone-crunching blow with his staff.
Nick: So what do we have to do?
Alec: Roll a one on a chance die.
The gang conferred at this point, and decided that Rod's best chance of a Dramatic Failure would be to Curse himself
heavily and then attempt... Well, you'll see.
With the creature dropped again, Taliesin tells Rod what he needs to do. Rod Curses himself as much as he can
and attempts to pick Adder's pocket. Unsuccessfully.
Rod considers. What does he habitually fail at?
He returns to the ruin at a run.
"What's going on?" - Natalie
Rod walks up to Natalie and... Invades her personal space. There is touching.
Natalie - not quite up to speed on the plan, shocked and surprised - punches Rod.
The creature dies.
He did, indeed, roll a one. On the giant d10 Alec and company brought to the game for use as a Chance Die
1.
Island Of Souls
Cleanup. Rain. Ruins. Corpses. The rapidly-dissolving green matter of the Nemesis-creature.
And Excalibur can still smell apples.
Adder and Haruspex are digging graves, while Taliesin is talking to Natalie.
"I can still smell..." - Excalibur
Cal starts walking up the hill. Rod watches him go for a second, shrugs and follows him.
...
Taliesin establishes that Natalie hasn't been inducted into an order - Cal has been kind of "down" on the
Adamantine Arrow right now. She was interested when Haruspex was explaining the Mysterium earlier, but he
didn't go into much detail. Taliesin gives her his best shot at a fair assessment of all five orders. Which, as it's
Taliesin, actually *is* largely unbiased.
Haruspex sees Cal and Rod tromping up the hill.
"Could you bag that for me?" (pointing to the Green goo) "I... I've just gotta see this" - Haruspex
He runs to catch up with Cal, and the three of them walk up off into the night.
...
Cal is by now absolutely certain that he's been here before.
And the three of them are standing outside a cave entrance.
"Merlin was supposed to be locked away in a..." - Haruspex
Rod casts Interconnections. The Cave is linked very strongly to both Cal and his sword. It's also heavily Fated in
here, as though it were an Arcadian Demesne.
And then Rod and Haruspex hit the back wall of the cave. Cal is nowhere to be seen.
"DAMN IT!" - Haruspex
Rod silently puts his hand on the wall.
...
Cal walks through the cave, following the strong smell of Apples. The crystals that were within the Geode are
growing everywhere. Under his Supernal Vision the crystals are Tass.
The back of the cave appears to be open. Between him and the opening, the crystals are grown tall and heaped
in a ten-foot mound. Under his Prime Sight, though, he can see the outline of a human skeleton in the centre of
the mass.
Cal casts a spell to read Resonance. Mentorship. Teaching.
Whoever the Archmage inside the crystals actually is - whatever his name actually is - is smiling.
The smell is coming from the opening.
Excalibur puts his hand on the crystal column, remembering a conversation with Samael in Paris. Samael had a
theory about the Crystal Skull he found in Brazil, based on now knowing it to be a relic of the Celestial Ladder.
It's about the Dragon Bones that legend has the Atlanteans finding in the Demesnes of Atlantis, made of the
same crystal as the skulls that keep cropping up in Atlantean ruins.
Samael thinks they're what's left behind after some Ascends.
Reaching down to take a crystal, Cal carefully picks his way past "Merlin" and makes for the opening. The
tunnel twists a few times, and then he emerges at the shore of the lake. There's a small rowboat, and the smell
of Apples coming from across the dark, silent water.
Cal gets in the boat.
...
Haruspex and Rod sit down to wait. And hope.
...
Adder, Taliesin and Natalie have finished cleaning up the site. Adder is working on trying to figure out how to
get Nimue's body from the Hospital so that he can destroy it (he is nothing if not thorough). Taliesin and Natalie
walk up the hill, talking about the Silver Ladder.
And, now that he's calmed down... Adder loses a dot of Wisdom. But he doesn't get a derangement
"You guys in here?" - Taliesin, leaning into the cave
"Yup" - Haruspex
"Sort of dark in here" - Taliesin
"Where's Cal?" - Natalie
"That's the thing... He went through the wall" - Haruspex
Taliesin tries to Scry on Cal. And fails.
...
Excalibur feels good. He contemplates his life as he rows. The Free Council wasn't his fault - he realises that
now. Washed over in the resonance of mentors, his thoughts turn to Aurora and his refusal to return to Durham.
He doesn't want to kill his Mentor, but he realises that she may be willing to make that sacrifice.
...
"I'll try Telepathy" - Taliesin
This time, it works.
-Excalibur, it's me. Where are you?- - Taliesin
-I'm on the lake- - Excalibur
Natalie Scries on Cal, goes white and runs, full-bolt, out of the cave.
"What's wrong?!" - Rodriguez
"HE'S IN THE LAKE" - Natalie
-She says.. She says you're in the lake- - Taliesin
-I'm in a boat- - Excalibur, confused
Adder hears their shouts, and Scries. Sure enough, Excalibur is under the water, sinking gently to the bottom
with a blissful expression on his face.
Rod casts Acceleration and overtakes the others.
...
Cal comes to, feeling Adder grab him around the shoulders and haul him to the surface. A streak of Rod dives in
and helps. There's coughing, and confusion, but in the end a soaking wet Excalibur, Adder and Rodriguez are
lying on the beach.
"Whu...." - Excalibur
He rolls over, spits up water...
... And sees Natalie, soaking wet, wading to shore clutching his Sword.
Ta-da!
1.
Six Weeks Later
Haruspex has now made one hell of a discovery. When the group return up the hill there is no
cave, but the rest of the Mysterium in Chester seem impressed, and he may now be eligible for
promotion.
Adder broods, having given into his rage.
Excalibur has got his groove back. He explains his experience as best he can, and has something
to show for it.. the crystal he took from the cave.
And Rod... Did Rod learn anything on this escapade?
Phil: That he is one gorgeous son of a bitch?
Rod feels Catharsis. Killing himself in Effigy did him some good.
Nick: Definitely something cathartic about shooting yourself in the face and living to tell the tale.
And Taliesin... Once they rescued Excalibur, the compulsion he felt to stay near the Lake
vanished. He's still Destined, though. Unfortunately, so is Haruspex. The Temple Stone goes to a
Censorium.
The six mages linger in one another's company. There's a bond, now. They've experienced
something together that they can't quite explain. Only Cal went into the Cave, but they all felt
it... And they all feel like there's something they need to be doing.
Six Weeks after the trip to Wales, Haruspex packs his things in the Chester Consilium. Adder
informs his Epotet he'll be going away for a while.
There are changes to be made - Natalie has now picked her Shadow Name, and Rod has decided
to change his. After all, "Rodriguez" doesn't really fit with the theme.
Excalibur, Haruspex, Adder, Taliesin, Gawain and Nimue formalise their Sigil on Guy Fawkes Night,
the same night that, down in London, Kosciej's minions stage an attack on the beleaguered
Pentacle.
They may not know what they're doing, they definately don't know why they were selected, but
the Pendragon have a nation to heal.
Time to go to work.
And that... Is that!
My many thanks to Nick, Phil, Alec, Jason and Mike. You were inspirational, and I was really glad the
game went so well. A rematch at GenCon 2010 has already been pencilled in - I have the rudiments of a
plot already...
1.
And so that they're not lost in the White Wolf forum...
A xmas bonus for you; two extra Seer of the Throne prelacies!
SCARCITY
As Archigenitor-in-waiting, the Chancellor is Queen of Numbers and King of Matter, with more
influence over the Fallen World than any of his peers among the Lesser Seals. Under her
authority, material things gain Worth relative to one another apart from the use to which they
may be put. Everything has a price. Everything may be bought or sold. The immaterial does not
matter when compared to the value of one's possessions, and crucially there are not enough
possessions to go around. Even the sublime energies of the Supernal can be traded, or ascribed
value outside of themselves; when Pentacle mages war on one another for Hallows, the
Chancellor laughs.
The Prelacy of Scarcity is concerned with Resources - both esoteric (such as equipment) and
exoteric (*especially* Mana). Resources function according to how rare they are, the last of
anything is worth more than the first and the Supernal laws governing what is "precious" follow
the Prelate's desires.
Both the Ministries of Pantechnicon and Mammon may buy Initiations of Scarcity at Path Arcanum
rates.
CROWN OF SCARCITY
1) The Fruits of the Earth
Wealth leads to status in the eyes of the Chancellor. A Prelate may use her dots in the Resources
merit as though they were dots in Status against any Sleeper or Seer of the Throne. The Luxury
Merit has no affect on this power - the wealth it provides is not truly the Seers' own.
2) Worth is Cost
In the hands of the Prelate, the use of an item is determined by its cost. The equipment bonus of
any mundane item or Imbued item or Artifact of equal to or lesser dot value to the Prelate's
Matter Arcanum is disregarded, and the Resource dot value of the item used instead.
3) The Rewards of Heaven
The Chancellor's creed now extends to the Seer's use of Supernal resources. When the Prelate
takes Mana from a Hallow, she may choose to "charge" up to her Matter Arcanum in points of
Mana. A point of "Charged" Mana counts as three Mana when spent (though only as one with
regard to Gnosis-determined limitations on expenditure), and always leaves the Seer's pattern
before any normal Mana does. When a Prelate uses this ability, the Hallow they are drawing the
Mana from shuts down and ceases to provide Mana at all for a number of days equal to the points
of Mana taken.
SWORD OF SCARCITY
1) Gilded Treasure
Students of the Matter Arcanum have long debated why some materials are deemed "Precious"
(requiring an Adept to Transmute) while others are not. Prelates of the Sword of Scarcity make
that distinction for themselves: A Seer with this Initiation treats Transmute Earth and Transmute
Gold as the same (Matter 3) spell, allowing extended duration before Mastery and the creation of
precious materials at the hands of even beginning Seers.
2) Levers of the World
A Prelate of the Chancellor knows there is power in one's possessions. She may dedicate as many
Path or Order magical tools as she has dots in the Matter Arcanum.
3) Key to Heaven
A Prelate of the Chancellor with this Initiation may select a number of magical tools from those
he has dedicated, up to his Matter Arcanum rating. Spells cast with these tools reduce Paradox by
half the Seer's Matter Arcanum rating (round up) in dice instead of by one die.
TEMPLE OF SCARCITY
In the Temple of Scarcity, the material becomes more important than the esoteric and an item of
power is infinitely more potent than mere words - the use of magical tools by Seers with the
Mystery Commands flaw provides the benefits of using High Speech in addition to paradox
mitigation (without the need to delay the first roll for chanting), while the use of High Speech by
any other mages has no affect. In addition, Vulgar Matter Spells cast by those without Mystery
Commands gain extra Paradox dice equal to the Temple's Initiation level.
----------------AGENCY
The Iron Seals of Time and Fate are easily confused by outsiders; the Ruin, Exarch of Fate,
represents the inevitable grinding down of all things into Entropy while the Prophet, Exarch of
Time, governs those Destined to decide the shape of the future. This strange role-reversal of Iron
Seals and the concepts they embody has confused novice Seers and Pentacle Mages who know
too much for millenia, but is accepted as a fact by the devoted Acanthus among the Seers of the
Throne. The Arcadian Exarchs are closer in alliance than those of other Realms, say certain
heretical sub-groups; unlike the Father and the General of Aether, both Archigenitors struggling
for dominance, or the Eye and the Unity of Pandemonium, the Ruin and the Prophet are content
to shape the future as one. For now.
The Prophet teaches that History is shaped by Great Men, that the masses must choose only
between following the elect or being crushed by history's wheel, never to suspect that they might
take control of their own destiny. Seers devoted to the Seal of Time strive to become those that
shape history themselves, and identify and remove both those that would challenge the elect
and those individuals *with* that importance that would use it against the Seers' goals.
The Prelacy of Agency is concerned with that importance to history, the quality of being able to
shape the future to be kept limited to only those the Seers deem suitable.
CROWN OF AGENCY
1) Hear the Leader of Men
The Prophet teaches her followers to always search for those capable of deciding the future.
Leaders become obvious to her servants, the song of Authority sounding in her Seers' ears. The
Prelate's Unseen Senses now react to the presence of characters with the Destiny merit (NB:
Their *Presence*, not just the active use of the Merit), and if the Seer succeeds on a roll of his
Time Arcanum in dice he may instantly know the nature and level of any Status merits possessed
by a person he is observing.
2) Resist the Call
Seers devoted to the Prophet may have to act against the Great and the Good in service of their
Exarch. When she faces one who can move Earth, the Prelate falls back on her service to one
who moves Heaven. The Seer may ignore the effects of Status Merits or Destiny dice used
directly against her up to her Time Arcanum.
3) Assume the Mantle
The Prelates of the Prophet are well aware of the habit of Sleepers to follow those who they
instinctivly sense can shape the future. The Prelate gains a pool of dice equal to her rating in the
Time Arcanum which acts identically to the Destiny Merit with three exceptions; it may only be
used on Social rolls involving Sleepers, it has no connected Bane and it refreshes at the end of
every scene.
SWORD OF AGENCY
1) Direct the Future
Those chosen by the Prophet direct the flow of history, and the Prelate of Agency is among those
chosen. The Seer gains a bonus equal to her Crown Initiation dots in dice to Time magic involving
percieving or shaping the future. "Flip of a Coin", "Prophecy" and "Temporal Dodge" all count, but
"Postcognition" and "Accelleration" do not.
2) Stand against the Great
The Seers who serve the Prophet come into conflict with those who would grasp the destiny of
humanity often, and are charged with removing the agency that those individuals do not
deserve. The Seer may counter others' use of the Destiny merit using the Time Arcanum, as
though the Merit were a spell with a potency equal to the number of dice used.
3) King's Downfall
No Sleeper can control the reins of destiny as well or as forcefully as an Awakened Seer, and no
Great Man of History who lacks the Exarch's approval can stand in the way of the future as
directed by a Prelate. When a Seer with this Initiation uses Time magic against a character with
the Destiny Merit, the spell counts as the Bane condition for the Destiny.
TEMPLE OF AGENCY
Those with supernatural agency are drawn to the Prophet's places of power. Prelates construct
Temples to the Iron Seal of Time as traps for the unworthy and strongholds against the powers of
other mages. The Temple puts out a subtle call to those with the Destiny merit; any such
character within the Temple's rating in miles suffers an Emotional Urging effect of (Initiation)
Potency - this isn't a spell, though it does trigger mages' Unseen Senses. The effect manifests as
a compulsion to not leave the area of the Temple.
Within the Temple, Time magic cast by anyone without the Mystery Commands flaw is
automatically Vulgar with extra Paradox dice equal to the Temple's rating.
1.
What I've Done
"What I've Done"
Session 9.1
This is not for you
(Finally) Welcome Back, Faithful (and long-suffering) readers!
"What I've Done" (which is, I think, about the third name this story had - it was originally "Deeper Underground" and
then kept changing) is, as the astute have noticed a shameless ripoff loving homage to "house of leaves", filtered
through Mage: the Awakening's setting and married up to the backstory of Cxaxa Querephas that was still lying around
unused from Broken Diamond's premature end thanks to the initial shockwaves of the credit crunch costing me my job
at a certain well-known Bank.
Aaaaaaanyway.
A few points and notes before we start.
1) This is the first Story of Season Two proper, with the end of season one being Kosciej freeing himself from Mictlan
and the Paris Convocation and Arthurian Wales stories being bridging tales. It is now six months later for the
characters - in fact, in-setting, the Auric Horizon have now been off-screen for almost exactly as long as they were on
screen in the chronicle so far. They're a lot more experienced now. Samael has a beard and everything. I've been
relatively schtum about the changes so far in the thread because, after umming and ahhing over how to relate the
slew of downtime that crossed the divide, I decided not too. You're just going to have to cope with such details as
Persephone being a psychology student, Cobalt and Symmetry being engaged and suchlike as they happen.
2) This is a horror story. Most of my Mage Chronicle isn't, but this brings Awakening back to it's hyperborean horror tale
roots - there are people dying in nasty ways, buckets of gore, swarms of supernatural flies and so on. The central
supernatural happening is not the result of another mage, it's not a spell and it's not going to go away by flinging a
Forces 4 spell at it. The Auric Horizon have bitten off more than they can chew here, marching in with confidence into
something terrible that's slept beneath the sand for millenia.
3) This session was, and this is odd to note given that I write these words in early February 2010 and won't likely finish
the recap until I get back from holiday, played *before* Island of Souls. Rod and Cal do not appear in this as their fates
were unknown until the outcome of the GenCon game was finalised.
4) The session is kinda slow-burning, as the first half of this two-parter. We introduce a likeable bunch of Mages and
then proceed to have them eaten up by the scenario and their bones spat out across the narrative.
Six Months Later...
"Thank you, everyone, I'll see you next term" - Rex
Students file out of the lecture theatre, as Rex gathers his notes before making his way to his office. Since
returning to work (his research leave following the "accident" which led to his Awakening expired in September)
he's found that his fame as a YouTube star has diminished to the point of usable notoriety. University politics,
once the bane of his existence, now seem like child's play to him.
Academic disagreements are so much easier when the opposition don't have the ability to vaporise you.
The Chancellor has even talked about trying to work out a TV deal. Rex could end up presenting some minor
science program on BBC4. He could be the next Alice Roberts or Brian Glass.
And life has been much quieter now that Lankin has stopped possessing Joyce. The Seers conducted a ritual on
Haloween to placate the Worm - Pentacle observers, watching from a discreet distance, noted the Seers making
a gift of eleven aborted foetuses to the Bound monster at the Priory rock. Rather than disrupt the ritual and
release the Monster again, Cobalt reluctantly talked the Pentacle Cabals into not pursuing the Seers, who have
now melted back into safe obscurity. The Horizon have been waiting for them to make a move, given what
they're planning, but so far not a peep.
Samael and Magog have been gone most of the time - the Mysterium, now reduced in numbers following
Dowse's execution and Bede's exile to Lindesfarne, are attempting to claw back the respect they've lost in the
Consilium. Peter Rice, the sensory artist that Samael and Tiresias were interested in long, long ago, is beginning
to show signs of Pre-Awakening, and is being Labyrinthed by Gaunt (now leader of the Guardians with Cicero's
death) supervised by Logos. Gaunt has said that Rice is unsuitable for the Guardians, and Samael and Cobalt
are both intending to make sales pitches.
Samael and Magog have been travelling all over the North of England - everywhere from Sheffield and
Liverpool working North to Edinburgh in Scotland - taking a census of Seer activity and making contact with all
the Consilii, trying to persuade them to stay out of Kosciej, Solemn and Civitas' war. It's keeping Samael busy,
and distracted from his instincts to intervene in London - especially after he recieves word that Pandora has
been attacked by Guy Fawkes' precedent mages. They beat the Mystagogue Pandora was with into an extended
hospital stay, but left her untouched noting that "She's on Mister K's List".
That can't be good.
So all in all, life is fairly quiet for Rex.
At least, except for one thing.
"Hiya" - Jane
Persephone has enrolled in the University under the assumed name of "Jane Black", feeling the distinct
pressure from all four Cabalmates to better herself in her knowledge of the Fallen World. Yes, even Magog. she
expected it of Symmetry, but not Magog.
"In detention again, miss Black?" - Rex
"It wasn't me!" - Jane
"No, I'm sure it was a tall emaciated man that caused the trouble" - Rex
The ritual greeting (they've gone through the same three lines every day Sef has been a student) completed,
Rex puts his notes away in the filing cabinet.
"Are you giving me a lift home, or are you busy?" - Jane, looking at the big stack of marking on Rex's desk
"It's in such a state as I can deal with" - Rex
She opens one essay to look at the question. He gently closes it and shakes his head.
"It's not the questions nor the answers that are the problem. I'm going to have to give them the Hindenburg
lecture when they come back next year" - Rex
"What's the Hindenburg lecture?" - Jane
"My particular version consists of the question of how the Hindenburg came to crash in flames over New York.
The answer has absolutely nothing to do with Hydrogen inside the envelope: It's all to do with the paint" - Rex
He shoos her out into the corridor, follows her out and locks his office behind them.
"It's not what you normally think of as paint. Iron Oxide and then Aluminium coated over the outside to give it a
great deal of resistance. It's not like Aluminium burns at anything below 500 degrees. But there's a slight
problem - when a mixture of Iron Oxide and Aluminium gets together it's actually quite flammable, and burns
quite hot even in the heaviest rain. So the question becomes: 'The Law of Unintended Consequences'. Who was
in charge of making sure the Hindenburg didn't paint their envelope with Thermite?" - Rex
"What does that have to do with your students?" - Jane
"Unintended consequences. A number of the material processes here will produce Chlorine gas in quantities
that would make the Kaiser gleeful - they're achieving the result I ask for, but the processes they're designing
have side effects, like young master Potter's life saving chemical mixture. It'd be brilliant if it didn't also give off
something rather toxic. So I'll give them the talk and a week to think about it before the next Tutorial" - Rex
Important talk, this, the Law of Unintended Consequences. What with Kosciej it's been preying on Cobalt's mind. After
this story, it's likely to become an obsession. And it's a major theme of both this story and the remaining arcs of the
Chronicle while we're at it: might you cause irreperable harm while trying to do something good?
Dave2 would like to offer any interested fans the following explanation for Cobalt's precis of the Hindenburg.
Dave2: "As one of the first major disasters ever caught on film, the Hindenburg has provoked a great deal of debate
from scientists who wrestle with enough data to make theories, but not enough to prove any of them. The 'Explosive
paint' theory is but one of the plausible explanations raised, though it is not currently winning on Wikipedia. Whether
or not Cobalt subscribes to it his profession makes him quite aware of the debate and it makes a good example of the
need for systems thinking and accidental by-products of combining chemicals. He refers of course to Black (Blue) Iron
Oxide Fe3O4 rather than Rust (Red Iron Oxide) Fe2O3.
"
That wooshing sound was that flying right over the Storyteller's head.
"But enough of this. We're off to the Jungle" - Rex
"Desert" - Jane
"Desert" - Rex
"Will there be Atlantis made of Sand again?" - Jane
"If only we knew what it looked like" - Rex
...
An hour later, Cobalt and Sef pull up outside the Lighthouse to find the rest of the gang getting things ready.
Sef climbs out of the car just as Magog and Samael carry large bags of equipment out of the Lighthouse and
add them to the already-growing pile.
"Hello!" - Sef, hugging Magog
"Hi" (nods to Cobalt) "Professor" - Magog
Cobalt high-fives Magog and fist-bumps Samael
"How long have you two been back?" - Cobalt
"Couple of hours" - Magog
"How are we coordinating with the others?" - Samael, looking around
"Well, we were meant to be in Marrakesh... A few hours ago" - Symmetry, exiting out of the Lighthouse
"So I'm going to open a Portal, and then the others will pick us up on the other side" - Magog
"Well, as long as we're not waiting for long. And scry first, last thing we need is a surprised group of Bedouin" Cobalt
"Not Bedouin. Berbers" - Symmetry
"Berbers, yes. The native people in Morocco, and I was being facetious" - Cobalt
"Have we got everything? Weaponry. Magical Equipment. Tools. Camping gear..." - Samael
"...Sunscreen. Fly Spray. Manuals reminding you to empty your boots before you put them on" - Cobalt
"Scorpions?" - Persephone
"In Morocco, the Scorpions grow this big" - Symmetry, gesturing with her hands.
Sef thinks about that
"I don't think that could fit into my boot" - Persephone
"It's not the big ones you have to watch out for. The Deathstalker Scorpions, the big foot-long bastards, they're
not lethal. The tiny ones are" - Symmetry, happily.
"The bigguns have stings like lances" - Cobalt
"But the biggest problem is the sun" - Symmetry
"The sun might be in your boots in the morning" - Cobalt, nodding with a straight face.
"I've been looking at Satellite photos and we've picked a spot ten miles from anywhere. I'm going to scry first to
make sure we're okay, and the rest of the gang should be along in about twenty minutes in a jeep to pick us
up" - Magog
"This could go so wrong" - Persephone
"That's the plan" - Magog
"Watches Synchronised? Armor spells up?" - Samael
Sef beeps her watch. Cobalt casts his Mage Armor.
"I'll go lock up the lighthouse. Does anyone need to use the toilet before we leave?" - Symmetry
There is a Chorus of Nos, as Cobalt looks around the group
"You know, I think I only just realised. We actually cover all the arcana now, don't we? I mean, we lack a
Mastigos, but we have the discount variety" - Cobalt
"I am not a discount Mastigos" - Magog, casting Portal
"Sorry, man. I was referring to Sef" - Cobalt
"She passed the tests and everything. Officially a third-degree Adept now" - Symmetry, proud
"Sorry" - Magog
"Hell, no. You are filling in" - Cobalt
"She can kill people with her mind" - Samael
"She can?" - Magog
"She can hate people to death" - Samael
"Don't worry Magog, I don't hate you" - Persephone
"That's good" - Magog
"Very good. I'm still remembering what happened to that sheep" - Samael
"Don't remind me" - Persephone
As Sef now has Mind 4, she has a Covert ranged damage spell. This is what they're referring to - the unfortunate Sheep
being the test-target.
"It just fell over. I've never seen a sheep looking quite that surprised" - Samael
Cobalt mimes having a heart attack
"Pretty much, yes. 'Why is my brain melting?'" - Samael
"Except probably not as erudite" - Cobalt
"We don't know exactly what it was thinking" (glances at Symmetry) "Well, we have one person who might
have been able to tell us, but... Lamb for dinner that day" - Samael
"And...Done!" - Magog
The Portal opens, shimmering with the heat of the Moroccan wilderness.
"Go!" - Samael, jumping through
With Samael (who has increased his Strength with Life magic) on the other side to catch, Cobalt and Magog
throw the bags through before the rest of the Cabal jump through.
As they transition to Africa, their ears pop with the pressure change of being suddenly higher above sea level.
They're by the side of a road in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. It's incredibly arid - yellows and oranges,
with pieces of vegetation here and there. The very tops of the mountains are snow-capped in the winter, and
by the darkening sky and cooling air the sun has just gone down.
Cobalt uses a quick Space spell to get a fix on their location. He knows better than to rely on magic, though, so
like a good Free Councillor he's brought a GPS unit, too.
"Survey says... Thirty miles from Marrakesh. And the GPS is only two meters out" - Cobalt
"Did I hit on target?" - Magog
"Yup" - Cobalt, snapping the machine shut
"How are they picking us up?" - Samael
"Jeep. They're taking us to the forward base; Cxaxa hasn't told anyone where the dig site is yet" - Symmetry
"I'm not sure I blame her" - Cobalt
"That's fine. Reduces chance of Seers learning it" - Samael
"That and she's probably afraid we'll cut her out of the loop" - Cobalt
"Besides, she can screw with us in other ways. Like just not turn up to get us" - Persephone
"In the which case, we'll just go home. As long as no one kills Magog. Magog: don't die, okay?" - Samael
Magog salutes
"Anyone tried to kill you two lately?" - Symmetry
That seems like an odd segue, but only from our perspective having not seen the characters' recent events. Magog
and Samael have been off travelling a lot, attempting to take a roll-call of Northern English Consilii and, through those
Consilii's experiences, of Northern English Pylons in an attempt to both try to get everyone to stay out of the
Nameless-London and Cambridge conflict and to make sure the Seers don't pull a massive offensive while everyone's
looking inward. They've been cagey with the others about how the Seers have reacted, but yes - speaking strictly out
of character, Samael and Magog have fought off a number of assassination attempts greater than zero in the
intervening months. Without telling the rest of the Cabal, though as Symm brings it up they obviously all *know*.
"Maybe" - Samael, evasive
Symmetry frowns. Cobalt tries to make light of the sudden turn in the conversation
"I swear I didn't know it was past prime. That meat was sold to me by a man I trust in the Agricultural College" Cobalt
Samael waves him off, and addresses Symmetry
"Yes, occasionally we have people try to kill us. Sometimes in earnest" - Samael
"Seers" - Magog
"Our Seers have been quiet. Besides, we haven't pissed the locals off yet - this isn't part of your master plan" Cobalt
"Mana battery is charged up and good to go. No pillaging of local Hallows required. After all, we all have our
methods of acquiring Mana" - Samael
"Should be a walk in the park. Find lost city. Excavate ruins" - Cobalt
"Gah! Now we're all dead meat! I'm sure saying shit like that allows Curses to be cast" - Samael
"I am aware of horror movie principles, okay?" - Cobalt
"You just refuse to allow your life to run on them?" - Symmetry
"I just refuse to stop showing my manly torso to the world on the grounds that once you've seen someone's
upper body they're going to die" - Cobalt
"It's the rules" - Samael
There is more banter of a witty sort, until they see headlights
Samael casts Night Vision, Eagle's Sight, Infravision and peers in that direction.
Cobalt uses a pair of binoculars
Hah! Dave left just the right amount of pause before describing his action, too.
"I don't recognise him. Cobalt, do you have recognition?" - Samael
"It's a Pinzgauer 712T 6x6. Good piece of kit. Made in Guildford" - Cobalt
"The person driving it?" - Samael, with infinite patience and gritted teeth
"Nope, sorry" - Cobalt, cheerfully
The truck pulls up.
"Hello thar. You guys the Auric Horizon?" - Man
The stranger's accent is thick and Irish.
"Sure are" - Cobalt
"Answer me this" - Man
His hand goes from view, likely preparing to draw a weapon
And the entire group proceeded to first crack up and then mock me for my bad, nay terrible, attempt at an Irish accent
"Why was the Whiskey a trap?" - Man
"Whoever finished it had to buy a new one" - Cobalt
"Aie, it's you then" - Man
1.
What I've Done
The stranger offers his hand
"Lamorak" - Lamorak
Which, Arthurian-watchers, is one of Arthur's Knights
Samael makes introductions, and they load their gear onto the flatbed.
"There's only room for one in the cab. The rest of yous will have to hold on for dear life as we go down the
mountain" - Lamorak
Every country has a Rodriguez of their own. It's like batman. An idea for *this* year's GenCon game (one of them
anyway) is the International League of Rodriguez'
"Ladies" - Cobalt
Sef grins and holds up a fist with two sticks in it. Symmetry considers her.
"Don't pull sticks with the Fate mage! Also don't roll dice or play cards! I thought we'd been over this before!" Samael
"Yeah... I don't trust you" - Symmetry
"The only reason Cobalt wins at cards is because God is on his side" - Samael
"Yeah. That's the reason" - Cobalt, thinking about how easy it is to transmute one card into another.
Once they and their gear are aboard, Lamorak explains that first base camp is in the city; everyone is gathering
there, and he'll be coming out here again the next morning to pick up the last straggling Portalers. Once
everyone is assembled, they'll all set out across the mountain range. Unfortunately, the other side of the
mountain range is the Sahara desert.
"Good thing we brought hats" - Cobalt
They set off
"So I'm excited to be along as your wheelman. Apparantly your regular guy..." - Lanmorak
"He's busy, yeah" - Samael
Cobalt chuckles
"So which Consilium are you from?" - Samael
"Cork" - Lamorak
"What's it like over there these days?" - Samael
"Hell of a lot quieter than it used to be. We have trouble with the faeries. Things living in the hills. And
obviously, the Praetorian Seers are pissed off that they essentially lost" - Lamorak
"You kicked them out?" - Samael
"Not so much us as the Sleepers" - Lamorak
"Acanthus?" - Samael
"Me? No - I'm a Thyrsus. And an Arrow" - Lamorak
"Always good to have an Arrow along. Have we had any trouble yet?" - Cobalt
"This trip? No. You lot seem better prepared than most Archaemancers" - Lamorak
"Well, last time we had gun battles with Seers and similar craziness" - Samael
"Let's hope it can be avoided this time" - Persephone
Yeah, I'm *sure* it's all going to go smoothly. Heh
"Which is why we've come prepared" - Samael
"Well, I was hired for experience with second-hand military equipment" - Lamorak
Cobalt starts laughing
"Do you know how to drive a tank?" - Cobalt
"Sure! Pretty much like driving a JCB" - Lamorak
"Gear selector and pedals" - Cobalt
"Not much problem" - Lamorak
They drive some more, Lamorak describing how the expedition has taken over (and warded) a courtyard hotel
in Marrakesh. As far as the sleeper government is concerned, they're a group of adventure tourists heading out
into the Sahara. At least, that was the original story. An official saw the equipment and had to be paid off - the
revised cover story?
"...We're nature photographers" - Lamorak
"Have we been handing out bribes left right and centre?" - Samael
"We're not intending to stop anywhere else. Well, we might, but it'll be to camp. And it's pretty remote out
there. We may have a bit of trouble if Cxaxa gets her locations slightly mixed up, because if this lost city is
across the Algerian border" - Lamorak
"Surely we won't run into a border patrol" - Cobalt
"Chances are pretty remote, yeah, but it is a closed border" - Lamorak
"Are there any walls?" - Samael
"God, no. It's the Sahara Desert, but if we run into any authorities we'll need to get creative" - Lamorak
...
Eventually, the jeep pulls into a square courtyard, a two-story block wrapped around it. Sharing the central
space are several trucks loaded with equipment - even a mini-JCB.
Lamorak turns off the engine and nods toward an doorway from which comes light, the sounds of
conversation... And Ashlar.
"Good Evening! Welcome to Morocco" - Ashlar
"Evening" (fist-bumping the old man) "How's the local organisation?" - Cobalt
"Better than Rio" - Ashlar
"We waiting for anyone else?" - Samael
"Not that many, but yes. Waiting on the Americans" - Ashlar
"The lady who can start the show?" - Samael
"Oh, no - Cxaxa's here. We're waiting on Memento and Orchid" - Ashlar
"Good to have them back" - Cobalt
"Especially after last time" - Samael
Lamorak closes and chains the gate behind them. The gang heft their rucksacks
"Lead on" - Samael
As they walk, Ashlar tells them that sorting the equipment out - mostly ex-military vehicles, as Lamorak said went fairly seamlessly.
Inside, a large room has been converted into a communal area.
Yes, folks, it's another 'too many NPCs in one place' scene!
Pandora is speaking to Cxaxa at the far end, Gabrielle, George and a brunette woman the Cabal haven't seen
before are in a corner. There's an arabic man talking to a Goth-dressed woman and a black, dread-locked
woman, both of whom have American accent. Ashlar names the brunette as "Nico", the Arab as "Dervish" and
the two Americans as "Ebony" (the Goth) and "Promethea" (the not-Goth).
Remember Ebony and Promethea?
Ebony gives Samael the hand-signal of a fellow Dadukos.
Chris: I'm not sure what rank I am now. Dadukos Superior with special responsibility for face-beating. Kind of the
militant wing of the Order
Ebony is the Archivist for the Washington DC Aetheneum - she will be taking possession of the items Cxaxa
needs to be confiscated. They're not sure about Promethea, but the arabic man talking to her - "Dervish" - is an
Arrow. George is a Mystagogue - as Samael approaches, he hears George say to Gabrielle that he hopes the
Knights Templar aren't involved in this expedition. They've interfered in his last four expeditions, and George is
getting a bit tired of them.
Chris: Any Broken Swords involved?
"Hello!" - Gabrielle
Gabi introduces Nico to them - she's Gabrielle's apprentice.
And lastly there's Cxaxa.
"You made it" - Cxaxa
Samael smiles and greets her and Pandora in a friendly fashion
"Just the guys from San Diego now. They're coming in tomorrow morning" - Pandora
"Time to have a drink" - Persephone
"We're putting you in charge of Interpretation. Pandora is divvying out roles; I've hired you all on advice, and
expect you to be good at your jobs" - Cxaxa
"Absolutely. I intend to interpret the hell out of a shot" - Samael
Cxaxa stalks off
"So I see you met our director" - Pandora
"Does that make her the producer?" - Cobalt
"She's funding the expedition" - Pandora
"Where'd she get the money?" - Samael
"Her ex-husband apparently owes her alimony. He's a Mastigos in DC. Besides, the funding pays for things like
the trucks and bribes. We're getting paid in our finds" - Pandora
Poor Wolsey.
"Anything we can dig up and loot" - Cobalt, cheerfully.
"But what we're concerned with is the Shard... Roles and positions. I'm interpreting things, apparently" - Samael
"And I'm the dig supervisor... Love, if you wouldn't mind... Memento is better at find recording, but I think she
was hoping that after... well, you know, that she'd get to be in charge of interpretation. So try to be nice. Ask
her to translate things" - Pandora
"While she may not be the interpretor in name she will be in spirit" - Samael
"Exoterics?" - Cobalt
"Once again, Ashlar is in charge of the physical digging and making sure everyone stays alive. For every Julie
Graham, there's..." - Pandora
"...Someone who jumps off ziggurats?" - Samael
"Bite me" - Cobalt
"We're working on two work streams here. There's the site-side people, figuring out what things mean, and
then there's the physical explorers. Cobalt, you're on digging, Samael, you're on site" - Pandora
"I was going to say. I am one of the most experienced Life mages here, able to be knocked down and get back
up again" - Samael
Cobalt and Persephone snigger
"I'm just saying - we may need to change priorities once we know what's in there" - Samael, defensive
"That's why Promethea's here. She's apparently a demonologist" - Pandora
"oh, good" - Cobalt, with deep sarcasm
"But if someone cries alarm I will be running" - Samael
"In terms of experts, Symmetry for the aid station, Samael figuring out what stuff means, Memento to read any
inscriptions and record finds, Cobalt and Ashlar running the dig" - Pandora
"Sef? After Ashlar she's one of our most powerful Acanthi" - Samael
"We're actually fairly strong here. It's only Orchid and Nico - and I think Orchid's a Dadukos now" - Pandora
"I'm a little concerned we're not sharing the wisdom with the youth" - Cobalt
"It's not really a training dig" - Pandora
"More of a combat excavation. We walked into Brazil. This one, we know there'll likely be trouble. Nico. She..?" Samael
"She's been warned. Repeatedly. First Gabrielle then Ashlar told her about last time we went on a jolly" Pandora
"If she's lucky, she might meet Rodriguez" - Cobalt
"We invited Rod, Cal and Natalie, but no word" - Pandora
"Maybe they'll join us later" - Persephone, hopefully
"Knowing Rod, he'll land a plane next to us" - Pandora
"Maybe flying through a portal first. Let's find this dig site - and think about security systems. Ways to pick up
intruders" - Samael
"Depends what type of dig site we find" - Cobalt
"Dervish is good at early-warning wards" - Pandora
"Good to know. Any of Cxaxa's funds go into security gear?" - Samael
"Motion detectors. Some weapons... We have a mini JCB" - Pandora
"Oh, yes!" - Cobalt
"I was thinking of putting your boy Magog on it. Security, that is" - Pandora
"He'll be good at it" (calls over to Magog) "Magog! Security! You in?" - Samael
"Awesome, yeah" - Magog
"What's our ETA?" - Samael
"Tomorrow evening, including a siesta. We're elevated driving through the Atlas. When we get to the dig we'll
camp out and then start the next morning. This won't be like Brazil, with everything nicely lying on the top. We
might actually have to dig the bastard out" - Pandora
"That's what magic's for" - Persephone
"No Seer activity in the area?" - Samael
"We think we confused them by coming straight to Marrakesh. I've been here for a month - while we were in El
Fez, getting the stuff together and buying the trucks,m we think we were made by the Seers there, which is
why we switched city. We think we've left them a few hundred miles North of here" - Pandora
"So. Who on our list of newcomers should I buddy up to before the site?" - Samael
"Promethea's the demonologist. I've not met her much - she was brought aboard by Cxaxa" - Pandora
"Promethea and Ebony came with Cxaxa?" - Samael
Pandora nods
"No Mycroft?" - Cobalt
"No Mycroft. Don't know why" - Pandora
"Limited group of people. There's only so many games of cluedo you can have. Well, then, Mingle" - Samael
"Mingle!" - Persephone
As they start to circulate, they find Ashlar giving Nico a rather familiar speech.
"You'll be digging. Maybe drawing some artefacts" - Ashlar
Sef shakes her head at him
The gist is that Ashlar is giving Nico the same soul-crushing treatment he gave Sef back in Brazil
"Think of it as earning your merit badge" - Cobalt
"Hi! Sef" - Persephone
"We got the peptalk from the old man last time" - Cobalt
"I'm very excited to be here! I wasn't going to let George out of my sight" - Nico
George twitches in the background, as though he sensed someone talking about him.
"Friend of yours?" - Cobalt
"Yes" - Nico, darkly
...
Samael is looking around for Promethea
"Promethea. Pleasure to meet you. I take it you're going to be our Demonologist?" - Samael
"Yes. My expertise is mostly in Goetic creatures" - Promethea
"Do you think there'll be much in your line of work?" - Samael
"Of the other creatures, yes, some" - Promethea, glancing at Cxaxa as though she's unsure how much to say.
"What knowledge do we have of what might be there going in? Records?" - Samael
"Records? No. Except..." - Cxaxa
She taps her forehead
"..And obviously I can only remember what it was like when she was alive. Anything after that is unknown, and
there's no telling how long the city lasted" - Cxaxa
"Was she the type to build to last?" - Cobalt
"Oh, no" - Cxaxa
"Do you think there'll be anything still roaming free down there?" (to Promethea) "Have you ever encountered a
real one? Not a Goetic one?" - Samael
"Creatures from Pandemonium? Does an Ochemata count?" - Promethea
Promethea, if you'll recall, was interrogated by the Shiva-Exarch at the end of Broken Diamond
"I really hope there's not one of them down there. So for purposes of this discussion, 'no'" - Samael
"I have encountered Imps, yes. Summoned them" - Promethea
A brief explanation of Demons for those that lack "Summoners". Supernal creatures come in pairs of types - material
and recondite - that correspond to the Gross and Subtle Arcana of the realm they originate from. An "Imp" is a Demon
of Space, as opposed to a "Wraith" which is a Demon of Mind.
Mages calling them "Imps" does not mean they are in any way small or non-dangerous. In fact, Demons have a habit of
being overwhelmingly powerful as a means of testing their summoner. A better word for Space Demons would be
"Minotaur".
Or, in our case, Minotaur
"Are they dangerous?" - Samael
"Yes" - Promethea, simply
"If there's one loose, how many mages can we expect to lose?" - Samael
"Depends on the strength of the creature and what it was summoned to do. I can try to analyse more when we
have evidence" - Promethea
"Our lives may depend on it. Or our dignity if we end up running and screaming" - Samael
"What are they known for?" - Cobalt
"Strength. The key in most cases is to not back down" - Promethea
"How much of a good idea is it to punch one in the face?" - Samael
"Quite a good one, if it's physical" - Promethea
"Well, that's fifty percent of his strategy covered. Are they also flammable?" - Cobalt
"You know my measure already" - Samael, dryly
AG: They're using fists and fire! My only weakness!
"Just looking for confirmation that they can even be stabbed" - Samael
Promethea peers at Persephone
"Interesting familiar" - Promethea
"Yes, he is" - Samael
"Maybe he'll speak to you later. He likes talking to people" - Persephone, glaring warningly at empty air
She glares warningly at D!Kosciej, who is wearing a Fez.
"Where is he?" - Samael
She nods in the Daimon's direction
"Kosciej, the difference between you and me is... I can enjoy this" (swigs his drink) "Well" (to Promethea and
Cxaxa) "Good to meet you, and hopefully we'll meet a minimum of Demons" - Samael
Samael goes to chat with George. Persephone chats with Promethea, trying to tell the other Free Councillor
about the Parliament of the Needle. Promethea has indeed heard of the Parliament already - she's a
Claviclarius, another active Temenotic Legacy. Persephone talks about Astral Engineering techniques.
Promethea tells her about the time an Exarch tried to kill her.
"I do approve of your Daimon, though if you want to get ahead in the world and further your career you should
probably join the real Kosciej's side" - Promethea
"Uh... Why?" - Persephone
"Well, he obviously has power and has the ruthlessness to take it. If you were anything other than a schoolgirl
pretending to be a proper mage you'd be willing to do anything for that power too" - Promethea, straight-faced
Ah, I've missed Promethea. Utterly unsympathetic, even when she's on other people's side. Makes Cxaxa look nice.
"Ashlar. Do you have me on Exoterics again?" - Cobalt
"Do you want to be?" - Ashlar
"I've never done anything else" - Cobalt
"There's a minidigger to drive" - Ashlar
"Seriously, what did you have in mind? I'm pretty sure I'm on the physical side of things" - Cobalt
"You and me both" - Ashlar
"I reserve the right to interpret the hell out of anything they let me near" - Cobalt
"I think we're just going with Senior Archaeomancer and seeing what happens. Trying to keep the newbies
alive" - Ashlar
"Nico seems fresh-faced and young" - Cobalt
"Nico is here because she's afraid that if she isn't George will end up fucking Gabrielle" - Ashlar
Cobalt thinks.
And laughs
"Oh..... great. Nevermind. Is there any liklihood for that? Is she no longer going out with Hastur?" - Cobalt
"I have no idea" - Ashlar
"...Wait! That's a soap opera. And we're in a horror movie..." - Cobalt
"I seem to recall a young Acanthus coming on one of these missions only because she was in love with the
tortured young Obrimos who was also on the mission, and that turned out okay" - Ashlar
"Very true" - Cobalt
"There's always a soap opera" - Ashlar
Agena: You don't understand my pain!
"What about this George fellow?" - Cobalt
"Doesn't seem that bad. Sees Templars everywhere. Obsessed with them. Very strange" (sighs) "It's good to get
away from London. Good to be working - Ashlar
"Agreed. It's all starting to wear on me" - Cobalt
"Well, we're a long way from Kosciej the Deathless here" - Ashlar
"We're always a step away" - Cobalt
...
Samael has explained to George that there are no Knights Templar here, and asked why George is along.
"I was sent by Vidocq" - George
Because, as it turns out, there are no Knights Templar here. George thinks there might be Hassassin, though.
Samael, wincing inwardly, talks a little about George's Knights Templar obsession - George thinks that they're
the power behind the Seers of the Throne.
"What's your Exoteric?" - Samael
"The history of the Crusades" - George
Chris: Oh, for fuck's sake
Humouring George for a little whhile longer, Samael turns to Ebony.
Ebony was sent here by Suleiman in order to make sure Cxaxa and Promethea behave themselves. She regards
it as something of a punishment detail despite being the third and final member of Cxaxa and Promethea's
cabal because she's sleeping with Cxaxa's ex-husband.
"Right" - Samael
She's also here to keep an eye on Cxaxa, who is not quite as recovered from her possession as she makes out.
"If she starts talking in the third person..." - Ebony
"Knock her out. Gotcha" - Samael
"Mycroft already told you that, yeah?" - Ebony
"We're getting used to maniacal ancient people" - Samael, mildly
"The trouble is that Promethea is... what I'd call an enabler" - Ebony
"She seems quite an unpleasant person" - Samael
"You have to get to know her to truly despise her. But she is very good at her job, she was my Mentor during
my apprenticeship and she did once engage in personal combat with an Exarch. In order to rescue me" - Ebony
"Dare I ask what you'd done?" - Samael
"I was cut off from everyone else, in the Aetheneum. Halfway to the safe house it saw us. Mycroft said you were
going to have some trouble with Seers? Not just on this mission?" - Ebony
"Yes. A lot, once they cotton on to what I'm doing" - Samael
"Well, I don't know if our example is any good, but if it was representative... You have my sympathies for
whatever it is you're caught up in" - Ebony
"We're faced with two options, one of which is wrong. The other involves the Attention of the Exarchs, and
we've never been known for our brains" - Samael
"I get that" - Ebony, gently
"So Seers may turn up. Our plan is to do as we did at Rio de Janeiro" - Samael
"Play volleyball?" - Gabrielle, walking past
"Or lure them into the presence of a killer spell from the Old Days" - Cobalt
"I prefer Volleyball" - Samael
"So do I" - Cobalt
"So, Gabi! How is Paris?" - Samael
"Recovering from your visit" - Gabrielle
"Excellent" - Samael
"Vidocq sends his regards... Have either of you heard from Rod?" - Gabrielle
"There's... Something... Happening, and they'll get back to us" - Cobalt
"Wales is apparently an interesting place right now" - Samael
"It just doesn't seem right going on one of these without Rod" - Gabrielle, a little sadly
"Gabi... Are you *pining* for Rodriguez?" - Samael
"Well, you know... His eyes are permanently attached to your breasts, and he has the whole touching thing
going on, but after a while the boundary-shattering petting and the borderline harassment fade into the
background and he just becomes Rodriguez" - Gabrielle
"Advantage of being male is that you just get Rodriguez without the petting" - Samael
"Mostly" - Cobalt
"I think it's just because Hastur doesn't come on this sort of thing. Makes me more of a target. I don't think Rod
would ever seriously go for Pandora or Persephone" - Gabrielle
"You say that, but she's had offers" - Samael
"Oh, everyone's had offers. Orchid's had... Actually, no, Orchid gave in" - Gabrielle
1.
What I've Done
"... ... WHAT?" - Samael
Cobalt laughs. Long and hard
Gabrielle gets another drink and confirms that, shuddering.
"Last I heard Maid Marion wasn't a maid any more either" - Cobalt
"You just don't wanna know" - Samael, face buried in hands
"You're going to have to look her in the eye tomorrow" - Cobalt, cheerfully
"'So Orchid, I heard you slept with Rod! Enquiring minds want to know!'" - Samael
Cobalt, though, is considering something. An odd feeling has passed over him, and he's realised he's seen this
kind of conversation before.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you've really slipped into Duma's role" - Cobalt
"... In what way?" - Samael
"The way you're acting? It's pretty clear. There's the physical machnoness you're desperate to show off, the
supernal honing... The way you're mentoring and organising..." - Cobalt
"Someone has to. And to be fair the Seers might be coming because of me" - Samael
"Fair. Last time they came because of Duma" - Cobalt
"As part of a whole. This time it's instigated, and I'm the designated target" - Samael
"If they don't turn up, you'll be as disappointed as George will be if the Templars don't" - Cobalt
"If they don't, it'll be because of the demons" - Samael
"Kosicej. He's closer" - Cobalt
"Let's hope he can distract them for long enough. We're in danger of a bad case of demons, which I understand
is a nasty infection" - Samael
"Er.. I mean... Seriously, you've never?" - Gabrielle, to Persephone
"With Rod?" - Persephone
"Have all the women?" - Samael
(Pandora, within earshot but behind Samael, takes a great interest in her drink)
"No, don't get me wrong, no, it's not that, *I've* never slept with Rod. Please" - Gabrielle
"Nor has Samael, though there have been offers" - Cobalt
"I have occasionally used..." - Gabrielle
"You've fantasised about Rod?" - Samael
"No. No." (thinks) "No. But I may have... given him some encouragement to get things out of him" - Gabrielle
"He's easy to manipulate?" - Samael
"But seriously, I though you were banging Rod all the way up the Amazon" - Gabrielle
"No" - Persephone
"Clearly a wrong impression" - Gabrielle
"Who is this?" - Ebony
"Rod is... What we call a Combat Acanthus" - Samael
"If he arrives, you will know. You'll be propositioned within an hour" - Persephone
"Which is his way of saying hello. There may be explosions" - Samael
...
And with that, the time to retire for the evening comes. Ebony more than a little weirded out.
Acute PC poisioning, really. The Horizon have become the John Chrichton of the World of Darkness.
Chris: I feel like I'm being unfairly targetted by sharing a path with Duma
Agena: Path, Order, Girlfriend
Dave2: Original Master, third highest Arcanum, haircut
It's a fair cop, really.
...
The call to prayer wakes them up. Then the alarm clock.
Cobalt and Symmetry consider ignoring the alarm
"My first expedition. Adventure, excitement" - Symmetry
"Whacky High-Jinks. Digging." - Cobalt
"I'm on first aid" - Symmetry
"Our last first aider was also the guard" - Cobalt
"At least they've split it between me and Magog" - Symmetry
...
-COME ON! Time's a'wasting!- - D!Kosicej
Sef attempts to bury her face in the pillow. D!K is dressed for the occassion as Indiana Jones. Complete with
whip
-UP AND AT EM!- - D!Kosciej
"Go away. Go talk to someone" - Persephone
-If I walk through THAT wall points Chance of seeing Symmetry naked versus chance of Cobalt obliterating me.
If I walk through THAT wall point again Chance of seeing Pandora naked...Chance of Pandora making me
explode- - D!Kosciej
"A man needs hobbies" - Persephone
-But I can see YOU naked here for free!- - D!Kosicej
"You'd think you'd have gotten bored of it" - Persephone
-Oh, Catherine, it never gets old. Don't think of it as me lusting after your... Think of it as your self-esteem
rising! So really, you're making progress- - D!Kosicej
Walk through whatnow?
As you might have gathered from Promethea's cryptic comment earlier, this is a development between Persephone
and Kosciej. He agreed to join her side against his former host for once and all, she took him as a Goetic Familiar, with
Quark casting the necessary spells.
So Solarius is not going to be Sef's familiar. Kosciej is. Solarius turns up in two sessions time, and I hope he enjoys what
I turned him into...
"Don't you have a meeting with my Lust?" - Persephone
-No! Schedule's clear! Onward... To adventure! Boo-yah!- - D!Kosciej
...
Downstairs, Orchid and Memento have arrived. Samael greets Orchid awkwardly.
"Hi guys! What's wrong with Samael?" - Orchid
"Oh, he heard some things" - Persephone
"He'll be fine. How are you? I gather you're a mid-ranking plunderer now" - Cobalt
Sef greets Memento
"Been a long time" - Memento
"How have you been?" - Persephone
"Tolerable" (off Sef's expression) "i've been fine, Sef. Don't worry about me. I was curious to be invited, actually
- I hadn't heard from Pandora since the lecture in London. I didn't see much of you - you were on trial for
something?" - Memento
"Giant flaming Gordon Freeman" - Persephone
"Not so much a trial as a probation. Europe's been busy, and we've been in the thick of it. It was good to see
you in London" - Cobalt
Samael, his strength magically enhanced, lugs boxes in the background while Memento looks.
"So. Meet the new boss, eh?" - Memento, arch
Cobalt coughs
"He's grown up a lot. The jungle shook him..." - Cobalt
"Shook him? The jungle appears to have knocked ten years and several pounds off" - Memento
She shrugs
"Duma's looking very good for his age" - Memento
Ouch!
Sef introduces Orchid to Magog, who is working on one of the Truck's engines. Orchid stares at her feet and
mumbles.
Chris: Ladies, he's single
Memento stalks off. Orchid says, worried, that she wasn't sure if Memento would come: she's annoyed with
Pandora for some reason.
"I'm almost getting the impression that Memento might have had a thing for Duma" - Cobalt, musing
"Oh, I don't know. I tend to stay out of such things. They get too complicated. Never sleep with anyone on a dig,
that's what I say" - Orchid
Cobalt nods sagely
"What happens on a dig stays on a dig" - Cobalt
"It was good to get the call. From the way people back home tell it, Europe is one big battleground" - Orchid
"If only it were that simple. Three people who bitterly hate one another, each with an army of pawns" - Cobalt
"We're far away from it now" - Orchid
"Kick back and relax. What's on a dig stays on a dig" - Cobalt
"Was that an offer?" - Persephone
"God no, I like my tonsils where they are" - Cobalt
...
The journey begins, everyone piled into the trucks squashed up against equipment
"Are we nearly there yet?" - Persephone
"No" - Cobalt
He glances at D!Kosciej (using Grim Sight), who notices him noticing and slides over.
"How's it going, DK? Enjoying the great outdoors?" - Cobalt
-The sand under my.. no, wait.. the wind... no, not that either... Well, it's good to *see* the world rather than
rely on Catherine's near-solipsist memory of events- - D!Kosciej
"Can you still see what she sees?" - Cobalt
-If I go back inside- - D!Kosciej
"So you can't watch her back and her front?" - Cobalt
-Much as I'd like to, no- - D!Kosciej
D!K explains that he's of the opinion that not everyone on the expedition is trustworthy. He thinks George is a
Seer plant. Noone could be that much of a buffoon.
"Oh, I don't know. There was this guy called Jack... George seems a bit excitable, but that's not really a
problem" - Cobalt
...
The trucks stop.
They are in the middle of nowhere. There are sand dunes.
"Well, here we are then" - Samael
-Curious. Feels strange around here- - D!Kosciej
"You feel anything?" - Persephone
-Not sure- - D!Kosciej
"Is it a kittens feeling or a raping your soul through your nose feeling?" - Persephone
-More a being watched feeling- - D!Kosicej
"Maybe you should go back in, then" - Persephone
He vanishes, returning to her Oneiros
"Camp for now. We'll set up tarps over the vehicles and see what we can see tomorrow morning" - Ashlar
"If DK is feeling edgy, I'll take a look around in Twilight. See if I can find any sense of anything" - Cobalt
Magog and Dervish are drawing a line in the sand, erecting a perimeter ward. Samael and Cobalt go for a walk
with Mage Sights.
The area has several ley lines - if there's a Hallow it's underground, though there are several large patches of
unpleasant resonance. It feels like Desperation. Under Grim Sight, Cobalt can see patches of blood seeping up
from under the sand.
Symmetry goes greenish and reports that the Shadow is not particularly quiet here. It's an oasis of blood - the
trees are made of human flesh, studded with eyes and mouths, and there are flies everywhere.
Remember *those* guys?
"We have blood seeping up. If Cxaxa took us to the wrong place, she's lucky at finding magical sites at random"
- Cobalt
Cxaxa reports that they're definitely there - the city lies under yonder dunes.
"It should still be sealed, and we should be safe" - Cxaxa
The background noises of the desert at night thrumm and then stop, as Dervish and Magog finish the Ban
"Warded and Banned. Set to go off for anything bigger than a Yorkshire Terrier" - Magog
"Er.. Scorpions?" - Persephone
"Turn your boots upside down before putting them on. And use the mesh inner on your tent" - Cobalt
"What if I get stung?" - Persephone
"Scream. One of the Life Adepts will come running" - Samael
"And you'll notice. Being stung by a scorpion is like being punched" - Cobalt
"How do you know?" - Persephone
Cobalt mutters something that may be "Biology department"
...
In the morning, everyone is reasonably rested. Ashlar is stomping around the dunes, planning trenches.
"You know what the nice thing about being the interpretor is?" - Samael
"You don't have to dig?" - Cobalt
"Exactly!" - Samael, happily
"Have a spade" - Cobalt, passing Samael the implement
Samael looks at it
"Until we find something, you don't have a command position" - Cobalt
"Get to disintegrating" - Samael
The minidigger roars to life, Orchid happily driving it
"Magog, why is she driving..?" - Persephone
"She asked. Why?" - Magog
"Did you want to drive Magog's digger?" - Samael
"Did you want to pull my lever, and make my digging arm extend?" - Magog
"I... Uh... I..." - Persephone
She leaves, in a flap
Magog considers
"Cobalt's right. That IS really satisfying" - Magog
...
Cobalt and Ashlar confer and decide that there's something under a particular dune which would be easy to get
to and make a quick win to boost morale. The main bulk of the city is further away.
"There's this building over here - I think it's bigger than the ones around it. Guard post? Granary? Start people
off with a find" - Ashlar
They go back to Pandora and Samael
"Okay. Gabrielle - we'll get to Ley-mapping" - Samael
Ashlar calls for an assembly
"RIGHT THEN! Consider this sand dune. Consider this pile of shovels" - Ashlar
"Consider the Moros with Matter spells" - Persephone
"Which are Vulgar, and we don't want to cause a Paradox" - Cobalt
"Save them for blasting, when we're sure" - Ashlar
"It comes down to digging, then" - Orchid
"We'll soften it up" - Magog
Orchid drives forward in the digger and, to cheers, engages the bucket arm.
There are cries of disgust (and, from Orchid, alarm) as a black, buzzing swarm of flies erupts out of the ground
as soon as the digger strikes true. Orchid tumbles out of the cabin and runs.
Oh, that's a good sign
After a few seconds, the flies drop out of the sky, littering the ground.
Cobalt says a few words in the High Speech. His nimbus flares, the outline of a magic circle behind him, as he
extends his hand to the dune. Half the sand vanishes, revealing a weathered stone platform
"That looks like a roof to me! Let's get to it, everyone" - Ashlar
Samael picks up one of the flies
"Horseflies" - Samael
"Blood drinkers" - Cobalt
"You okay, Orchid? Did they bite you?" - Samael
Orchid shakes her head, still not looking so happy.
"I'm going to drive over to the nearest village, just to make sure there aren't any Seers. I'll take Lamorak" Cxaxa
"More water. We could always use more water" - Cobalt
1.
What I've Done
Eventually, the gang dig down to find what appears to be the top of a door. As the sun begins to lower, Samael
and Gabrielle return to find that the digging team have widened the gap to be large enough for a slight person
to slip inside.
"Gabi and me have a plan - here it is" - Samael
He shows Ashlar and Pandora a rough sketch of the leys
"The Hallow looks like it's in the Palace - or the big structure at the end of the city that Ashlar pointed out.
Makes sense; keep it where you can control it" - Samael
"We've found a house" - Cobalt
Samael looks at the stonework
"Quite plain, even accounting for the weathering" - Samael
Cobalt casts Grim Sight, noting the blood welling up. He concentrates on his Attainment, reversing the time of
his mind's eye on the doorway.
"Did you see anything?" - Samael
"Hard to get a fix. It was never real, now - too close to the Singularity. There's also a lot missing from the
building, awnings, maybe. I think there was some kind of brazier on the roof... Could this have been a port? A
gateway? A lighthouse?" - Cobalt
"Who's volunteering?" - Ashlar
"Ah, hell. I'm an Acanthus. What can possibly go wrong?" - Persephone
She crawls, and then drops, through the doorway. Inside, the stone building is nearly blocked by sand that has
spilled in through the windows.
"How long ago did Cxaxa say this was?" - Persephone
"No one knows. We're talking lost in the Singularity" - Cobalt
"Just post-Fall: these buildings never existed in our timeline, so it returns 'never' to attempts to age it" - Ashlar
The what now?
"Singularity" is Cobalt's preferred term for the Fall of Atlantis, the event that changed all of reality and sent
shockwaves forward and back through time. That Cxaxa's kingdom never existed now thanks to the Exarch's continual
efforts to rewrite time (but can be found by the determined, for if the Exarchs truly succeeded in eliminating all traces
of Atlantis from the universe they would undo their own Ascension) goes back to Broken Diamond, Seers of the Throne
and is my own preferred reason why all the Atlantean artifacts and such in Mage contradict one another so much.
"There aren't any stairs - and it's L-shaped in here. More than one doorway to the outside, though" Persephone, calling up
She casts Grim Sight.
"There's..." - Persephone
She trails off as she approaches the thing she's seen - there's something wet and glistening on the floor in
Twilight.
She's not entirely certain, but it looks like a human liver.
The world starts to spin. She tastes Iron Filings.
From somewhere in the distance the Minotaur comes sound of something metal scraping along stone can be
heard.
Dropping the Mage sight, she climbs back up and reports her findings.
"It's a corner. You go in one side and come out the other" - Cobalt
"So the question is - which side of the building is inside or outside the city walls?" - Samael
"The ley lines cross at the putative palace. If we have the castle over there, and a wall running this way..."
(points) "...This side is the city" - Cobalt
...
That evening, just as everyone is downing tools, Lamorak and Cxaxa return bearing extra water... And a goat.
"Why the goat?" - Persephone
"Given that the forces here are still active, I intend to try to appease them" - Cxaxa
"Any guidelines on how?" - Samael
"I will perform a short ritual and sacrifice the animal to them" - Cxaxa
"Good luck with that. We found a liver" - Cobalt
"It was in Twilight" - Samael
Cxaxa shrugs, quite unconcerned. That doesn't help Samael's mood.
...
That night, the camp is disturbed by the sound of a gale howling around the camp. And then a sound like a
giant windchime.
Persephone climbs out of her tent to find Samael and Magog hurridly getting into armored clothing.
"That was the perimeter alarm!" - Magog
Cobalt emerges, brandishing an enhanced Knife he made some weeks earlier.
Cobalt and Magog - mostly Cobalt, who is the superior Matter mage (Magog's an Adept of Forces) - have been
enhancing the Cabal's equipment over the intervening time. Visually normal jackets that have been bulletproofed.
Enhanced melee weapons (Samael's sword has a Matter and Mind spell woven onto it to make people ignore it or
assume it's an innocent object. It is referred to as "the ubiquitous weapon".
Samael, now at the edge of the camp, peers around for anything that breached the ward. Cobalt casts Spatial
Awareness.
"Anything?" - Samael
-Over there!- -D!Kosciej, pointing
Sef casts Grim Sight.
"There! In Twilight!" - Persephone
"Someone give me a Grim Sight!" - Samael, as Cobalt, Magog, Ashlar and Pandora all cast it for themselves.
Cobalt waves his hand and grants the Sight to Symmetry and Samael.
The apparition now floating through the camp is thinner at the base than at the top. It looks as though a
humanoid figure has been mummified and is straining against its wrappings, though there are no breaks in the
surface apart from the hundreds of blinking, staring eyes covering it from head to toe. It's suspended by six
smokey wings.
"Symm - is that a spirit?" - Samael, horrified
"I'm not sure" - Symmetry
"ID, PEOPLE. Spirit? Ghost? Demon?" - Samael
"Get everyone up. Noone split up" - Cobalt
"Oh, hells... KILL IT! As quickly and efficiently as you can!" - Ashlar
"As you wish" - Samael, drawing his sword.
And now Samael proceeds to show why Mage's combat system breaks down at the Adept level. Specifically his
Strength-boosted (to 7), 8-again rote-action Weaponry rolls.
The apparition floats leisurely around - drifitng slowly closer to the excavation. Samael runs, jumps and nearly
bisects it. The creature is empty inside (although it's still moving as though something's in it and struggling to
get out) and the eyes on the now-trailing sections of the creature are still animated.
"WARD YOURSELVES!" - Promethea
"From what?" - Cobalt
"These things work by the Laws of Sympathy" - Promethea
Sef casts Alternate Scenario.
Another brief timeout here to explain this spell, found in Grimoire of Grimoires. It's particularly funky - you get to try as
many different things for your next action as your Fate or Time (whichever is lower) and then pick one as the final
timeline. Useful when facing something that you're not quite sure about, as you can try many different approaches.
The timeline shatters around Sef. In one world, she casts Gain Skill on Samael with moderate success, in one
she uses a Fraying spell on the creature, which fizzles out against the monster's defenses and in the last she
casts Chronos Curse successfully on the creature, halving its speed. She chooses the first option, and the flow
of time reassembles.
The creature flickers and vanishes
"Over here!" - Pandora
Samael turns on a heel, to see the creature reappeared (as though it teleported) next to Pandora, who was
martialling the noncombatants.
"EVERYONE GET IT" - Samael
Cobalt, thinking on his feet, casts Suppress Aura on Pandora.
Thinking that if the critter is locking onto SYmpathy (as Promethea said), suppress aura's lesser-used quality to also
bork sympathetic connections might come in handy.
The creature drifts away from Pandora, casting about as if looking for something. Samael uses its confusion to
chase it down and take another swing, just as Promethea catches up to Cobalt.
"I don't think I can do that again" - Cobalt
"Good work. That confused it" - Promethea
"Is that" (pointing at Samael chasing the creature around) "Going to work eventually?" - Cobalt
"I think its nearly dead" - Promethea
Persephone casts a Fraying spell at the creature, which explodes into ragged shards. The eyes close one by
one, as Samael disperses the remains.
"That worked" - Samael
"It's not dead. Severely inconvenienced, though" - Ashlar
"What *was* it?" - Samael
"Grigori. A servant of the Seers of the Throne grown as an Astral spy" - Ashlar
"Does this mean they know where we are?" - Persephone
"Yes. Grigori can jump down sympathetic connections. They must have found something that knows someone
in here" - Ashlar
"It stopped on the ward" - Cobalt
"Yeah. Then came in under it's own steam. Did it leap in the camp?" - Ashlar
"It was heading for the ruins, then jumped to Pandora after I stabbed it" - Samael
"It probably used your link to Pandora to get away from you. So... The Seers have a connection to one of us. It
was probably trying to figure out where it was" - Ashlar
"Is it likely to have relayed the information back?" - Samael
"That's the problem - that wasn't it's body. It's body's in a Hallow somewhere" - Ashlar
"WHat IS it?" - Samael
"An astrally-projected slave. Noone's quite sure how they make them, but it may have once been human" Ashlar
"Hence the shape fighting inside the bag" - Cobalt, understanding
"And it will be constantly reporting to the Seer controlling it" - Ashlar
"Will it be aware of it's location instinctively, or just have to report what it sees?" - Cobalt
"The latter. They can read minds, but I don't think you gave it a chance" - Ashlar
"The sympathy could be as simple as the money you gave to the villagers" - Cobalt
"Or Lankin knows who you are" - Symmetry
"Most of us are occluded in some form" - Samael
"But someone on the mission is the weak link" - Promethea
"Alright. It knows we're in the desert. There's a lot of desert" - Samael
"But there are still geographical differences. They know there's a stretch with the mountains in the distance,
and they know the border is closed" - Cobalt
"It had a lot of eyes, but how much information can it process?" - Samael
Ashlar shrugs helplessly.
"Let's hope they get the minimum possible" - Samael
"They're servants of Panopticon" - Ashlar
"Which at least gives us our likely enemies. Interesting. I suggest we set the wards back up and hit the hay
again" - Samael
"At least the Wards work, eh?" - Magog
"Damn straight" - Cobalt
...
The next morning, the entire dig assemble as Cxaxa sacrifices the goat, burning various parts and scattering
them in occult gestures. Then she gives the all clear to continue with the excavation.
Ashlar wants to sink some trenches.
"We're shooting in the dark except for the Hallow, but the Hallow is the centre of more than the city. I'd ideally
sink a shaft down to the walls, confirming they're where we think they are, then head for a house. The one
we've found is a guard space - until we get into a living establishment we have no artifacts regarding the use of
the area" - Cobalt
Those armed with sufficient Matter magics start blasting Trenches out.
"Got something!" - Cobalt
He has uncovered a section of the city wall, right where they thought it would be. Lying, apparantly discarded,
on top of the wall is a badly-pitted metal shield.
"Must have been covered by the sand quickly" - Cobalt, musing
He turns it over in his hands, using his Attainment to see back to what it originally looked like.
"There's a symbol. Looks kind of like the Prime sigil in High Speech. Ashlar - ethics discussion" - Cobalt
He and Ashlar go aside
"Ethics. This is an artifact of historical importance. Is it scientifically dubious to restore it to its original state?" Cobalt
"After it's been properly recorded, I see no reason why" - Ashlar
Ashlar calls for Memento.
"If you'll agree with me, looks like Prime" - Cobalt
After Memento gives the all-clear, Cobalt restores the shield. As it turns out, it's not the Prime sigil. It's a highly
stylised bull's head - the horns were the prongs that Cobalt thought were part of the rune.
Cxaxa, who has popped up while Cobalt worked, is looking at it like a long-lost toy
"You recognise the symbolism?" - Cobalt
"We're definitely in the right place" - Cxaxa, almost smiling
"Oh, good. I'd hate to have found someone else's evil city of yore. Braveheart-boy?" - Cobalt
That last was to Samael
Cobalt's joking disdain for Samael's sword-wielding antics are an amusing development to the Cabal dynamic
"Is it meant to look like it was adapted from the Prime rune?" - Samael
"I honestly can't remember" - Cxaxa
"Well, we'll get it bagged and tagged" - Samael
...
Work continues. Ashlar conducts what he breezily calls "geophysics", leading those skilled in FOrces magic in a
coordinated attempt at ground-penetrating radar, mapping out the locations of buildings still under the dunes.
Between that and Cobalt disintegrating "test pits" to uncover interesting-looking areas and those incapable of
either digging trenches take up much of the next week of work.
The dig has by now uncovered several houses. The people of the city lived in fairly spartan conditions - only a
handful of artifacts have been found, and they're plain. Speculation runs riot as to who the Seers managed to
send the Grigori to.
Sef, pushing a wheelbarrow up a trench, glares at D!Kosciej who has spent the day on a deckchair, sipping a
margharita. The Daimon-Familiar gets a shovelful of sand in the face, transmitted to Twilight by Cobalt
"Stop annoying those who are working, Deekay. This isn't a free ride" - Cobalt
...
Eventually, Ashlar calls a conference. He's found a pentagonal gap, like a town square, with something in the
centre of it. Some small metallic object. Cxaxa thinks she recalls it being something to keep the city safe.
"It's deep. We'd have to magically dig for it" - Ashlar
"It'll be something about sacrifices to demons" - Persephone
"Or some kind of defense artifact. Or a fountain" - Samael
"Let's not argue. It could be both" - Cobalt
"Two leylines cross at it" - Gabrielle
"Our progress has been good so far" - Ashlar
"Can Little K burrow through the sand? He's immaterial" - Persephone
-But... It's dark down there!- -D!Kosciej
"This is, in fact, a problem. He'd not see anything" - Samael
"Can we cast spells on Twilight entities?" - Persephone
"Yes. Destroy Ephemera" - Cobalt, straight faced
D!K gulps
"How about a Matter Sight?" - Persephone
Cobalt nods
"Do that, then. Send him down" - Samael
...
Before long, they're standing on an unexcavated Dune. D!Kosciej is abseiling down through the solid floor. In
Sef's minds eye, she sees sand sliding past and hears D!K make Darth Vadar noises.
-Kosciej to base- - D!Kosciej
"Yes?" - Persephone
-I think I've touched the floor. Or there's a paved area at the very least- - D!Kosciej
"Don't go deeper then" - Persephone
-I'm walking through the sand now. It's very dark- - D!Kosicej
"You don't say" - Persephone
-Hmm. Are you seeing this, control?- - D!Kosciej
"No" (worried) "What are you seeing?" - Persephone
-It's a statue of a bull, standing over a big firepit. It's made out of iron, maybe some other metal. Oh! Hello!... I
think it's hollow. Hang on a second...- - D!Kosciej
"Don't put your head inside it. We've both seen the films. We know how this ends" - Persephone
-D'you want me to head for the buildings on the edge of the square?- - D!Kosciej
"Go for it" - Persephone
She directs Cobalt to where the Bull Statue was, then walks along above where D!Kosciej is phasing through the
sand.
-Some kind of Temple, I think- - D!Kosciej
"I don't think we should go there. There might be demons"
-It looks sealed up- - D!Kosciej
"We definitely don't want to go there. Find something else" - Persephone
Coordinating with Samael, who marks D!K's descriptions of the buildings down on their map. There's a granary
and a long, thin building that looks like a prison. The entire area, under Grim Sight, is splattered with gobbets of
flesh and pools of blood.
"I assume that they executed people by putting them in the bull and setting fire to it?" - Cobalt
Cxaxa nods, grimly
Dave2: Ahlat was much pleased
-I can see the Palace, but it looks as sealed up as the temple- - D!Kosciej
"Get closer. See if you can read anything on the door" - Persephone
-I.. Can't get any closer than this- -D!Kosciej
"Why?" - Persephone
-It seems to be keeping me away- - D!Kosciej
She reports that to the others
"Mastigos Demon-Queen keeping her Palace warded? Shocking. I for one am shocked" - Cobalt
"Okay. Er. Come back" - Persephone
A headstone appears, only to Sef, reading "Kosciej the Deathless: a better lover than he was a general". Then
D!Kosciej emerges from the grave, Carrie-style.
Chris: I'm so glad Samael can't see this
"So what's the next plan?" - Samael
"Start off by beating Little K to death with a shovel" - Cobalt
"And after that?" - Samael
"Uncover the Bull" - Cxaxa
"I think that's logical, yes" - Cobalt
"It's important" - Cxaxa
"Important to whom?" - Cobalt
"The town? Don't worry Cobalt, I'm not about to sacrifice you to a demon" - Cxaxa
"I'm just trying to trick you into talking in the third person" - Cobalt
"The Cxaxa disapproves of your antics" - Cxaxa
...
The excavation of the bull takes some planning - they don't have enoguh boards to shore up the walls of any
magically-dug pit, so they have to go slowly, solidifying the walls as they go. After another day's work, the
statue is uncovered - it is, confirming everyone's grim theories, hinged, though it's long since corroded shut.
It also appears to be dragging the ley lines to it. Mana drawn from it would be fed into channels running along
the leys - one to the Temple, one to another building opposite the Temple, one to the main gate and one to the
Palace.
"Human sacrifice for Mana, used to power things" - Samael
"Or to appease an entity" - Cobalt
"The main defences of the town were in my cloak, which is long since gone. An artifact that made the town
invisible to the Exarchs" - Cxaxa
"But you said this was important" - Samael
"Sacrifice. Their religion" - Cxaxa
"I'm not sure how useful it is now, unless it's neccessary to access something" - Samael
"Yeah.. Let's not experiment" - Cobalt
"If neccessary, we can feed Mana down the leys manually" - Samael
"Depends if it needs the Mana or the Resonance" - Promethea
"Well.... I can try to fake that too" - Samael
"How convincing can you be?" - Promethea
"Fairly so" - Samael
"Feeding this thing will either make things better or worse" - Cobalt
"Which is why it's a last resort" - Samael
"And we're on a burning-free diet, which means artificial flavors are our only way" - Cobalt
"Let's find out what it powers. Let's go break open some important places" - Samael
There's the two Temples, the main gate and the palace. Ashlar suggests opening up the entrances to all four,
which the team agree to.
"What were they sealed with?" - Cobalt
"Big stone doors" - Persephone
"That would last" - Cobalt
"Maybe the Bull powers the mechanism to open them" - Samael
Cxaxa, meanwhile, is looking at the Bull.
"I... I don't remember this being here" - Cxaxa
"Maybe it was set up after you... She... died" - Samael
"Some way to replace me?" - Cxaxa
"The Bull was important to the city? You said you recognised the shield?" - Cobalt
"Yes, but it wasn't here" - Cxaxa
"What was the Bull a symbol of?" - Samael
"Minotaur" - Cxaxa
"We need to look out for a Minotaur?" - Persephone
"There's... There's something *under* the city. A Labyrinth. The walls made out of black, fused rock. Melted. I
do remember this thing, and what it's used for, but it was indoors. Inside some kind of catacomb... And I can't
get a clear memory of what it looks like, but I remember the Minotaur" - Cxaxa
"What was the purpose of the labyrinth?" - Samael
"To be like a Labyrinth. To be like Pandemonium" - Cxaxa
"Some sympathetic magic, perhaps. Or making local conditions ameanable to her guest" - Samael
...
That night, the alarm wards go off again. The team gear up to find another Grigori, which they tear to shreds
again.
"We can't ward the entire city" - Magog, worried
"It jumps downa link to us, not walks. We need to get out of sight of the main dig" - Cobalt
"So if we keep the camp over there - we'll slap it down before it reads our minds or sees the town?" Persephone
"I wonder if it can rummage through memories or jsut see surface thoughts?" - Samael
"I wonder if we can use it to trace where the Seers are" - Cobalt
"Should be, as long as we have a strong enough Mastigos" - Symmetry
"I'll try. It's like striking back at someone scrying" - Cxaxa
"Next time it reappears, I'd be grateful" - Cobalt
...
The next morning, work on the excavation takes second billing to moving the camp further away from the city.
"I wonder if it's the same Grigori. If it needs time to recharge after we disrupt it?" - Samael
"Knowing these guys, I wonder if they have to book time with the Grigori" - Cobalt
"And get told off if they damage it" - Samael
...
By midafternoon, they've uncovered the door of the temple. It's sealed by large stone slabs that have been
manoeuvred into place to block the doors.
Samael reaches out and feels his hand push against something, as though the air is bending.
"Some form of resistance. We'd have to dispel it" - Samael
"Something was either kept in or kept out" - Cobalt
"Doesn't have to be a horror from beyond the cosmos. Could have been treasure. Or horror from beyond the
cosmos" - Samael
"Could have just been a plague. Move the victims inside and seal it up" - Cobalt
"It's a temple, right?" - Persephone
"Hang on a second. I think there's writing on it" - Ashlar
The old man blows dust off
"Yes. Here. These thin marks. I don't think I can read it, though" - Ashlar
"Memento?" - Cobalt
The mastigos bends to peer at it.
"Late Atlantean. Do Not Enter" - Memento
"Or?" - Samael
"Doesn't say. Just an admonition to not go in" - Memento
"All right. Magically warded. Says do not enter. What about the other buildings?" - Samael
"That one looks like a council chamber" - Ashlar, pointing
"Okay. Let's work rapidly and systematically" - Samael
...
The council chamber turns out to have had a large internal atrium, which they break in through the roof of.
After two days of carefully digging the sand out of it, the potsherd collection is growing.
Most impressively, though, one of the floor stones is obsidian, with lead poured around it to seal it. It has
handholds.
The team decide to continue with the above-ground work before opening any entrances to the Labyrinth, but
they're running out of targets. The ward around the Palace makes excavation hard - it's lilke a compulsion
crossed with a high-end Space spell; sand comes out, but they don't seem to get any closer to it.
"Maybe that's what the Labyrinth is for? To get to the palace?" - Persephone
"Yeah" - Cobalt
Samael asks if anyone wants to take a crack at dispelling the temple ward or the palace ward. Or go in through
the plug in the floor of the council chamber.
"Leave it for now and keep exploring. Until we know what's down there" - Pandora
"We might not find anything else, love. And the longer we stay out here the more chance the Seers might find
us" - Samael
"Especially if they send a Grigori during the day" - Cobalt
"Little K's on watch" - Persephone
"Ashlar? Cxaxa?" - Samael
"If you're asking me if I want to put more trenches down, the answer's yes. I always want to put more trenches
down" - Ashlar
"Cxaxa?" - Samael
"I think we should open it" - Cxaxa
"It's the gold" - Cobalt
"Sooner or later, what we're after is going to be down there. We won't find it on top of a tower" - Samael
"Much as it pains me, the city is empty - it'll be great fun to pick through, but later. At leisure. What we're after
is inside the palace, and the only ways in are a small hatch and this door. From the way they're all sealed from
the outside, I'd say whatever was inside got loose" - Cobalt
"So they sealed it up and abandoned the city" - Pandora
"How did Cxaxa die? What happened to her?" - Samael
"Old age, or the approach of it" - Cxaxa
"So her people would have been here when she died? They would have had magi, but not neccessarily on the
power of Cxaxa" - Samael
"I think it's Prophecy time" - Persephone
...
Sef settles down and casts (in the end) Divination.
What will happen if we open the hatch?
Blood. Cooking meat. Hurrying down tunnels of blackened glass, being chased by something. Flies. Trees made
of flesh. A human heart, beating on an obsidian plate
Is there another way out of the Labyrinth?
Pulling the slabs off the temple door, finding the plug inside the temple and opening it, to the same result.
Cobalt, at the temple, is taking a different tack.
What lives beyond these doors?
Minotaur
Does it have the power to destroy the world?
No
"Good. Always check the ground rules" - Cobalt
Does the Way link to the Palace?
Yes
What are it's weaknesses?
Agena: Kittens and love!
He flees from the Minotaur, and in a desperate measure collapses the tunnel
For as a being of Pandemonium, it has no truck with Matter
What does it guard?
Nothing
What does it fear?
It IS fear
Persephone is having another go, this time on the temple.
What will happen when we open the temple door?
Herself, walking in the temple among broken pieces of iron that are scattered on the floor. The place is filled
with ghosts
Will the ghosts be hostile?
Yes
What keeps them there?
The Temple
1.
What I've Done
That evening, back at the now-moved camp, there is a conference.
"The Temple's packed with ghosts" - Samael
"But the council house plug is narrower. It'll be harder to get any kind of aid down there" - Cobalt
"I say we head through the temple. We have a battalion of Moros, after all" - Samael
"I'm not sure about the Labyrinth at all" - Persephone
"It's definitely a Minotaur. The divination shied away from giving strong visuals. It's afraid of nothing, guards
nothing. The route will lead to the Palace..." - Cobalt
"It won't be there to guard anything. It'll be there to test and punish those following the Labyrinth" - Promethea
"Tomorrow I'll have a crack at dispelling the wards on the palace" - Samael
"I think that'll be the older work, and stronger" - Cobalt
"It may have been mine" - Cxaxa
"If she made it so that she could only be approached through the Labyrinth... So. We're going to have to be
tested. It doesn't have the power to destroy the world, by the way. I preferrred to check" - Cobalt
Sef casts again, this time on the whole site, seeking what they would find if they just continued digging. Lots of
abandoned buildings, and a few other entrances to the Labyrinth. They'd also find Spirits.
"Okay. Gird ourselves thoroughly and then head through the chamber of ghosts" - Samael
"The Minotaur wouldn't have been able to survive in this world without there being a Demesne down there" Pandora
"I've explained what the Shadow looks like here? The Gauntlet gets noticably thinner at Night, like we're near to
a cyclical Verge" - Symmetry
"I don't want to go through the Labyrinth" - Persephone
"We're not going to get in there any other way. It's what it's there for" (looks at Cxaxa) "Normal people have a
secretary" - Cobalt
He casts Divination again, and asks where to dig to find Spirits
"To find Spirits... Open one of the seals" - Cobalt
How do we find ones that aren't in the plug?
By opening the plug
"Okay. So opening the seals will attract all the local spirits" - Cobalt
Why?
He sees the city, uncovered, surrounded by a dome of sand. The streets are filled with the trees of living flesh,
as though the Gauntlet has completely broken and the Shadow has merged with the material world. Smoke
rises from the Bull in the centre of the square.
"... ... Right. The ones that will be attracted will be bad. They'll be looking for the Bull to be fired up again" Cobalt
"If we do this, we're doing it when we're utterly prepared. We're going to sit down and plan out exactly what
we're doing" - Samael
The tent flap opens, and Magog pokes his head in.
"Guys... Is anyone still out at the site?" - Magog
"They shouldn't be" - Pandora
"Because someone is" - Magog
"Okay. Headcount. Martial the kids and see who we're missing" - Cobalt
By now, everyone is so thoroughly creeped out by the city that they're sticking together.
"Gear up. Let's go" - Cobalt
...
"Where did you catch sight?" - Cobalt
"I just saw the movement" - Magog
Cobalt casts Spatial Awareness... And finds that the spell is far, far too strong. Deep underneath the city,
there's a yawning vastness, something stretching down to Infinity, warping space around it. There are six
people near the Temple, and a smaller group near the Bull.
All have Mana in their Pattern.
The Seers of the Throne have found the city.
And we begin next time with the team opening fire!
COMING NEXT:
The Cabal fight the Seers, the Gauntlet breaks, spilling the Body Orchard into the world. The Labyrinth is entered, and
the Minotaur fought.
And Samael kills a member of the expedition.
TTFN!
1.
What I've Done
Session 9.2
Welcome back, faithful readers. This was not, as some of the players might have assumed, the longest single game
session of Mage I've run, but it was close, and made worse by starting very late in the evening.
I'll get us right back to the action; when last we saw our heroes, they were climbing a sand dune, very close to dusk in
the Sahara Desert, to overlook the lost City of Cxaxa Querephas. Six Seers of the Throne were attempting to open the
sealed door of a temple (which the Cabal had learnt would cause some kind of Spiritual upset) and three more were at
the Iron Bull used, in times long past and no longer historical, to sacrifice citizens.
Initiative: Cobalt is on 25, Samael on 11, Sef 16, Magog 12, Symmetry 12, Ashlar 13, Cxaxa 8, the Seers 9, Promethea
10
"Careful with the ones by the altar. This place doesn't appear to respect bloodspilling when it's not intended for
it. Magog? Shall we try something?" - CObalt
"Plan 15?" - Magog
"Sounds good" - Cobalt
Cobalt casts Shape Air, turning what was a relatively gentle breeze toward the Cabal into a stronger wind
heading from them to the Seers at the Temple.
Sef, narrowing her eyes, draws her bow and looses an arrow at one of the Seers - but the shot falls wildly short,
for no reason that she can see.
"Huh?" - Persephone
The Short Shot:
Not a very dramatic reveal for an odd little game mechanic. The Seer in question is a Prelate of Fury, and as such, the
Fighting Styles of those attacking him are cancelled out if lower than his Forces. Sef relies on having the first Archery
fighting style dot to have enough strength to use her bow - so against him, and any other Praetorian with Fury, she
automatically misses.
Fortunately, the Seers are so preoccupied that he didn't actually notice her doing that.
Ashlar attempts to Time Stop the people at the Bull, but the spell fails to take. Magog and Samael alter the
wind, stirring Sand up into it and increasing its force until the Seers are standing at the epicentre of a
sandstorm. Symmetry's spell fails. Promethea attempts a Psychic Sword against one of those at the Bull, which
doesn't drop him.
The Seers themselves are concentrating on prying the door open, and increasing their strength to do so. Well,
those at the door are, anyway - those at the Bull are now suspicious and dropping into defensive postures,
thanks to Promethea's spell.
Cobalt, concentrating on the sand dune, combines and pictures the silica within the grains reforming... His spell
works beautifully, the laws of Stygia flowing smoothly into the Fallen World, and the dune rises up in front of
the Cabal in a glass wall.
Sef casts Telepathic Control on one of the Seers near the Bull, neatly slipping past the Mind Shield he had up.
-FLEE- - Persephone
He flees, running off deeper into the City.
Ashlar clenches his fist in the vague direction of the two other Bull-bothering Seers. The ground opens up
beneath them, then reseals as they fall in to neatly trap them.
Magog, taking advantage of the sandstorm, casts Friction Knife. Gaping wounds open on four of the Seers as
the Sand rips past their skin.
Ouch! You see how good a little bit of setup can be?
Incidentally, it was at this precise moment when my voice recorder ran out of memory space, requiring several Exalted
sessions to be deleted (and by doing so admitting to myself that the Exalted AP thread would never happen) in order
to get enough room to continue.
Symmetry smashes the glass wall. The friction-knifed sandstorm is now filled with splinters of glass as well.
Dave2 had done a lot of thinking about how to chain spells together to defeat the Seers' greater numbers in the
intervening time between last cliffhanger and this session.
Samael, realising that two of the Seers at the doorway weren't covered, adds his own Friction Knife to cover
them as well.
Promethea smiles and gestures, casting something at one of the trapped Seers by the Bull. The pit he's in
collapses in on him.
Cobalt applies Science - searching his memory for the molecular structues of certain applicable compounds, he
clutches his amulet and fills the air around the Seers with Tear Gas.
One Seer is on the loose - still affected by Sef's command to run. One is trying to free himself from his pit. One
has been drowned in sand. Six are lying on the floor, flayed and choking by gas.
Sef casts Probable Cause.
Which gives her next three actions the rote quality
But then, in the lull in the action, the sounds of fighting coming from the camp drift from behind them. The
Seers are attacking there as well. Ashlar and Symmetry set off at a dead run, yelling back to Cobalt to keep the
Seers in the dig site busy.
Needing to bring the fight here to a speedy end, the Cabal plus allies break out the Fraying and Unraveling
spells against the remaining opponents - Magog Thunderbolts one, while Samael and Promethea supress the
others, hoping to keep them both inside the gas cloud and under the Friction Knife.
There's an inrush of energy as the Seer drowning in sand casts Teleport to escape. The wind dies down as the
Seers by the doorway - the four of them that have survived at any rate - manage to realise what's happening to
them and begin to counter the Cabal's spells - the gas cloud hovers in between the two groups as the Seercontrolled wind fights against the one the Cabal set up, and two of the Seers have removed their own need for
oxygen. One of the others, though, falls to a final Unraveling spell cast by Cxaxa.
The Seers by the door, damaged every round by the Friction Knife, are under -5 to everything while they're under the
tear gas, so it was their priority.
At which point, Sef and Cobalt think they hear something from up in the sky. Cobalt glances up, squinting, and
then goes pale.
"They brought a helicopter!" - Cobalt
Sef, though, has more horrible Mind spells to try out - Read the Depths, in fact. She's never telepathically
invaded someone with a Mind Shield before, but D!Kosciej has been giving her lessons.
The Seers' mind opens up, and she stabs at it, grabbing the most important information she can think of - their
numbers and dispositions.
There are three Pylons here, who have never met before. One Moroccon, one American and one British. The
Americans are from Panopticon, the other two Praetorian. And they were ordered to this location by the
Exarchs, or so their Pylon Augurs believe. They noticed the Pentacle mages' camp and decided to strike. These
guys Sef and company are fighting are the Brits - the Panopticon Pylon is hiding some miles away in the hills
acting as coordinators, while the Moroccan Pylon is providing support: they have military equipment and have
been loaned the Brit Pylon's Myrmidions.
They have three helicopters. And a tank.
It's only a light tank, but it's still a tank.
Magog tries, but fails, to push the gas cloud back over the Seers. While he's doing that, Promethea breaks from
their cover and starts to run toward the Iron Bull. Cxaxa curses and gives chase.
The Seer chopper hovers into view, and a Seer on board takes aim with a bazooka of some variety.
A cheap Russian knockoff RPG90. God, I love World of Darkness: Armory. Hooray for heavy weapons!
The rocket screams in.
Samael casts Turn Projectile. The rocket shoots off into the duststorm, eventually striking something with the
dull thwump of explosives going off in sand.
"Holy Shit!" - Magog
One of the Seers trapped by the Friction Knife runs - faster than humanly possible - out of the sandstorm, while
the remaining Seer there shimmers, transmuting his body to water and sinking down into the sand.
At which point, the sun finally finishes sinking below the horizon. The already weak Gauntlet fails entirely, and
there is suddenly a Flesh Tree right in front of the cabal.
The tree is made of human limbs, twisted together like pipecleaners to form a tree-shape, studded with eyes
and mouths that even now are shrieking glossalia. Twitching hands open and close in place of fruit, and the tree
is swaying toward the Cabal. It isn't alone, either - there are dozens of the spirits dotted around the dig, and
even now blood is beginning to well up in pools from beneath the sand. Which is unfortunate for the Seer still in
a pit.
A tree that has manifested next to the dead Seers is even now beginning to pull at their corpses, twisting their
limbs like taffy in an attempt to form another of it's kind.
Cobalt, backing away from the flesh tree, shields his eyes from the sand whipping around and tries to see the
helicopter
"Get clear of the trees!" - Cobalt
He casts Anhillate Matter on the spindle holding the rotors on.
Dave2: If Cobalt could see properly, or had time to get out his perfect binoculars, he'd go for the "Jesus" nut - so called
because it holds the blades on. If it snaps, the pilot has about enough time to say "oh, Jesus". Also, the blades are
ceramic, while the spindle is mettalic - so Cobalt's specialty in mettalurgy counts. Oh, and this is a rote, too!
The Seers on board desperately try to countermagic... And succeed!
Cobalt felt that - the counter was far stronger than it should have been. He suspects Shenanigans.
And by Shenanigans, we mean Prelacies
Persephone, feeling that it is something of a long shot, casts Temporal Stutter at the Helicopter. Again,
countered.
However, now that there's a sufficient amount of noise, Magog casts Convert Energy - turning the sound of the
helicopter's engine into fire. There's a flash of from inside the Helicopter, which bursts into flames and begins
careening around, lurching as the pilot (who is on fire) desperately wrestles with the controls.
The Seer in the pit is trying to climb out, but Promethea is pushing his head down into the blood, drowning him.
Cxaxa is angrily trying to break free of a Flesh Tree which grabbed her as she tried to chase Promethea. The
Seer who Sef made run away has been grabbed by a pair of trees who are doing their best to pull him apart.
The Seer who turned himself into water rematerialises, covered in blood. Just in time for the helicopter to crash,
spraying shrapnel and a fireball from the fuel tank. The Seer is impaled by a flying rotor blade, which pins him
right into the temple seal.
"Oh... shit" - Cobalt
Everyone there tastes iron as though there were blood in their mouths.
There is a sound of something heavy scraping across metal.
The Minotaur, deep below them, roars.
Would you believe that we're now two and a half hours into the recording? COmbat takes a while, even in nWoD?
Also, I totally missed that it was Magog that blew up the helicopter, or rather I forgot until I came to write this. I was
certain it was Samael, but that was because Chris/Samael was openly theorising about downing it with Forces magic
too. As it was, he wanted to try to stop it crashing into the temple. Narrative Causality, though, won the day - and after
2 1/2 hours of fight, I wanted that Temple goddamn open.
Cxaxa shouts something unpronouncable at the Flesh tree that grabbed her. It lets go and quivers as though
afraid, allowing her to continue towards Promethea.
There's three Seers left, now, as far as Samael can see in the chaos and blood - the one who ran away from the
Friction Knife (who Samael considers smiting, but hesitates - he doesn't want to kill a fleeing man, even in this
situation), the one Promethea is drowning in blood and the one being mauled by Flesh Trees.
And then there's the second Helicopter.
Ah.
"Another Chopper! Shit.. What do we do?" - Samael
Well, for a start, Wisdom checks. 3's all round, and a 2 for Magog. And noone failed
"Get back to camp and find out what the hell's going on!" - Cobalt
Samael ducks and dives between Flesh Trees, trying to get to Cxaxa and Promethea. Cobalt, Sef and Magog
start heading back to camp - they can hear the third and final Helicopter circling the campsite.
"Three Helicopters, a tank and something called Myrmidons" - Sef, filling them in on what she got from the
Seer's mind
"A Greek Warrior?" - Cobalt
Meanwhile, in Mictlan...
The Assembled cousins, watching the giant plasma TV of Sef's point of view (mounted at a slight angle on a
broken pillar that used to be a support), attract Sef's attention.
-Persephone! A Myrmidon is a type of Seer Proximus.- - Chronos
-They're Sleepwalkers?- - Perseophone
-They have a few spells they can cast, built into the bloodline- - Chronos.
She casts Nightsight. Cobalt abandons the spells he was maintaining on the Seers.
...
"Cxaxa! Promethea! We have to GO!" - Samael
Promethea looks round in a rage - the whites of her eyes have turned red, filled with blood.
Cxaxa punches her in the face, knocking her cold, and drags her off the now-deceased Seer. Samael throws her
over his shoulder.
"Back to the camp! We will deal with this!" - Cxaxa
It takes Samael a few seconds, dodging trees on his way back out of the dig site and lopping limbs off those
that reach too close, that she just spoke about herself in the third person.
And then he realises that, although he's doing his best to run out of the site, he's actually running in.
Something weird and Space-related is going on.
"Oh... Cockmonkeys" - Samael
Actually the Numen of the Flesh Trees - they warp your perception so you can't leave them, as described in Reign of
the Exarchs. Clearly, that's something to do with the Labyrinth of the City.[/i]
...
Cobalt, Sef and Magog are nearly back at camp - they can see the flash of gunfire, and hear the High Speech
on the wind as spells are traded back and forth - when they're knocked flat by a rush of air from behind them.
In Sef's Nightsight, the sand that was covering the City has now formed a rushing, shifting half-sphere over it,
like something from a Brendon Frasier movie.
"Sam was IN that" - Magog
1.
What I've Done
From Samael's point of view, the City has just unburied itself. Past him. Trying - and just about succeeding - to
keep hold of Promethea as all the sand rushes up past them, he finds himself standing in a narrow street (still
full of flesh trees) with the sand forming a ceiling high above him.
He takes a moment, puts Promethea down and looks over the buildings. They're still ruined - most are missing
roofs and some walls - but there's not a grain of sand on them.
...
Cobalt casts Spatial Map, getting the lay of the land.
The camp is partially collapsed - some tents and shacks have been deliberately toppled. The Dig team are
mounting a spirited defense, barricaded in by equipment and supply crates against the gunfire and spells
coming in from the enemy position nearby. The spells being cast are weak, mostly serving to keep the Pentacle
countering and prevent them from casting spells of their own. There aren't quite enough of them, though, so
Ashlar keeps Tempral Stuttering Myrmidons to buy them breathing room while Lamorack and Pandora return
fire. George is wounded when Cobalt takes a look, and Symmetry is healing him. Dervish is attacking a
Praetorian - a proper Mage, by his Nimbus - out int he dunes, while the second attack helicopter circles.
Sef, though, can only see the sand dome behind them.
"SAMAEL!" - Persephone
She makes it two steps back to the City before Magog grabs her with one arm around the waist and turns her
around.
"'Gog. I'll transmute Sand to Red Phosphoros to make a screen-line. You provide the spark" - Cobalt, grim
"Call this one Plan 17" - Magog
Yes, they really do have combos worked out ahead of time. They've gotten *serious* since Paris. And still Auric
Horizonly geeky
"Sef? Can you get mental contact with the ground? Tell them the Seers broke the Seal?" - Cobalt
"I can't see Symm... I can see Orchid!" - Persephone
Sef doesn't have Space 2. She *can* cast Telepathy, but only on people in sensory range
"That'll do" - Cobalt
They set off, carefully jogging in towards the action
"See if the helicopter spots us" - Cobalt
...
Back in the City, Promethea is starting to come around.
"WHat the hell happened?" - Promethea
Samael informs her.
"Our best bet is to find Cxaxa" - Promethea, clutching her head
Reassured by her seeming sanity, even if she seems awfully on edge, Samael heals her the rest of the way
while casting various Mage Sight spells, cycling through Arcana as he examines his situation.
The Life Resonance is all perverted. From Fate, he understands that several Contingent spells have just gone off
and that a confluence of events is underway. Forces shows that the air within the dome is completely still, and
Prime that the ley lines are now pulsing.
He wanders, picking his way between Flesh Trees, listening to their screams.
No one to date has understood the glossalia screamed by the Trees made of Flesh, but their groves are rare
and modern encounters limited. And none of the mages encountering them to date have been Sphinxes.
Samael reads the meaning out of their howls: Prayers to Cxaxa Querephas. Hymns to her Glory and
Supplications for her Mercy.
"Whatabitch" - Samael
They come across the Temple entrance, which has been opened - not by the rotorblade, either; someone has
come along and opened it fully.
"Let's take a look. What's the worst that could happen?" - Samael
As they approach, though, Samael smells cooking meat. Someone has also lit the Bull.
"Goddamnit!" - Samael
They creep towards the Bull, which is glowing red hot. Samael casts Control Flames to quench it enough to
open it.
The charred mess inside is the remains of the Seer Sef made run away.
"One of the others must have put him in it" - Promethea
"There's a limited number of 'others'" - Samael, his implication clear
"The one I was drowning isn't here - and he should be" - Promethea
"Question is - do we go into the Temple, potentially after Cxaxa, or do we try to break out of the City? If we
make for safety and she did do this so she could go inside, then we're letting her get ahead of us in the
Labyrinth, maybe all the way to the doom button" - Samael
Chris: The Horror Movie option is of course to go after her, which recommends it
"If we go in, are you with me?" - Samael
He peers at her
"Or are you about to snap?" - Samael
"I might be about to lose my lunch" - Promethea
"Good enough. In we go" - Samael
Dave2: You're entering the demesne of a creature formed of torture and fear. Don't tear your character sheet up now,
man, Dave has four hours left to make you regret it
And to the Temple they go.
...
Sef succeeds in making contact with Orchid.
-The City's been breached, and a lot of Seers are coming. We're on our way- - Persephone
-A Tree appeared in the middle of camp. I don't know where everyone is - I can't find Memento!- - Orchid
Cobalt and Magog cast their spells, and a line of burning, sparking fire whooshes into life between the camp
and the Myrmidon position, giving Pandora, Lamorak and Ashlar time to press their counterattack.
"Second order of business. That Helicopter. They can probably counter anything thrown at them, but let's see
how they do against a Ghost Gate" - Cobalt
"Can you do that?" - Magog
"No. Pandora can, if we can get the word to her. Alright. Let's win the ground war first" - Cobalt
They make it to camp, just in time to see Gabrielle Thunderbolt a Myrmidon. Cobalt briefly sees one of the
Seers - the guy who Teleported out the City, in fact - run towards the tent housing the injured. Pandora makes a
rugby tackle from his blindspot, pins him to the ground and - with an expression Cobalt hasn't seen on her and
hopes to never see again - rips his pattern apart with an Unmaking spell of Death.
Dave2: Agg Damage. Ouch.
Bullets pierce the air like hornets. George - rifle in hand - emerges from the wounded tent but gets shot again.
Ashlar takes a round in the shoulder, spins around and drops. Magog is swinging his Force-Pike around, caving
in skulls.
And that Helicopter is still approaching.
"Damnit..." - Cobalt
He tries what he tried before - Anhillating the rotor spindle. This time, though, it works. The helicopter plunges
to the ground, giving the Pentacle a morale boost as it goes up in flames.
Score one chopper for Cobalt
Dervish decapitates the Praetorian he was fighting, and makes his way toward Cobalt, Pattern Restoring
himself.
Magog drops the second to last Myrmidon, and advances, Cobalt and Dervish following, on the last.
"Surrender! You don't have to die!" - Cobalt
The Myrmidon pulls the pin from a grenade.
Cobalt casts Transmute Gold on the Grenade, which transforms instantly into a squeaky rubber penguin.
Magog punches the Seer out.
Cheap, but not as cheap as your mother.
Sadly, Grenade-to-Penguin was the best roll of the night, with ten successes. That was one Perfect Rubber Penguin,
man. The Platonic Ideal of a Penguin
"That transformation IS temporary" - Cobalt
Sef throws it away to a safe distance while the camp take stock. Symmetry drains the Mana battery dry healing
everyone.
And Pandora failed her Wisdom check for Unmaking the Praetorian
"Okay, people. They have at least one more helicopter and a tank" - Cobalt
"And a load of Sleepers. They basically have the local military" - Persephone
"We need to get everyone out, then" - Pandora
"Out or in? It looks like the City is open for business. And Samael and Cxaxa are still inside" - Cobalt
"Okay... Basic plan hasn't changed. We cannot allow the Seers to take whatever's in there. We open a portal to
fallback camp one: anyone not up for the City goes through it" - Pandora
"This stopped being a dig and turned into Last Crusade, kids" - Cobalt
Ebony shakily says that she's okay. Nico got shot but is now okay.
"Headcount" - Pandora
Memento is missing
"Where was she?" - Cobalt
"Orchid? What did you see?" - Persephone
"A flesh tree appeared here, next to Memento. Then I had to dive for cover" - Orchid, pointing
"There's no Tree there now, in Shadow or Twilight. And all the local spirits are heading for the Verge at the City"
- Symmetry
Cobalt casts Postcognition
"It grabbed her and vanished. Shit - I didn't know they could do that. No clue where it's going" - Cobalt
"I think we can guess" - Magog
"So when we go in, we're trying to find Samael, Promethea, Cxaxa and Memento. And whatever it was Cxaxa
was after" - Pandora
"And whatever Samael was after, because we can't hold this place. Gotta cleanse it and move on" - Cobalt
"Is anyone an Adept of the Space Arcanum?" - Pandora
"Cxaxa. Promethea. Memento... Are we spotting a theme?" - Ashlar
"They're taking our Mastigos. Whatever it is must be reaching out to..." - Pandora
"I'm a Mastigos" - George
"How long to make a Portal?" - Cobalt
"An hour?" - George
"Too long" - Cobalt
"I'm your best bet. I... Have an idea" - Ashlar
He casts Fairy Glade and vanishes from the time-stream
To get more time to ritual-cast Portal into a spell-trigger
"Good man. Okay. George - we need to get you out of here. Nico, you too. Orchid..." - Cobalt
"Hell, no. I'm staying" - Orchid
(nods approvingly) "Ashlar just voted himself onto the leaving list. Lamorak, Dervish, go with them in case the
Seers know where fallback camp is" - Cobalt
"I'm going in" - Pandora
"So am I" - Gabrielle
"Symm? Ebony?" - Cobalt
"They're my Cabal" - Ebony
"And you're mine" - Symmetry
"Magog?" - Cobalt
Magog is stood over the three (after they checked) living Myrmidons - Mr Rubber Penguin and two who were
downed but not quite killed.
"Course I'm coming. But what do we do about our prisoners? Myrmydons don't have a choice - they have to
obey the Praetorians. It's in their blood, so they'll either constantly be trying to escape or they'll keep trying to
kill themselves" - Magog
"That's fucked up" - Cobalt
"They were cursed by the Exarchs. They have to obey a language only Praetorians know" - Magog
"It's Mind conditioning? Can it be reversed?" - Persephone
"Cursed. By the. Exarchs" - Magog
"No" - Cobalt
"Two choices, then. Leave them behind or kill them" - Persephone
Under their hoods, the Myrmidons don't appear to be entirely human. And they smell, like vinegar.
"I suggest we take them with us" - Magog
"At the very least, the magic of the City will prevent leaving" - Cobalt
Persephone and Symmetry start seperating equipment into three piles - to be taken into the City, to be
disintegrated and to be Portaled.
Ashlar reappears
"Got a Portal on a trigger" - Ashlar, woozy
"Old man, you're leaving" - Cobalt
"I might argue with that" - Ashlar
"You're looking frayed around the edges, Ashlar..." - Cobalt
"I got patched up!" - Ashlar
"...And these kids need someone to look after them. They're still keeping an eye on us. There were three Pylons
- one left. The Panopticon" - Cobalt
"...Fine" - Ashlar
"We'll take pictures" - Cobalt
"We'll meet at the rendevous point" - Ashlar
They haul the uninjured Myrmidon to his feet, leaving the two wounded to their fates in the sand.
"On your feet" - Magog
...
A short hike later, the City-bound team make it to near the edge of the sand wall.
"So. I don't suppose you know anything about this evil City?" - Cobalt, to the Myrmidon
"Kill me now, Atlantean" - Myrmidon, in heavily-accented english.
"Ah... No" - Magog
They reach the crest of a sand dune and look upon the magical dome of sand.
"... ...Right. Does anyone have any ideas?" - Pandora
"Well, I was going to poke it with a stick" - Cobalt
"Best plan ever" - Magog
"Scientific" - Cobalt
Persephone shoots an arrow at it. The arrow shatters, and the pieces incorporated into the swirling mass
"So... No, then. What IS it, anyway? Magical?" - Persephone
"Use your Sights people, get me readings" - Cobalt
1.
What I've Done
Inside the Temple:
"Man, Ashlar would KILL to see this" - Samael
They carefully pick their way over the broken flagstones of the temple interior, trying to find the entrance to
the Labyrinth
"Do you know what happened in DC?" - Promethea
"Mycroft told us" - Samael
"The Ochemata that tried to kill us? It was an Exarch of Pandemonium. It could detect people using Scrying
Windows, Teleporting, Portals. And it didn't approve of them. The air around it was... thick... like it was difficult
to move. And it feels like that in here" - Promethea
Samael blinks. The Temple is full of corpses and flies.
He blinks again. It isn't.
From his Attainment, it is clear that the inhabitants of the City marched dozens of people in here and then
sealed the place up, leaving them to the Minotaur
"These people died. For what?" - Samael
They approach the sealed "plug" in the floor. Which has been opened.
"Someone's been this way. We can't let Seers come this way. We can't let Cxaxa come this way, if she's
regressing back to the madwoman who designed it. I'm going in: you don't have to follow me. I understand
what you went through in Washington" - Samael
Promethea steels herself, earning a nod of respect from Samael, and they descend.
It is pitch-black, for a second until Samael generates a brilliantly bright light with a spell.
The corridor they're in starts out normal, but after a few dozen yards the proportions begin to skew: the ceiling
and walls get further apart, and the floor buckles as though resisting straight angles. Aftr half a mile, it gets
really uneven.
"You getting anything? How far are we?" - Samael
"We're... Nowhere. Literally Nowhere. And it's reminding me of my Awakening" - Promethea
"We may not know where we are, but we know how fast we're going. Basic quantum mechanics, or so Cobalt
says" - Samael
His Attainment is not being helpful - the meaning of this place is 'Labyrinth'.
...
Outside, Death Sight has revealed the sandstorm-shield to be made entirely out of Flies to things in Twilight.
And in the Shadow, too.
"Can we gate through this?" - Cobalt
"We could try to open a portal through it" - Pandora
"Something tells me that's not going to work. I'm suprised it's preventing us from getting in" - Cobalt
Pandora opens a Ghost Gate, shifting everyone into Twilight
"How's this going to help?" - Persephone, dubious
"They're solid, and hopefully we're not. Plan B - poke it with a Twilit stick" - Cobalt
The stick goes in and comes back out intact
"Okay. My stupid plan. I'll go first" - Cobalt
He steps through the flies (which he feels crawling and buzzing around him, despite his metaphysical state)
into the City, then back again
"Okay. That works. Come on in" - Cobalt
Once through, Pandora opens a Gate to make them all material again with haste - the area is crawling with
Spirits, thanks to the verge, but only the Trees seem to have the ability to materialise. Everything else is in
Twilight.
"Where we heading?" - Pandora
"The temple's that way" - Magog, pointing
"Through the Trees. Step close and careful, everyone, and try not to step on a maggot-spirit" - Cobalt
After a while, they reach the helicopter crash site, from which the bodies of the Seers have now been removed.
There are scratch-marks like fingernails leading from the copter cockpit away for a few metres. The Seer that
was impaled has had the flesh removed from his limbs - they're just open skin flapping against bones.
The Myrmidon swears in some language. Magog pushes him into the Temple first
"There are a lot of Ghosts around" - Cobalt, warning
"I see them" - Pandora
They reach where the plug was.
"He went down" - Persephone
Cobalt shines his big heavy-duty flashlight down there, but can't see anything through the plug.
"Looks like a vertical shaft that opens out into some kind of chamber. Hand me a rope" - Cobalt
Why yes, dear reader, it *was* a staircase and a corridor when Samael and Promethea went through it. Now it's a
vertical shaft leading to a cavern. Go figure.
Some getting ready of equipment later, Cobalt rappels down, closely followed by Magog. Their breath steams in
the flashlights - it's cold
"Okay, this is weird" - Pandora
Her voice - all their voices - are echoey.
There are, in fact, walls - about thirty feet apart, though it's just darkness in either other direction. More of a
gallery than a tunnel.
...
Samael and Promethea are now having to crawl, the ceiling having decended that far. Just as he's about to get
frustrated, though, they emerge into a section they can stand up in, which is sloping down.
"Samael..." - Promethea
He turns to reply, and sees that behind them (where the crawlspace *was*) is now a balcony over a pitch-black
drop of uncertain depth.
"Well... The big clue is in the term 'Labyrinth'" - Samael
The slope, as they descend it, transitions into a staircase, each step some two feet high and ten across. There
is an exaggerated stone bannister.
...
Cobalt and the gang have made their first find. The passageway has opened out onto a large chamber with a
tunnel on either side of it. The floor at first looks odd, then like blood - then they realise that it's actually a pool.
Of blood.
There's a chain coming down from the unseen ceiling, big and thick, with links the size of Cobalt's head. It
appears to be holding a gibbet of some kind in the blood. A gibbet which, from the two boots sticking upside
down out of the liquid, is occupied.
"You getting this on camera?" - Cobalt
Orchid - who has the video camera - gives a thumbs-up
"I think we get the idea of the character of this place" - Cobalt
"As long as we don't split up, we'll be... Where's Gabrielle? And Magog?" - Pandora
There is a long silence
"We tie ourselves together" - Cobalt
There is another long silence
"Magog had the rope" - Orchid
...
"Samael, I really don't like this" - Promethea
They are passing through a corridor, studded by wooden doors marked with iron handles
"Sensing anything?" - Samael
"No, but I'm starting to get creeped out" - Promethea
"Starting? Only just now? Well, we have doors. And it's not like we can turn back now" - Samael
He picks one and random and hauls it open, stepping into a room.
"AAAH!" - Gabrielle, screaming in surprise
"Gabrielle?" - Samael
"...Okay. This place is weird" - Gabrielle
"You made it in" - Samael, checking that she has Mana in her pattern
"Er.. Ebony, Pandora, Cobalt, Persephone, Orchid, Magog. We came in to look for you while the others 'ported to
marrakesh" - Gabrielle
"Did we lose anyone?" - Samael
"No - some injuries, though. We captured a proximus - the others have him" - Gabrielle
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I was following them - I turned a corner, and... I've been through a through rooms, but..." (waves
at the very solid back wall of the room) "There's no way back to them" - Gabrielle
"Gabi. We know that we're not in an entirely physical reality. This is a place of Space and Mind wrought by
Pandemonium into a Labyrinth. It's not going to follow a map, and your sense of direction means nothing. You
can't rely on them at all" - Samael
"At least I found you guys" - Gabrielle
"That's true, and hopefully you'll stay with us. What we need to find is some method of navigating this place
and getting a result, but I'm not sure how the rite of passage would have played out here - what route you'd
have had to take, and what role the Minotaur played" - Samael
At which point, they hear the Minotaur roaring it's metallic roar.
Samael holds his hand up for silence, listening to the Minotaur breath.
Gabrielle's eyebrows shoot up. Promethea steels herself.
The door opens by itself, showing a stretch of corridor with another door opposite, which itself opens to reveal a
room with *another door* in a direct line, which opens and so on - dozens of doors, banging open. At about the
tenth door, there's a man - the Seer Promethea was drowning, now slick head-to-toe in blood.
More doors open. Beyond the Seer, on a direct line to both him and Samael/Promethea/Gabrielle, is the
Minotaur
"Over here!" - Samael
The Minotaur looks like skinless human flesh and muscle, wound together like the flesh trees into a towering,
heavyset humanoid form, topped with an iron metal helmet shaped roughly like a bull's head, horns and all.
Heat radiates from the head, steam coming from the nostrils.
The door right next to Samael slams shut. He kicks it open again...
,.. To reveal an entirely different corridor. No Seer. No Minotaur.
"We need a Moros" - Samael
...
Team Cobalt has moved on, holding hands in a line to try to prevent further losses. Sef is troubled - she can't
concentrate on what her Astral self is doing in Mictlan. SHe justs gets a feeling of static, like she's about to
faint, when she tries.
She's trying to concentrate on useful things
"If we haven't got the expertise in Space, could we try Mind?" - Persephone
"What do you have in mind? It IS the Ruling Arcanum" - Cobalt
She casts a Knowing spell... The Labyrinth is psychoactive. It's echoing and amplifying fear. There's a lot of
bleedthrough - hallucinations, that sort of thing.
Under Cobalt's Matter sight, however, there's nothing. Only the equipment and clothing they brought with us.
"Yeah" - Cobalt
The next time they turn a corner, he tries to see if he can see through it with Matter sight - but no. They may
not exist, but the walls still block line of sight.
"Which of course means that we haven't just turned a corner. Well, we have, but only insofar as our progress
has been jinked by ninety degrees, not that degrees mean much here. In one way, this place is just one long
corridor, when you get down to it, but the spatial warping going on forms the illusion of a maze..." - Cobalt,
musing out loud
"Cobalt... Where's Sef?" - Orchid
"She was NEXT in line!" - Cobalt
...
Persephone is holding onto D!Kosciej's hand
"What are you doing here!?" - Persephone
"What are YOU doing here!?" - D!Kosciej
"I didn't call you" - Persephone
"Oh, hell. There's no place like home. There's no place like home..." - D!Kosciej
"Care to Explain?" - Persephone
"I... Don't think I can. This is.. This is beyond me, Catherine. Perhaps the nature of the place has brought me
out" - D!Kosciej
"You were a Mastigos" - Persephone
He shrugs, helplessly
"Not a very good one" - D!Kosciej
...
Team Samael:
"Hang on. I think I recognise this section of corridor" - Memento
Samael straightens his back, stiff
"And where the hell did YOU come from?" (turns around) "And where did Gabrielle and Promethea go?" Samael
"They were here?" - Memento
"Did you come in with the others?" - Samael
"Okay. Wait up. I was in a tent. There was an explosion, and something grabbed me..." - Memento
"And now you're in a lovely Labyrinth with us" - Samael
"Don't you recognise it, though?" - Memento
"Recognise what?" - Samael
"The wall carvings - these friezes" - Memento
There are indeed friezes
"Would it help if I said there was a death-scarab trap up ahead?" - Memento
"Oh, hells. We're not in the Amazon, though - we're in the Labyrinth. Promethea says we're Nowhere. Care to
corroborate?" - Samael
"It would fit. This feels like Pandemonium" - Memento
"We're being toyed with" (disgusted) "I wonder what purpose it originally served" - Samael
"I think it's gone well out of control" - Memento
"That was my conclusion as well. Well, let's go see what the Scarabs have to say, shall we?" - Samael
...
Sef and Kosciej have sat down, not going anywhere. Sef is trying to think her way through an idea: if this place
is reacting to her fears, can she use mind magic to quell or adapt them to what she wants?
So, minor experimentation.
Also: She can't see anything. She has no flashlight, and lacks the forces to make a substitute.
...
Team Cobalt has found a very wide (twenty feet across) staircase. Each step, like the one Samael found earlier,
is over-large, like a giant's exaggerated idea of a staircase, all made of jet-black stone.
Behind them, in the distance, Cobalt spots a light source, flickering and red.
Flames.
And outlined, backlit by the flames, the Minotaur.
The Minotaur charges.
Cobalt tries to clutch at the non-Matter of the walls with the power of Stygia. He knows they're not strictly real,
but they're metaphorically real. And metaphor is more important than science in magic under certain
circumstances.
Something slides shut, and the Minotaur's roar is diminished.
"Bad Imp" - Cobalt
"No Soul Stone" - Orchid
"You know what's going to happen, don't you? We're going to have to get to the centre, find whatever's
powering the Demesne then wreck it. Reality hasn't held sway here for a long time." - Cobalt
...
Sef jumps as a trapdoor opens barely ten inches above her head. She didn't know she was in such a small
space.
"Who's down there?" - Cxaxa, harshly
"It's me, Sef!" - Persephone
"And me!" - D!Kosciej
"Shut up" - Persephone
"Shutting up now" - D!Kosciej
They climb out into a room covered in hatches. Cxaxa - more than a little dishevelled and wild-faced, is
hurriedly opening hatches at random. The light is being cast by a ball of glowing energy that orbits Cxaxa,
casting odd shadows around.
"What are you looking for?" - Persephone
"A way further in. We have to reach the Sanctum at the centre" - Cxaxa
"What's there?" - Persephone
"The Demesne. We need my Altar; all of this is going on because this Demon is uncontrolled. If we get to the
Demesne, I can summon and bind it to gain control of the Labyrinth"
"Can't you send it back to Pandemonium?" - Persephone
Cxaxa stops, and turns, staring at Sef with her blind, stone eyes for a fraction of a second too long
"Why?" - Cxaxa, uncomprehending
Sef shrinks a little under Cxaxa's stony gaze
"Why would you want to keep it?" - Persephone
Cxaxa returns to opening trapdoors
"Because it had a purpose which it has long since escaped. It could serve that purpose again, and be useful in
time" - Cxaxa
Ag: oh-kaay
Chris: It's crazy time!
Ag: Nod and smile. Nod and smile.
Cxaxa appears to find the hatch she was looking for
"Stay here with your imaginary friend if you prefer. I'm going *this* way" - Cxaxa
She climbs through, closing the hatch after her. Sef considers for a second, shrugs to Kosciej in the darkness
and opens the hatch again.
...
Samael hears Duma disintegrating in teh distance, screaming as he's reduced to Mana. He winces, even
knowing that Duma didn't scream in real life. It's not an authentic memory.
A hatch opens in the wall next to him, and Persephone begins to clamber out
"Sef!?" - Samael
The hatch slams shut behind her
"Anyone with you?" - Samael
She looks behind for for Kosiej. Then in her own mind
"I'm... I'm going to go stark raving mad" - Persephone
...
"Excuse me, chief? Has anyone seen my Acanthus?" - D!Kosciej
Cobalt pauses in leading his team across the Black Staircase.
"You know, if you're seperated out here there's a chance I could shoot you and get away with it. I take it you've
manifested not of your own volition?" - Cobalt
"I'm afraid so. We do, however, wish to report success: We have successfully located Cxaxa" - D!Kosciej,
proudly
"Excellent. You've lost her, though?" - Cobalt
"...Yes. Last I saw her, she was announcing her intention to find her way to the Demesne at the centre of this
maze before summoning the Minotaur-Demon that's hunting us all and trapping us in this whateverthisis, in
order to bind it and get control of the Labyrinth" - D!Kosciej
"Logical. If it's controlling the maze, and out of control because old Cxaxa is dead... There's noone to let the
pilgrims through after they've been scared enough" - Cobalt
He considers
"I approve right up to the point where she has control and we have no idea what she'll do with it" - Cobalt
"Well... I can..." - D!Kosciej
The Daimon screws his eyes shut, and then slumps his shoulders.
"Still no magic on the outside" - D!Kosciej
...
Sef has explained to Samael and Memento about her encounter with Cxaxa, after first hugging Samael. They
have an advantage over Cobalt's group: Memento is a powerful enoguh Mastigos to summon a Demon.
"How quickly can you summon things?" - Samael
"Hours" - Memento
"Damn. And it's a Pandemonic Demense, so we can't throw choirs of Angels at it" - Samael
Sadly not, no. Thought I know suspect I know what Samael's plan will be next time he's facing a foe near an Aether
Demesne.
Oh, yeah. We haven't had an Aether Demesne in the Chronicle. In fact, I don't think we ever will.
"The Labyrinth is reacting to our fears. I'm suppressing mine" - Persephone
"Any luck?" - Samael
"I found you guys" - Persephone
...
"All right, little K. What does your Mastigos master's memory tell you about this sort of stuff?" - Cobalt
"Well... Uh.. I, er... This stuff, as you call it, is a full-blown incursion. The Demesne has completely slipped its...
Oh, I don't know. Haven't a clue. If I were to guess, I would say that Querephas summoned an exceptionally
powerful Demon which has used a Numen on all of us; by willingly entering it's lair, we've allowed it to run us
through its maze. That would be my theory based on available evidence" - D!Kosciej
"That's actually quite a reasonable explanation. Thanks!" - Cobalt
"Kosciej only ever summoned one Wraith before I left him, and he considered it something of a disappointing
experience" - D!Kosciej
"He's spent a lot of time in the Underworld since then" - Cobalt
"There is that. Mostly, his opinion was that he had already mastered and escaped Pandemonium once, and saw
no reason to repeat the process" - D!Kosciej
"Quite. Don't want to turn Hell into the ethnic quarter" - Cobalt
"I've heard tale of such things, obviously. I've heard tell of Fairy Trods, places where Arcadia bleeds through into
the world and forms a near-dimensional maze of thorns. I don't believe they exist, though" - D!Kosciej
Take THAT, Changeling cosmology!
"Or the way the Underworld is made entirely of psychoactive tunnels?" - Cobalt
"Or that, yes" - D!Kosciej
And THAT, Geist!
"You've noticed that we've been walking further than the City extends?" - D!Kosciej
"We haven't been walking anywhere" - Cobalt
"That too" - D!Kosciej
"A Mastigos would tell you we were 'Nowhere'. I would tell you the only thing real around us are the things we
brought in. Present company excepted" - Cobalt
"Tell that to the Minotaur" - D!Kosciej
"I did. And I've no doubt I'll tell him again - I don't doubt his presence, it's just that he's not made of matter" Cobalt
Actually, as an Imp, he IS material. Kind of. He's made of Space.
"So. We have options of direction: There is forward. There is backward, which is just another way of going
forward if you get down to it; we're on a journey and directions don't really count from what I can put together.
Which means we may as well go..." - Cobalt
He casts Disintegrate, blasting a hole in the wall
"...That way. Fuck this Labyrinth shit" - Cobalt
The hole he's made has neatly uncovered a crawl-tunnel leading away from them (Cobalt notes without humor
how it perfectly aligns to the random property destruction he committed), the walls changing from the usual
jet-black to being shot through with red veins.
"We're still going forwards, but we're going forwards our way" - Cobalt
Team Cobalt line up to crawl through.
"Hello!" - D!Kosciej to Orchid, cheerfully
"Orchid! Sorry - Orchid, everyone, Meet Kosciej. The Daimon Kosciej, who normally lives in Sef's head. He's the
sense of humor" - Cobalt
...
Team Samael has been making some progress. They've found a window set into a wall - on the other side of the
thick pane of glass is the Myrmidon Cobalt and company brought into the Labyrinth with them.
The Proximus taps at the glass
"Can you hear us?" - Samael
"I can, Atlantean, but I cannot get to you. There is something... There are walls all around me. I can only go up"
- Myrmidon
"You can only go up? I don't think I can break the wall" - Samael
"Then it seems we cannot reach each other" - Myrmidon
"Good luck to you, Myrmidon" - Samael
"And to you, Atlantean" - Myrmidon
Dave2: He's taking it quite well considering we forced him in here at knifepoint
Chris: He knows we're as fucked as he is
Then they feel very hot breath on their necks. Sef, Samael and Memento turn around - quickly - to find the
Minotaur less than a metre away from them.
Samael, startled, swings his sword as hard as he can at the monster. Sef and Memento throw Unravelling spells
at it. The sword blade bites deep into the twisted-together flesh of the Demon, but it punches him back with a
mighty fist, knocking Samael nearly off his feet.
Memento runs for it.
Samael, recovering, makes an overhead swing that would destroy a normal being.
A combination of 8-again and the spell that makes a physical action rote. 21 Lethal
The Minotaur's blood spurts into his eyes. When Samael blinks, the Minotaur has vanished.
As have Memento and Persephone.
...
The lights go out. Then come back up again. Memento, Persephone and Magog are stood in a corridor. Sef looks
around and spots the Minotaur (trailing a slick of gore behind it) limping away from them
"Where do you think *You're* going?" - Persephone
She gives chase, but when she rounds a corner she comes face-to-face with Cobalt and his team
"Good to have you back. Don't do that again, but anything happen?" - Cobalt
"We ran into Samael and the Minotaur. He smacked it good. We've lost Sam again, and the Minotaur as well,
but we've found you!" - Persephone
"Okay. Head count. Other than Samael, we're missing" (waves a finger over the group) "Cxaxa, Promethea and
the Myrmidon" - Cobalt
"I lost the Myrmidon" - Magog
"We found him climbing up the inside of a wellshaft or something. If Up means anything around here" Persephone
"Let's keep going. Pick a direction" - Cobalt
...
Samael is climbing up stairs. It's getting colder - the temperature has been fluctuating for about an hour. The
walls begin to sport torches, and he finally pushes open an iron grate trapdoor and climbs up into a domed
chamber that his magical senses tell him is a Demesne.
The stonework is ancient - not the odd feeling of timelessness of the Labyrinth below, which tells him he's
made it through to the palace in the ruined City. The walls sport flaking painted figures of Minotaurs and a
woman - always the same woman - wearing a poncho-like robe that's covered in twisting, whorled lines.
There's a fat, wide stone altar which raises on both ends like a divan. Laid out on it like a butchered animal is
the Myrmidon, whose chest has been neatly cut open. Stood on the far side, weilding a wicked obsidian knife, is
Cxaxa.
Blood - the Minotaur's blood - drips from Samael's sword
"Good you made it. Close the gate; we need you" - Cxaxa
Samael drops the gate shut with a thump as Cxaxa cuts inside the Myrmidon
"We've achieved the first stage of completing the binding" - Cxaxa
"For what purpose?" - Samael
"To appease the creature" - Cxaxa
"What about the others?" - Samael, glancing at the grate
"They will be fine as soon as we appease it" - Cxaxa
"Can't we just take the Soul Stone out of the Demesne and depower it?" - Samael
"There is no Soul Stone" - Cxaxa
He takes a moment to process that
"Then what the hell's generating the Demesne?" - Samael
She shrugs
"The Demon was summoned a long time ago. In exchange for it's control over lesser demons of Pandemonium,
and its ability to control the passage of the human soul, it was paid - paid dearly. But the payment has recently
been stolen from it" - Cxaxa
"Do you know what the payment was?" - Samael
"Yes" - Cxaxa, calmly
"What was it?" - Samael
"The heart of the person who summoned it" - Cxaxa
Dave2: Damn you Rafe! It's all Rafe's fault!
The glass heart filled with demon flies, which contained the soul of Querephas? Yeah
"So what now?" - Samael
"Preparation" - Cxaxa
She pulls out the Myrmidon's liver and casually throws it over her shoulder
"For what?" - Samael
"We need to make a summoning circle from the blood of the servants of the Enemy" - Cxaxa
"And?" - Samael
"And then we need to summon the demon" - Cxaxa
"Can we destroy it?" - Samael, businesslike
"It has no way home until it has completed the task it was bound to" - Cxaxa
"We need to find it a way home, then" - Samael
"Which we can do" - Cxaxa
"Let's take the path that gets the others out of that Labyrinth as soon as possible" - Samael
"If that's what you care about" - Cxaxa
"Care or not, it has to be done. Even if it involves going back in and hunting the beast down. Do what you need
to do" - Samael
"I..." - Cxaxa
And now Samael realises, with her hesitation, that this isn't Querephas talking. This is Cxaxa. She's trying to
control herself, to seem as unflappable as her ancestor or even as Promethea.
"... I will need assistance" - Cxaxa, quietly
"What do you need?" - Samael
"The... And I am sorry about this" - Cxaxa
She takes her glasses off
"We didn't think you would follow us, and we lost track of the Seer we brought in" - Cxaxa
"Assumptions in this situation could bring tragedy" - Samael, accusingly
"We brought the Seer inside because we thought they would have no compunctions. We were going to play on
their sense of superiority and tearfully confess the means to seal the Labyrinth" - Cxaxa
"The one Promethea tried to drown? The Minotaur got him" - Samael
She doesn't say anything
"The problem with these ancient death traps made by the power-mad is that they tend to get out of control" Samael
"Agreed. This creature needs to be banished" - Cxaxa
"Yes, it does" - Samael
He isn't realising what she's saying
"Right then. First we need to summon it, which means making this place as much like Pandemonium as we can.
Not hard, but it will involve a certain amount of suffering. And then once it arrives we need to pay it" - Cxaxa
"And the payment?" - Samael, looking at the corpse
"This one? No - he was just a loose end, and a good source of blood for the circle. The payment will be the
same as always" - Cxaxa
"...The heart of the summoner" - Samael
She puts the knife down on the altar between them, handle aimed toward Samael
They stare at one another
Cxaxa knew, back in Paris, what this expedition would entail. She's been cagey about it the whole time not because
she's gone power-mad, or because she's turning into her ancestor, but because she knows that the Seers were racing
toward stumbling on the Minotaur, and the only way to stop it would be for her to be the human sacrifice.
It just sucks for Samael that he's the one that has to kill her.
1.
What I've Done
Team Cobalt have made it into a large chamber "decorated" with several iron cages hanging from the ceiling.
As they enter, Promethea calls out from inside one of them.
"Promethea? You alive? You All right? Liberal Definition?" - Cobalt
"Are you all down there?" - Promethea, calling down
"Nearly! We're missing Cxaxa and Samael!" - Cobalt
"Cxaxa's probably trying to make herself... Cxaxa" - Promethea
"Shock me. How are you? Last I saw you you'd freaked out in the fight upstairs" - Cobalt
"I saw the Minotaur pass through about ten minutes ago" - Promethea, not answering the question
"How'd it look?" - Magog
"Pretty bad. Limping" - Promethea
"Let's get her out and stop yelling" - Persephone
"Magog. Can you get that rope up to her?" - Cobalt
He and Pandora Disintegrate a wall of the cage. Promethea climbs down and explains what's going on.
"The Minotaur was the demon the original Cxaxa summoned to split herself into the artifacts"
"Of course. Pandemonium. To restore her mind, you'd need a Demon to keep hold of it. So that thing has...
Cxaxa?" - Cobalt
"That cloud of Flies outside has Cxaxa - the other Cxaxa - spread out among them. Our Cxaxa wants to find the
Minotaur to make her a new Glass Heart to house them"
"Right. If we beat it with sticks will it return to Pandemonium?" - Cobalt
"It didn't attack me when it came through. It attacked me the time I ran into it before that, when it shoved me
in that cage. We'd probably just drive it into submission and then not see it until we starved to death" Promethea
"So we're stuck waiting for her to summon it anyway" - Cobalt
"And then stop her before she goes through with it?" - Persephone
"What makes you think Samael can't?" - Cobalt
Persephone gives him a dubious look.
"Okay... What makes us more able to stop her?" - Cobalt
"We have intelligence" - D!Kosciej
"I hope you're not implying he'd be dumb enough to help her go through with this" - Cobalt
If there's one thing at which Dave2 excels, it's ending scenes with pithy lines that are in character, but have additional
meaning for the 'viewers'
...
Up in the temple, Samael stares at the knife. He glances up, to find that Cxaxa is sat on the edge of the altar,
unlacing her boots.
"The demon requires a heart. So we're going to have to give it one" - Cxaxa
Chris: The Minotaur's made of Mana, right?
Me: I wouldn't advise eating it
Cxaxa takes off her trousers
"Plus, I know where what you're after is" - Cxaxa
"So what you're saying is... I should cut out your heart so you can *then* tell me where what I seek is? There's
one small flaw in this plan" - Samael
"You're not thinking this quite through, Sphinx. I do not believe I'm going to die here. Pandemonium is about not
showing fear" - Cxaxa
"It's entirely possible that thousands of years ago a post-Atlantean sorceress-queen *did* manage to summon a
demon with her own sacrifice and exchanged one heart for another. You are not a sorceress-queen, and we are
not thousands of years ago. This is not the same situation" - Samael
"We will not suffer your insolence for much longer, Obrimos" - Cxaxa, in a completely different voice
Samael's Attainment picks up the difference. *Now* she's Querephas. Sort of.
"Seems to me you're wasting your time, prancing around with Demons" - Samael
Cxaxa undoes her top and gets up off the altar, walking carefully around it toward him
"We will be an excellent ally when we are returned" - Cxaxa
"We've heard a lot of that in Europe lately" - Samael
"You have my word" - Cxaxa
"What's that worth?" - Samael
"I swear it on the Watchtower" - Cxaxa
She pulls her remaining underwear off. Her expression, without the glasses to hide her stone eyes, is the very
opposite of sexually inviting.
"I swear it on the Watchtower. If you do this thing I will grant you the treasure you seek, close the Labyrinth and
return your friends to you unharmed" - Cxaxa
"And I'll have unleashed an ancient sorcereress-queen on the world. Great" - Samael
They circle one another around the altar. Samael has the knife
"Perhaps you're not seeing things from my perspective, here. I mean, you haven't known me very long. You
might just not 'get' me, but I'm not seeing this one as the best of deals" - Samael
"I've had this speech from better mages than you" - Cxaxa
"Maybe you should have listened to them, then" - Samael
"Would you rather the beast ran free?" - Cxaxa
"Is this really the only way to deal with it?" - Samael
"Yes. I requires a heart to leave. It just so happens that a heart will also complete the purpose for which it was
summoned" - Cxaxa
Samael wracks his brains, trying to think of another way
"So wait - you need someone else to cut your own heart out?" - Samael
"I... Can do without. But there is potential for error" - Cxaxa
She can (see Broken Diamond) just rip her own out of her chest given sufficient willpower and motivation, but she's
afraid to. She thinks it will be easier on herself if someone weilds the knife.
"There's a lot of potential for error in this" - Samael
"Then understand that if you don't help you won't leave here alive. Or go back through that trapdoor and I'll do
it myself. But then I will not be so inclined to help you" - Cxaxa
"You made *such* a good job of it last time, didn't you? Do you really want to bind yourself back into this
cycle?" - Samael
"It is not... It is not that simple. There is a piece of me missing. It is here, and I have the opportunity to take it" Cxaxa
Samael rages against the lock of his options.
"What are you going to do after this?" - Samael
She shrugs
"I need more than a shrug" - Samael
"Power. Magic. The Higher Realms. War against the Exarchs" - Cxaxa
Agena: You know, the usual
"All right. It doesn't look like I have a lot of options. Amanda - if you're in there? I'm sorry. Cxaxa? If you cross
me? I'll kill you" - Samael
He paces back and forth.
The people he cares about are in the Labyrinth. He doesn't know what's going on down there. There are no
more Mastigos present to summon it and find a different means of banishment
Cxaxa - trembling - clears the Myrmidon's remains off the altar before climbing onto it and lying down
...
The Expedition is hurrying through the Labyrinth, taking corners and stairs at random based on Cobalt's theory
that the direction of travel makes not so much difference as the intent.
And they keep running into the Minotaur.
First, it's slumped against a wall, as though catching its breath. When Sef shoots it, it moves to being beind
them. They harrass it, it vanishes arond corners and into shadows before reappearing and giving them another
shot. As they fight, the Minotaur becomes visibly less injured, as though it was play-acting all along. It sends
Magog flying, then kicks Cobalt...
...right off a cliff that wasn't there before.
A sweep of the Minotaur's great, rusted iron knife sends most of the expedition tumbling over the edge. Last
over are Sef and Magog - Sef trying to get one last hit in before Magog rugby-tackles her off the cliff edge.
As they fall, they land on a slick slope and begin to slide. They drop down a shaft, and land in a very
uncomfortable pile.
.
"I'm king of the hill!" - D!Kosciej
1.
What I've Done
The pile of mages begin to disentangle themselves
"Magog, that's your elbow" - Persephone
"Sorry" - Magog
"Er - Jefe? Boss? Chief?" - D!Kosciej
"What?" - Persephoone
"Sorry, not you. I was talking to Cobalt" - D!Kosciej
Snerk. This casual putdown hurt Sef more than anything else - and D!Kosicej didn't even mean it as a barb. He
honestly was talking to Cobalt.
That the Daimon openly acknowledges what the rest of the Cabal are still, at this stage, dancing around - that Cobalt is
the 'party leader' - is one of those things.
"What is it?" - Cobalt
"I don't think we're going to be able to climb up this one?" - D!Kosciej
"It's closed the roof?" - Cobalt
"No. It's stretched the climb" - D!Kosciej
"Look around. There aren't any doors. No hatches or windows. What's that word?" - Cobalt, snapping fingers
"Disintegrate?" - Persephone
"Working on it. The other word?" - CObalt
"Oubliette" - Gabrielle
"That's the one. Guess it got tired of fighting. You know that thing they tell you about bullies in school that's
never true? They don't like people standing up to them because they're all big fraidy cats" - Cobalt
He begins casting Disintegrate again and again at the walls, backed up by Pandora.
"Let's see where this takes us. We're deviating from the network, but that doesn't matter. The further we go
from its assigned grid coordinates, the more we piss it off. We're also stretching its imagination. I don't know
the theory, but it has to keep us in its mind, somehow within its perception. We're tiring it, and eventually it'll
slip up and we'll get out of here" - Cobalt
"Excellent pep-talk. I give it point seven of an Agincourt" - D!Kosciej
Cobalt considers
"Not bad" - Cobalt
...
Back in the Demesne chamber:
"How does this work? You summon it, I cut out your heart, then what?" - Samael
"Give it to the demon. Then stand well back" - Cxaxa
"What if this goes wrong? If you're just plain dead?" - Samael
"Then I don't really care" - Cxaxa
He's still trying to think this through. The symbolism is basically correct. He's fuzzy around the specifics.
"...All right. Prepare yourself, then get summoning" - Samael
...
The expedition is making excellent time, now, boring through solid jet-black rock. Pandora and Cobalt are
taking turns, enjoying the lack of Paradox. D!Kosicej has picked up a miner's hat from somewhere.
"Kosciej - if you start playing hold music I'm going to beat you. Disadvantage of you being corporeal here is that
I can beat you. We *are* waiting for the Minotaur to act, but we are not in an elevator. No hold music. I will not
hear Wagner. I will not hear Greensleeves" - Cobalt
"...So noted" - D!Kosciej
"It's an honor working with you" - Cobalt, straight-faced
...
Cxaxa casts something, which Samael takes as his cue to get up from his position resting against a wall.
"It's on it's way" - Cxaxa
"Do you want any anesthetic or anything? I could magic something up for you" - Samael
She hesitates, then shakes her head. His Attainment reads how frightened she is. He's not exactly happy,
either.
"You know, Amanda, I'm not too keen on slicing and dicing, so if there's anything I can do to make it easier..." Samael
"That's the *point*, you idiot. Stop prolonging it and get on with it" - Cxaxa
"If I die here, Kosciej will never let me hear the end of it. All right - I can't imagine there have been too many
Mystagogues engaging in this kind of ritual... Enjoy" - Samael
The witty banter makes it seem harsh, but it's Samael's way of coping with committing a pretty major Wisdom sin
Chris: What's the best way to go about cutting someone's heart out, anyway?
Dave2: Break the ribs and remove the Sternum, I guess
Chris: Thanks, man. Really.
Steeling himself, Samael pushes the knife in. Cxaxa tries to scream, but he's accidentally hit her lung.
This is not a clean sacrifice. There is a lot of mess as Samael saws through connective tissue and breaks ribs to
get at the heart, but eventually he has it lying still in his hand.
He turns around, to find the Minotaur watching him
"You want this!? Well, *I* want you to release..." - Samael, furious
The Minotaur clenches its' fist, and the heart catches fire in Samael's hand.
"SHIT!" - Samael
He drops it. The Minotaur walks past him - or rather, through him but Samael gets out of the way. As he turns,
Samael realises that the room now has an exit - the Demesne is open to the air on one side, a columned gap
overlooking the City from one of the Palace's upper levels.
The Minotaur clenches its fist again, and then it is holding a glass heart. There's a rushing, buzzing sound from
outside as the sand dome turns back into flies and begins swarming, rushing into the glass heart.
Amanda's heart burns on the floor, spreading a puddle of fat and blood beneath it.
Once there are no more flies, the Minotaur inserts the glass heart into the corpse's chest... And keeps going.
Arm first, then torso, head and the other arm, the Minotaur climbs into Cxaxa's body like a grotesque reversebirth. Finally, the last hoof/foot vanishes into the messy wound Samael made, which closes neatly.
Cxaxa Querephas draws a ragged breath, then sits bolt upright.
...
Cobalt casts Disintegrate one last time - but this time, he feels the Paradox.
And they feel sunlight on their faces.
"We're still missing two" - Cobalt, squinting
They've emerged halfway through the City, out from one of the buildings. WHen they look back inside, there's
just the ancient stonework of the interior. No Labyrinth.
"Where did the dome go?" - Persephone
No one has an answer
"It's about eleven in the morning, I thinK" - Pandora
...
Cxaxa Querephas slides to her feet. Samael kicks her clothes over to her, but she ignores them in favour of
pushing the top slab off the altar to reveal the space inside.
It appears to be full of Artifacts. Querephas carefully selects a few rings and a necklace, putting them on. She
finally lifts out yet another heart - this one made of the same crystal as the Amazonian Skull.
She turns and hands it to him
"And my friends?" - Samael
"Safe and well, out in the City. Which the sands will soon destroy. We will return in three days. Anything still
here, we will level" - Querephas
He nods
"If you go to war against the Kings of the World, Little Wing, We can give you some advice" - Querephas
"What advice?" - Samael
"Hide, at first. Build your strength, then strike from surprise" - Querephas
He seems dubious
"We can show you how to hide" - Querephas
"What would that entail?" - Samael
"A spell. Carefully tuned. We learned it from one of their artifacts. Now long destroyed, but we can teach you
the spell. And an Obrimos should be able to master it" - Querephas
"I won't turn down the offer" - Samael
"Very well. Through that way" (points) "Is a tablet of gold. The runes on it will teach you the spell. While you
have this work active, neither the Exarchs nor their servants will be able to sense you. You will be... Off their
radar" - Querephas
"Thank you for that. And for this shard of the Celestial Ladder" - Samael
"The rest of these toys you may have. We do not need them" - Querephas
She Teleports
1.
What I've Done
Later:
"Samael!" - Persephone
"How are you? And why are you covered in blood?" - Cobalt
"Cxaxa didn't leave me the option. SHe's gone, and left me some trinkets" - Samael
"Did you get what we came for?" - Magog
Samael pats his bag
There is the sound of an explosion on the horizon
"We need to go" - Samael
"But loot first? It is the business of your order" - Cobalt
"The business of my order is knowledge. I gained some here - though not happily" - Samael
"Querephas is on the loose?" - Cobalt
"Yes. And I may need to kill her" - Samael
"What is it with you and ancient women?" - Cobalt
Everyone looks at Pandora
"Enlighten me. What is it about Samael and 'ancient' women?" - Pandora
"Well, he got the private invitation to the Archmage's sanctum..." - CObalt
Samael is putting items into bags and handing them out
"That explosion didn't sound like a tank, guys" - Magog
"Spot anything?" - Samael
"'What do your elf-eyes see, Legolas?' No - I can't see anything out there. But it didn't sound like a tank" Magog
"Do you know what a tank sounds like?" - Samael
"We do. Is it worth taking a look? Who's our Mastigos for the exit?" - Cobalt
Memento shakily raises her hand. Orchid is charging around recording everything - Samael is trying to keep her
from getting closeups of the gore.
Ebony and Promethea are very quiet, whispering between themselves.
Cobalt climbs out to the edge of the Palace and takes a look in his binoculars before climbing back.
"Querephas is killing the last Seer Pylon" - Cobalt
"For someone that just told me to steer clear of the Exarchs, she has a funny way of going about it" - Samael
Memento finishes casting Portal
"Okay. We're going. Promethea - Ebony. You first." - Cobalt
Just in case
"Come ON, everyone" - Cobalt
He hustles people through the Portal. One of the last is Magog, who steps on something.
"What's this?" - Magog
The ex-Seer bends down and prods at the now-unrecognisable lump of cooked meat on the floor. He pushes it
apart with a finger to reveal a large ruby
"Good eyes" - Cobalt
Magog pockets the gem and steps through, followed by a very withdrawn Symmetry
Only Cobalt, Persephone, Pandora and Samael remain
"Guys?" - Cobalt
Pandora looks out over the lost City
"Well, at least the City wasn't destroyed" - Pandora
"Actually, it will be. But don't worry. There wasn't anything worth saving" - Samael
Persephone and Cobalt head through.
"Bloody Seers" - Cobalt
...
The next few days are filled with leaving. One by one, the expedition disperse through Portals and
Teleportations. Most vowing to never speak of this again. Samael, though, is speaking as loud and often as he
can, warning Athenia and Silver Ladder Caucuses he has contacts with about Querephas' ressurrection.
The recordings of the Labyrinth, when played back, amount to precisely 13.64 seconds of static. At the forth
second mark, a faint sound of a bull can be heard.
Two Shards down. One to go.
And only Pandora took Wisdom loss! Despite all the human sacrifice and mass battles!
Sef is quiet. She doesn't want to talk about - or think about - what happened. And what Samael did. D!Kosciej is
safely back in her head.
In Mictlan, there is a huge cheer, and fireworks go up from Kosciej's tower
-What's going on?- Persephone
-No idea. Something bad- - Hades
The day after, Cobalt recieves a message from Cobra - "check your mail".
The Glorious Revolutionary Council of the Nameless, acting in concert with Allied Cabals, have struck deep into
the heart of Perfidy and dealt a devestating blow to the enemies of progress.
Cambridge has fallen.
Kosciej has captured Solemn.
"... ... ...SEF!" - Cobalt
"I don't want to know" - Persephone
"But..." - Cobalt
"I don't. Want. To. Know" - Persephone
"Merry christmas, everyone" - Magog
And on that happy note, that's all for now! Questions?
Next time, we get a little bit political, as more of Kosciej's plan slips out, treaties are negotiated and the Exarchs put a
hit out on Samael.
Yes, *really*
1.
Uprising
UPRISING
Session 10.1
Welcome back, faithful readers!
When planning a chronicle, you never expect a story to be "Filler". Everything is vital. When it comes down to it,
though, the Vital moments are usually surrounded by landscaping. As a few of you have noticed, the Auric Horizon has
been suffering a lot of phyrric victories for a while. now - there hasn't been a unambiguous ending since... Er...
Actually, I don't think there has been one.
And that was starting to wear. We'd built up the threat of the rogues gallery of antagonists enough. The players could
do with a victory, let alone their characters. I knew the final confrontation with our B-Villains was coming *next* story,
but to get there we had to get through this one.
Which is why this one - intended in the original notes to be something of a political affair - feels like it's on fast-forward.
Because it is; we're hurtling through the plot beats of story ten in four hours' flat.
With the XP from the Desert adventure, all three players bought their characters' Gnosis up to 5. New Attainments and
faster fast-casting ahoy! Plus, the possibility that they might actually get a Paradox one of these days.
The Auric Horizon has returned to the UK. A week after the Desert, they've managed to take a look at the home
front.
The more 'enthusiastic' chapters of the Free Council are celebrating. The Wizards' War in Cambridge is now
over with the Nameless having well and truly won. Solemn is captured (after, Cobalt learns to his displeasure,
the Blank Badge and other groups fought their way through the Cambridge Arrow) and now Kosciej and his core
followers have returned to London with the former Heirarch, announcing that Solemn will be put on trial for his
crimes against the Awakened Nation.
The new man in charge of Cambridge's "provisional Assembly" is a Blank Badge named Isator. Those few
Diamond mages that were still in the Consilium have been unceremoniously exiled; those who fought and were
captured are dumped at the border and denied the opportunity to take any of their possessions. Those who
didn't fight are allowed out with whatever they can transport immediately. The Blank Badge and his cohorts are
now looting the Cambridge Censorium, draining local Hallows dry and digging in.
Items from the Cambridge Aetheneum are already appearing on internet auction sites.
Cobalt tries, repeatedly, to reach out a line of communication to Boudicca. Against all odds, she responds.
The fall of Cambridge has sent shockwaves through the UK's magical community. Neighbouring Consilii are
wondering if they're going to be next, and particularly large Assemblies are facing pressure from their own
members to join the struggle now that the Revolution has been proved - the Assemblies *can* rise up against
the Diamond. Cobalt's attempts to firefight - to recognise areas of tension and mediate difficulties before they
result in copycat uprisings - are taking place simultaneously with Boudicca and other Nameless travelling
around to wavering Consilii to give the Revolution's sales pitch.
Which is why the Free Councillors of the Auric Horizon (everyone but Samael) plus Quark and the Smoke Eaters
have been invited down to Manchester, a city controlled for many years by it's Assembly, by the HeirarchChairperson of the Assembly, a Obrimos named Solarious. Boudicca's roadshow has reached the Mancunians,
and at her suggestion Solarious wants to hear Cobalt's argument in person.
The Durham contingent have been here a night, staying in the five-star hotel that Solarious has arranged as a
meeting place (although he has no problem inviting people to speak, Solarious doesn't want outsiders going
near the local mages' actual places of power). No sign of Kosciej - the Nameless delegation is led by Boudicca
and Brianna.
"Boudicca is her own person. Brianna, though, is Kosciej's agent" - Cobalt
Chris: or his Bitch, more succinctly.
"I hope not Agent Provocataur" - Cobalt
They're not the only Pentacle mages there - there *are* Diamond mages in Manchester - but beyond even
them, the Chairperson has also invited another Cabal who have been travelling the Consilii of the country
swaying public opinion on the Revolution.
The Pendragon are here.
Cheers from the players
"Cal!" - Persephone
Excalibur is tackle-hugged by a flying Sef
"Old man" - Excalibur, to Cobalt, as he extricates himself
"Good to see you out and about - how you feeling?" - Cobalt
"On top of things. Have you met Solarious yet?" - Excalibur
"Heard him speak" - Cobalt
"He's a good lad. Good politican. Fair public speaker. Inspiring in a wet kind of way. Compromise politician. It is
my observation that politician's opinions are often swayed by public opinion" (grins) "young padawan" Excalibur
"So you've met the Free Council, then? I hear you. Are you doing the tour as well?" - Cobalt
"Yeah" (sits, and accepts a drink from Symmetry) "We've been circling London, persuading the neighbours to
stay out of it. Excuse the analogy, but we've been making a firebreak" - Excalibur
"Has it been working?" - Persephone
"Seems to be - we're keeping a lid on the exuberant shivving of Diamond mages" - Excalibur
"Even in the old days, sacking and looting a city was Serious Business. Brought home the reality of war" Cobalt
"And we don't know what they've done with Solemn" - Excalibur
"They say there'll be a trial" - Cobalt
"They always do" - Excalibur
"See if we can get tickets. Interested to see who the Judge, Jury and Lictor are" - Cobalt
"Kosciej, Kosciej and Kosciej?" - Excalibur
"I'd almost think less of him. Nah - they'll dig a Lictor up from somewhere and make it reasonably fair. To be
honest, with the evidence, they bloody well should convict him legitimately" - Cobalt
"Oh, he's absolutely Left Handed. You guys proved that. Boudicca is selling it as a glorious crusade against the
Nefandi" - Excalibur
"We're trying to move the narrative to what happened afterwards: they're acting like The Man down there.
Kicking dissenters out after confiscating their magical wealth? That's not a democracy, it's a Trade Union" Cobalt
"Aren't you an academic? I thought you were all Union men" - Excalibur
(shrugs) "I only just got Tenure" - Cobalt
"Well" (stands) "Good to see you all. I hear that things did not go entirely smoothly over there" - Excalibur
"We got another one" - Persephone
(nods) "As well as the thing Samael was after, we got a few more historical items, and some recordings of the
city. Given the considerable weight of fire the Seers put against us, we came out ahead" - Cobalt
"They had a tank" - Persephone, by way of explanation
"And several helicopters. And people inside the helicopters dispelling, which demonstrated forward thinking" Cobalt
"Yeah, but you dealt with them. I should have punted the helicopter forward in Time. That would have been
funny" - Persephone
Something in her tone is a little too flippant for Cobalt, who hasn't processed events fully yet
"I'm not yet so far gone that people plummeting from the sky and dying is funny" - Cobalt
"They were mages. They'll be fine" - Persephone, dismissive
"I don't know how many people were on that gunboat. They could have been mages... Probably at least two" Cobalt
Excalibur claps him on the shoulder.
"That's good. Keep that head on your shoulders and you'll be fine" - Excalibur
"That's the thing. The gung-ho fighting is cool, and there's so few mages that even when it's full on fighting it's
like samurai having a duel. When it comes to warfare it's a deathmatch, a team game. But involve Sleepers and
Sleepwalkers..." - Cobalt
"Real bloody warfare" - Excalibur
Which is one of the defining lines between the Arrow (who are on the side of the individual champion here) and their
counterparts in Praetorian
"The amount of magic thrown around that desert, they didn't have any Sleepers around" - Persephone
"... And that's the best point yet" - Cobalt
He's still clearly pained, but says no more about it.
"I'm surprised the Seers haven't moved against Kosciej yet" - Cobalt
"Oh, they *have*. That's why they still need outside support - Kosciej and his gang have been fighting the Seers
more than Civitas ever did" - Excalibur
"Always have. That's why the hands-off approach Civitas had was Chamberlaining. He got his peace in our
time, but..." - Cobalt
"Yeah. Our 'friends' from across the barricades are gunning for your lich" - Excalibur
"I have a few words to say to him myself. 'Would you please return the body you stole'" - Cobalt
...
Samael is in a nightclub. Dark, pulsing with music and the press of bodies. The Life he goes to such places to
feel is all around him, filling his Mage Sight.
From the music, and the people, he appears to be in Japan. Part of him registers this as unusual, but it feels
right somehow.
He moves through the crowd and seats himself at the bar, ordering a stiff drink.
The bartender nods, and Samael (his hands are covered in blood) pays for the drink with the dagger he killed
Cxaxa with.
There is a disconnect, a note of difference, in the scene. If it were a record, it would be scratched. Something
very wrong is happening.
He turns to his right.
What is there is so terrifying it wakes him up, bolt-upright.
It takes him a panicked second to realise where he is - the living room of the Lighthouse, bathed in the
flickering light of the television.
This sequence is significant. Pay careful attention. Especially to the formatting. The formatting is important.
Newcastle.
The Mysterium in Newcastle is slowly starting to rebuild itself in the months following Bede's exile to Holy Isle.
Agaric is now a Dadukos. Tomorrow, Samael is meant to go with Logos to observe Peter Rice's new exhibition.
Rice is 'coming along nicely' ib Logos' terms - Mana is beginning to pool in his Pattern momentarily, and there is
great expectation that he will Awaken soon. The Consilium has been warned to back off and let it happen, for
interfering in a Mage's Awakening is a recipe for uncertain outcomes and potential disaster (Logos quotes
several learned texts indicating that it increases the chance of a Banisher Awakening significantly). Therefore,
Rice is being minded by a Proximus retainer of the Mysterium named Levie, and it is tacitly acknowledged that
the Mysterium will get first sales pitch rights should Rice eventually sign his name to a Watchtower.
Rice is not the only new recruiting prospect - a Law student at Durham University has awakened as a Moros,
and is currently having all the recruitment pitches. As de facto head of the Mysterium locally, Samael will get to
meet with her, but given her interests and the fact that Hatfield and Quark have already met with her it seem
likely that she'll join the Ladder. Certainly, the Mysterium is pinning it's hopes on the synaesthetic artist. Aurora
is just pleased that the Consilium got to both prospects before Lankin and the Seers did.
Next up on Samael's busy schedule as the all-but-the-actual-rank-or-Mystery-Initiation Heirophant is a meeting
with Key. Key has hopes to be Heirophant itself, but the station requires an existing Heirophant to guide the
Heirophant-to-be through the Mystery Intitiation, and the only Heirophant Key knows (other than Bede and the
Heirarch of York, who is a close personal friend of Bede's) is... Tiresias. So Key shows all deference and
politeness to Samael and Logos, lest they let their mentor know of any displeasure. This had led to a taut but
functional working arrangement between the three Dadukos Superior.
Samael gets the very distinct impression that in the Guanxi view of the Mysterium, he is the middle man
between Key and Tiresias.
He fumbles for the remote and clicks the TV off, rubbing his face.
"...Samael" - Magog
Magog has appeared at the door to the stairs. With his Force Pike.
"Trouble?" - Samael
"Did you just experience anything odd?" - Magog
"Strange dream" - Samael
"...Yeah. Okay. You're going to need to sit down. And you're not going anywhere without me" - Magog
"What just happened?" - Samael
Magog crosses to the window and checks it
"A hit was just put out on you. You specifically. I had a Dream" - Magog
Samael can taste the capital letter.
"...Right" - Samael
"The Exarchs have made it known that whoever kills you can name their price" - Magog
"And it was going to be such a nice day" - Samael
"They sent me a very lovely vision of myself murdering you, being accepted back into the fold and being
showered with gifts" - Magog
"I'm guessing it's a personalised version of what they've sent to all the Seers?" - Samael
"Yeah" - Magog
Specifically, the "Kill Samael" imperative has been sent by The General. To anyone with the Mystery Commands flaw,
which means roughly half of all Seers of the Throne and a handful of turncoats like Magog.
Yeah. Remember what I said about the Chronicle kicking into major gear?
An Exarch just told the Seers of the Throne to kill Samael. Offering whatever reward they each want. They are pissed.
No pressure, then.
"Do we have much time?" - Samael
Magog checks out of the window again, distracted and clearly worried
"Well... They do know where we live, Sam" - Magog
"... Yeeess. That is a problem. Okay - you say you'll stay with me, but perhaps we should stay..?" - Samael
"...Somewhere else" - Magog, nodding furiously
"Five minutes. Getting stuff" - Samael
He charges up to his room, grabbing essentials (the ubiquitous weapon, Tass, notes of his current research) into
a holdall, text-messaging Pandora as he works.
'hit put on me by Exarchs. not sure this line safe. B in touch'
"Look at it this way, at least you haven't *really* pissed them off" - Magog, shouting up while he grabs his own
'emergency kit'
Magog, unlike Samael, keeps an emergency kit in his room already containing Tass, backup magical tools, a
Cobalt-Enhanced bulletproof vest, a 'Rodriguez Special' firearm... That sort of thing.
Samael, lugging his stuff downstairs, is sending messages to Logos, Tiresias, the rest of the Cabal...
"What would happen then?" - Samael
"They'd come to get you themselves. Nothing says you've offended the Thrones like an Ochemata arriving" Magog, fake-cheerful
Samael's phone beeps repeatedly as it recieves worried replies from his allies. Persephone demands
clarification. Cobalt wants to know if he can have Samael's stuff.
What are friends for, eh?
"It's good he's being so Jovial about it" - Samael, to himself, as they exit the Lighthouse
"DIE, HERETIC!" - Seer
1.
Uprising
Samael reacts with a start, lifting his sword up to try to ward off the attack, then a split-second later processes
what he's seeing. Someone was waiting right next to their front door, and is now lunging toward him, hand
crackling with magical energies that Samael doesn't have time to analyse but thinks can't be good.
Samael's flailing attempt barely works. Magog, though, does better - the Seer takes Magog's staff right in the
face, which crimps his style quite a lot. The Seer makes a final desperate effort to make physical contact with
Samael, and manages it with just the tips of his fingers. Samael's flesh rips open at the touch, as though sliced
by knives.
A Death 3 damage spell
Samael pommel-bashes the Seer and backs away, clutching his side. Magog sweeps the Seers' feet out from
under him. The Seer lands on his back in the snow.
"Rise! Rise and defend me!" - Seer, casting Quicken Corpse to create a Zombie
Unfortunately, the nearest corpse for the spell to lock onto is that of Sunbeam.
Sunbeam was Cognos' pet dog until passing away from old age and deibetes some four years prior. His master
mourned for many months, and never had the heart to acquire a new pet.
The skeletal dog erupts from the snowed-over flowerbed next to the front door. Magog and Samael both look at
it, consider, and kick the Seer in the head until he falls unconsious. Then Magog golf-drives Sunbeam off the
cliff.
"What do we do with him? We can't kill him" - Samael, the last when Magog raises his staff
Magog lowers the weapon
"Yeah. Alright. I'll throw him through a Portol" - Magog
"Where to?" - Samael
Magog considers
"Scunthorpe" - Magog
Chris: New tactic! Whenever we get attacked, we banish them to Scunthorpe!
...
"So are we going back?" - Persephone
"We can get Quark to teleport us" - Symmetry
Cobalt holds up his hand for calm, considering his phone.
"Sam would want us to continue here. Besides which he and Magog will be on the move, and if they decide to
come after us we're surrounded by Libertines. Well.. Shit. I can't go back" - Cobalt
"I can. you don't need me here, anyway. I'll just inflame the talks being here" - Persephone
"You can't possibly inflame them as much as Gawain" - Excalibur
A thought crosses Cobalt's mind
"Is there any significance to the name Haruspex..?" - Cobalt, to Excalibur
"LATER! We haven't the time!" - Persphone
"Right. I need to keep my eye on Boudicca. I need to counter what she does, but it has to be amicable. Her
firebrand is Brianna - she'll be the one trying to start tensions. I need someone to keep an eye on her. And
she's in the Needle as well" - Cobalt
"And you wanted me?" - Persephone, incredulous
"I wanted both of you, covering my back" - Cobalt, to Symmetry and Persephone
"Don't worry. I've never met the little bitch, but I'm quite happy to watch you" - Symmetry
"And you're quite capable of doing it. Tell me when I fuck up" - Cobalt
"If you need any words from the Diamond, we'll be willing to pitch in. All we can do at this range is get word to
Durham to give Magog and Samael safe haven" - Excalibur
"Can you portol me back?" - Persephone
"If you want to go back, I can portal you. Or Quark can teleport you" - Excalibur
"I'd be reassured by having you here, but I'd be more reassured having Samael and Magog here too. Until we
find the third MacGuffin, this is going to continue" - Cobalt
"Come on, Sef, we'll wake Quark up" - Excalibur
"Have you fought Seers yet?" - Persephone. A split second later she realises how dumb a question that is
"'course we've fought Seers. Haruspex is fond of.. He has this thing, right? Where he walks into Seer Territory to
whatever public place they're using to meet in. Say it's a restaurant. He sits there, acting like a Sleeper. They
all know he's a mage. He sits there, and starts telling the story of the biggest Mexican you've ever seen." Excalibur
"Waitaminute. I saw Gawain with a guitar case last night. You didn't..?" - Cobalt
"No. We didn't. But it puts the shits up them. They've come after Nimue and Taliesin twice now; believe me
when I know what you're going through. Best way is to stay low, keep moving. Most attacks will be from lowranking opportunistic sorts. Eventually they'll get the hint and give up" - Excalibur
"How long before they send the big guns?" - Persephone
"Depends how much he aggravates the Exarchs" - Excalibur
"By killing the little ones?" - Persephone
"The death of Seers doesn't aggravate the Exarchs" - Excalibur
"You're saying it'll take escalation from Heaven before they start sending the elite Pylons and monsters?" (Cal
nods) "Until then, he's on the don't go out in public, never be alone list" - Cobalt
"Wait. Should I go or stay?" - Persephone
"Samael's best chance is to hide in the Aetheneum" - Symmetry
Sef casts a spell, trying to see if Cobalt or Samael needs her most.
Neither. Her best efforts are spent in another direction.
"I hate you, magic 8-ball!" - Persephone
(
poor Ag. It makes sense in about an hour, honest)
...
Magog and Samael have rode their bikes to Key's house, and gained admittance.
"Samael" - Key
It does acknowledge Magog's presence
"You're early" - Key
"Yes. Unfortunately, the vengeance of the Upper Cosmos waits for no man. It has sent its flunkies and
retainers" - Samael
"Flunkies. And Retainers." - Key, expressionless
"I was ambushed by a Seer wannabe outside my front door" - Samael
"What have you done this time?" - Key
"Existed. Apparently" (looks at Magog) "A Commandment has been issued. They have demanded my end" Samael
"Interesting" - Key
"I came to ask if we could take shelter at the Aetheneum, given that it's well shielded and warded" - Samael
"Of course. Will your companion escort you there then depart?" - Key
"I was rather hoping he'd be allowed to stay with me. They still seem to be in contact with Magog, and it'd be
useful to know if there are any adjustments to the itinerary of my removal from existence" - Samael
"In the Aetheneum?" - Key, frosty
"Mmmhmm. I understand your misgivings, and I'll abide by your judgement" - Samael
"Well.. Magog was there when the last Aethenum was breached. He didn't loot it when Cobra did" - Key
Magog gives his most reassuring smile. Key thinks of Tiresias
"I don't see there being a problem" - Key
"Awesome" - Magog
Chris: And now I owe it big-time
...
Soon enough, Samael and Magog are safe (they hope) inside the Aetheneum. The new high-security building
has finally been finished following the Barghest-related breach. They are surrounded by walls, wards, bans, a
moat, several electric fences and shielding trees. It used to be a bunker. Or maybe an airfield.
The signs on the road say it's a "Security Concern" company, and that the site is used for training. Both of
which are true.
"It's... Modern" - Magog
Indeed, everything is steel and glass. It's not like a proper Aetheneum at all. There isn't a candle in sight.
"Find a corner we can put bedrolls down in. Don't touch anything that's been left out - it's probably boobytrapped" - Samael
"So" (businesslike) "We may as well conduct our business. You are here, and I have prepared. I have performed
the final catalogue and there are certain discrepancies. Items loaned that are overdue. It is highly likely that
Bede took them when he left - certain Grimoires" - Key
"How lengthy is the list?" - Samael
"Not especially lengthy. No Daemonica" - Key
"He's still on Lindesfarne?" - Samael
"Yes. He can't enter our territory on pain of death in breach of his exile, and the only way off Holy Isle is through
our territory" - Key
Lindesfarne / "Holy Isle" is a small island about half a mile off the coast of England, North of Newcastle. It's so close
that it's connected by a causeway to the mainland at low tide, which has a road built onto it with many warning signs
about paying attention to the times the tide comes in and the road goes under the sea. The island had a large ruined
monastery (at which the Venerable Bede, for whom our Storyteller character is named, was a monk) and in the modern
day is dominated by three farms, a small sleepy village and a lot of tourists. They sell a lot of mead.
It is the perfect prison for a mage who doesn't have the Space Arcanum - it's a historical site, linked to his Shadow
Name and praxis and has a Hallow. And the only way off the island is via the causeway, which connects to the Durham
Consilium's territory. Bede rules the island as his private domain, but it's definitely a house arrest situation allowing
everyone to save face.
We will see it next session
"We have seen to his material needs by sending Scribe so far, but as his former apprentice i'm uncertain she
can confront him about it" - Key
"Under the laws of our society, what restrictions are placed on me regarding their recovery?" - Samael
Key frowns
"What rights does he have?" - Samael
"He's still a Heirophant. He's still a leader of the Mysterium. They belong to an Aetheneum he is no longer part
of - he *should* give them back" - Key
"I'll give it a try" - Samael
"When you're not dodging assassins" - Key
"I don't know how long that'll be" - Samael
He makes a querying look to Magog, who shrugs
"The reward will still be there, but after we've dealt with enough of them they'll tell themselves they intend to
get around to it. It's not like they're defying the Exarchs, just biding their time" - Magog
"We'd best get comfortable. Let's make ourselves at home" - Samael
...
Back in Manchester, Persephone has racked her brains and come up with the spell Fortunate Timing.
From Free Council - twists fate to make circumstances move forward in the narrative fashion, defying logic and creating
unlikely coincidence in the advance of the plot. It's a great big "I don't know what to do" button, which *can* lead to
Ninjas kicking in the door...
She casts it.
"Well, let's see what happens. If I get kidnapped by ninjas, come looking for me" - Persephone
"Will do" - Excalibur
"We need to go talk to the enemy" - Symmetry
"Yeah. We do. Everyone had their wheatabix?" - Cobalt
"You want me along at the start or should us dirty Diamond mages wait for your go-ahead?" - Excalibur
"I think... This first round is of opposing delegations. We'll talk to them. When it comes down to everyone, you'll
be welcome" - Cobalt
"In that case, we'll be waiting. I should go find the rest of my Cabal" - Excalibur
He leaves, exit stage left.
"What IS a Haruspex? I get the Arthurian significane of all the rest" - Cobalt
"Someone who reads entrails" - Symmetry
"Kind of a merlin type. Ties into mentoring Nimue" - Cobalt
"I think they're all mentoring Nimue. In an odd way" - Symmetry
"One of them used to be Rod" - Cobalt
"It's like they've decided Nimue should be conversant with all the orders" - Symmetry
"Good. What it boils down to is that you don't need to believe in Atlantis to be a Diamond, or that it didn't exist
to be a Libertine. Good thing to keep in mind" - Cobalt
He sounds wary about the upcoming confrontation
"Within the last few months we've faced evils from beyond the dawn of time, Seers of the Throne..." Symmetry
"...And now this thing with Samael" - Cobalt
"I think we can cope with two Free Council girls" - Symmetry
"Yeah. I'm just worried about breaking someone" - Cobalt
"You wouldn't hurt a fly" - Persephone
Cobalt remembers the Seer he killed
He ruffles her hair
"Come on, ladies. Let's go. To the enemy encapment" - Cobalt
...
Boudicca, Brianna and three Guy-Fawkes-Masked Nameless are based in rooms across the way.
"How goes it?"
"Excellently. We are making progress - you would be master Cobalt, of whom we have heard so much" Boudicca
"And you would be Boudicca, Strategos of the Nameless. Sorry we haven't met before. This is Symmetry and
Persephone" - Cobalt
Boudicca looks at Sef with curiosity. Brianna, on the other hand, has been staring at her since she walked in.
"Persephone is carrying the greivance of the Parliament of the Needle" - Cobalt
"I am here to convey my Master's wishes..." - Brianna
"Your Master's wishes?" - Persephone
"That there be no more ill-feeling between you" - Brianna, lamely
"Since when do Libertines have Masters?" - Persephone
"I wasn't going to say anything..." - Cobalt
"Don't you have one of your own? Aren't you the apprentice of the Jamaican?" - Boudicca
"...Ah" - Cobalt
Boudicca reminds him of Aurora, but more careful.
"A little early to jump on a word, isn't it? I do have a great deal of respect for Ashlar. Brianna, what did Kosciej
want you to say here?" - Cobalt
"To convey his repeated insistance that he bears you no ill will whatsoever" - Brianna
"You're here just for us?" - Cobalt, flatly disbelieving
"I'm here just for you" - Brianna, smiling
Symmetry frowns.
"Sure! As soon as he detaches his Silver Tower from Mictlan, oh, and gives my former boyfriend his body back,
there'll be no ill feelings" - Persephone
"Do you two want to take it outside? Actually, let's leave that aside..." - Cobalt
"Mictlan is as much ours as it is yours. And you will find that we outnumber you" - Brianna
"Come out from behind that wall and we'll see" - Persephone
Brianna smirks slightly. It takes Sef a moment to realise it.
They already are acting outside the wall. Sef, Chronos and the others just haven't noticed them.
"When I asked if you would take it outside, I meant that the internal politics of your Legacy have nothing to do
with me being here beyond my tie to Persephone and perhaps responsibility for Galatea and Hades, who would
both have grievances to put forward. It's not personal against Kosciej for me, it's just.. you're tearing my order
apart" - Cobalt
'my order'?
He thinks
"And righting some wrongs in the process. Putting my cards on the table, I'm deeply suspicious about what his
plan is. I know he has a plan. I know it's fucking off the Exarchs, which does recommend it to me. I just don't
know if the man has a concept of unacceptable cost of human lives" - Cobalt
"I am assured" (not sounding very assured) "That having now addressed the wrong against himself, his focus is
now on addressing the wrongs against his allies. What private studies the Parliament of the Needle is
conducting..." - Boudicca
"...Are an independent matter" - Cobalt
She nods
"Though he says that now that Solemn is captured, the Parliament's priority is repaying the rest of us for our
support, over, above and before we part ways and he goes about his own business. He has his victory, now he's
giving us ours" - Boudicca
"Dream on" - Persephone
"May I ask what that victory is?" - Cobalt
"Liberation from Civitas" - Boudicca
"How much of the infrastructure Civitas has built will you need to remove to feel that your victory is real?" Cobalt
"As much as he forces us to. I may be Strategos, but I have no desire to see the same outcome as in
Cambridge" - Boudicca
"What about Isator's decision to basically re-enact Civitas' draconian policies in reverse down there? Is that
likely to be a consequence in London?" - Cobalt
"It won't be Isator that takes over in London. It will be me. If you're asking if I'll welcome Diamond mages, I
have to worry about my own people and be assured of their security before I give any thought to Ladder or
Guardian members. Especially Guardians" - Boudicca
"And what of the Mysterium? They have one of their storehouses in London. Are we likly to see a fire sale?" Cobalt
Brianna smirks again, very slightly.
"Actually, I have no plans for the Aetheneum whatsoever, assuming Civitas isn't hiding in it. If they don't try to
shelter him, I see no reason to kick their doors down" - Boudicca
"I'm glad to know that. Ultimately, not everyone in London is convinced Civitas is the person to lead them" Cobalt
"Your loyalties to your Mystagogue friends are acknowledged" - Boudicca
"Will you settle for the removal of Civitas or do you need to be the Heirarch" - Cobalt
"Given how easily past promises have been overturned... No. I can't make a concession about being Heirarch. If
the Mysterium don't shelter Civitas, they have nothing to fear" - Boudicca
"The Arrow are going to be tricky" - Cobalt
"And that's regrettable" - Boudicca
"Is there a problem with you and the Silver Ladder?" - Cobalt
"Other than their avowed support for their corrupt Heirarch" - Boudicca
"It was a lot easier to take down Solemn. He was left-handed. Civitas is just a dick" - Cobalt
"Who has been oppressing us - brutally - for years" - Boudicca, eyes flashing
"There's an old saying, which I don't agree with. Better ten years under a tyrant than five days ungoverned. I
suspect the Ladder DO believe in it. They're supporting the structure, not the man at the top" - Cobalt
"The 'structure' allowed Civitas to execute my mentor for causing a Paradox. The 'structure' has seen five of my
colleagues, including the last three brave souls elected to my position, assassinated - not by the Seers. By the
Diamond. There is a reason we wear these masks" - Boudicca
"I know" - Cobalt
"The Structure sees Civitas throw us to the Seers of the Throne" - Boudicca
"Your people have been bearing the weight of that for a while" - Cobalt
"If the Ladder actually believed what they espouse, they would have overthrown him by now. The Ladder
Heirarchy, the Arrow Heirarchy - even the Mystagogue one, all deference to your mentor and the mentor of
your cabal-mate aside, are all complicit in this. We are in the right here" - Boudicca
"I'm aware of the divide the Mysterium have. I was the second of the man who kicked Cadacaus' ass" - Cobalt
"All three of the other orders have found reasons to support Civitas. We will give them every chance to
surrender, but they have made their decisions" - Boudicca
"It's your fight. Just keep an eye on your allies, and don't pay more than it's worth" - Cobalt
Boudicca nods - that last definitely resonated with her. The Nameless delegation leave, Brianna shooting one
last look back at Persephone. Persephone gives her a look of 'we'll meet again'.
Cobalt waits for them to go, tapping his finger on a glass.
"...You really rattle her, don't you? What are you up to on the other side?" - Cobalt
"I'm asking Chronos about our defences around Kosciej's wall. Why?" - Persephone
"Just curious. Does the wall work both ways - do you have your own wall?" - Cobalt
"Yes, but there aren't as many of us as there are of them. I can't recruit new members" - Persephone
-What about those harpy-things with skull faces?- - Persephone
Sef is walking with Chronos through the wreckage of Mictlan, the shadow of Kosciej's Region looming over them
as they navigate paths winding between the hills of rubble and displaced memories. The Parliament - the real
Parliament, not Kosciej's stooges - now number only seven, not including Hades.
-All gone- - Chronos
-Can we make more?- Persephone
-No. Not without full control of the realm- - Chronos
There's a clatter of displaced debris - a gramophone, several chess sets, an Edwardian bicycle - as Hades slides
down from atop a pile to join them.
To Sef's mind's eye, he seems to have grown paler since first arriving. Thinner, somehow, as though he's not all
there.
-We don't have skull-faced Aztec warrior minions, and there aren't as many of us as there are of them, but they
don't all come out at once- - Hades
-So? We can't watch the whole wall- - Persephone
-So we find a group of them when they come out- - Hades
-And?- - Persephone
-I believe Hades intends to engage them in pugilism- Chronos
-[i]We beat them up. We send them back to their tower with their tails between their legs knowing that they
can't come digging through our minds
-Who's 'we'?- - Persephone
-Well...- - Hades
He looks around
-Oh, come on! I mean, Baal is still here. BAAL!- - Hades
Baal emerges from behind a junk-pile, looking wary
-Don't you want to DO something?- - Hades
-Of course I do!- - Persephone
-So right! Get everyone together, find the sturdiest memories we can swing, we all meet up back here, go find
one of their intruders and... Banish them to Scunthorpe!- - Hades
Chronos gives a very visible 'oh-kay' face and floats off. In the background, Baal picks up the leg of the Venus
De Milo and gives it an experimental swing.
-Hades... Could I have a word?- - Persephone
She glances back at Baal
-We need something better than that. I mean, look at them. They've been sitting here for decades, not thinking
about fighting. They'll be facing the Nameless, who are in the middle of a war. They might not expect us to
offer any resistance, but this won't get them for long. There's only Nine of us - and... Look at Jodrell! I don't
think he's ever fought in his life!- - Persephone
Chris, at this juncture, pointed out that Chronos is as powerful as Kosciej is. If he weren't a ghost. And that physical
power doesn't mean anything in Mictlan.
-They need confidence. They need to fight back against the people who reduced them to this state. They need
to look the people who trapped them here in the face and punch it- - Hades
And when he says "They", Sef gets the distinct impression he means "I".
-I see- - Persephone
[/color=blue]Ag: This whole thing is an expression of Sef's own depression and lacking faith in winning this whole thing
with Kosciej. She desperately tries to keep an optimistic face in front of the other oMictlaneans, because she doesn't
want more of them to leave, but, especially after the last trip, which really hit her very hard, she doesn't believe they
can do much against the nuMictlan. Hence the 'we can't do it' speech. [/color]
At which point, two things happen - the spell Sef cast expires from her Pattern, and Jodrell comes scurrying
along the path toward them.
-I found some of them!- - Jodrell
That was fortuitous
-How many?- - Persephone
-Six of one and half a dozen of the other. Some of Kosciej's goons, and some of those servant-things- - Jodrell
I *think* I mentioned this before, but Kosciej's region features not only the Nameless Parliamentarians, but also weird
robed figures with bare feet which appear to act as the nuMictlaner's servants.
Baal appears to have settled for a Triceratops thigh-bone. Chronos has returned, sporting a blunderbuss.
-They're poking around the rubble near the Death gate- - Jodrell
-Okay... Let's gank them- - Persephone
-Split into two teams, and take them from either side- - Hades
Sef takes Baal, Chronos and Jodrell on a madcap run (or in Sef and Chronos' case, float) through the ruins.
There are six enemy mages, accompanied by six of their robed servants.
Amusingly, one of the mages appears to be Brianna.
-GET THEM!- - Persephone
1.
Uprising
Back in Durham, a very long day is passing. Samael is attempting to continue with his research (well, at least
he has the materials) while remaining safely in the Aetheneum.
Mystagogues drop by, one by one, allowing him to coordinate the order. Logos is last - she wants to head to
Bede's to retrieve the books.
"If you're sure - we don't know how he'll react" - Samael
"He'll probably bluster a lot" - Logos
"But it does need to be done" (smooth) "Thank you for volunteering, Logos. Keep us informed" - Key
"Yeah. I owe you one" - Samael
"We will look after your potential. Levie is on it - I don't think Rice is in a critical condition" - Key
"Best to make sure" - Samael
They leave. Magog looks like he's about to start chewing his own leg off through boredom
"Magog.. If you want to take a break for a while, I'm okay. I have plenty here to keep me occupied" - Samael
"I made a promise" - Magog
"Sure?" - Samael
The Ex-Seer nods
"All right" - Samael
"So where are we looking for the third shard?" - Magog
"I was considering kicking up some serious Fate magic. Because at the moment there's a whole lot of nothing,
and we don't have time to scour the world" - Samael
"Did you think about maybe using... That spell, from Africa. The one that makes you invisible to Seers?" Magog
"That Cxaxa said made you invisible to them. The side-effects... I don't know. And it might just make me stand
out like a sore thumb. Thought about it but too risky." - Samael
"Understood" - Magog
"I'd prefer to have Persephone here, to figure out when our next move should be" - Samael
"I can call them again" - Magog
"Don't pull them in from what they're doing: it's important stuff" - Samael
...
It's Cobalt's turn to meet the Mancunian Heirarch.
Solarious, in the flesh, has a relaxed warmth about him. Definately an Obrimos. He reminds Cobalt a little of
Gabrielle, only male - the same self-assuredness.
"Nice place you have here" - Cobalt
"This is just where we put the visitors. Those we don't want seeing the internals. There are three groups of
outsiders here. I've read the mailing lists. I've seen the polemics" - Solarious
"The posters of Kaptain Krunch?" - Cobalt
"Amusing, but he is getting results. And this Solemn was Left Handed" - Solarious
"Oh, yeah. No argument there. More power to the man on that one, but right now Cambridge is looking at the
same sort of regime Civitas has in London. People robbed and exiled, the Mysterium deprived of a ton of loot.
What would happen if they got the Library of Saint John, or the Shadow Directory? What results are you looking
for? Way I see it, you've got a good staus quo here" - Cobalt
"And we're comfortable, but many of my constituents feel kinship with the Nameless. We've had it good here
for years, while our fellow Libertines have been suffering. They want to help" - Solarious
"I know the feeling" - Cobalt
"I have to say, you're not doing a good job of selling me off the notion of supporting Boudicca" - Solarious
"Boudicca did a fairly good job of selling me on it. I was talking about getting rid of Civitas. Hell, half the people
I know in London want rid of him, they just have people with bigger hats supporting him and don't know how to
go about it. Everyone agrees that it's wrong, what he does. No. It's the fact that Boudicca won't be satisfied
unless she's in charge" - Cobalt
"It is often the way with revolutionaries" - Solarious
"A bit more El Generalisimo than Che. But then, who was successful and who has their face on T-shirts?" Cobalt
"Kosciej?" - Solarious
"I'm not sure he wants to conquer the world. I just think he doesn't want to die, but that he can't tell the
difference between the two. Look - I know he's using Boudicca. You know he's using Boudicca. Boudicca knows
he's using Boudicca. She just can't find the trick. Neither can I, because I don't know what he wants other than
Solemn. I don't trust him, though. The two most precious people to him in the world were the people he hurt
the most when he returned - he's not easy on his friends. I'm worried we're going to see London fall to Tyranny
from within our own order. Maybe we could get a mix going, but it would have to be under Boudicca, she'd have
to punish the Guardians, she'd have to punish the Ladder, and even if she didn't a lot of people behind the
masks would. And the Guardians have earned it" - Cobalt
"It's good that we can talk about this. We are both Libertines - we can discuss this in calm political discourse" Solarious
...
Baal smashes the dinosaur bone over one of the Nameless' head.
-YOU WANT SOME OF THIS!?- - Chronos, opening fire with his blunderbuss
Ah, the comedy juxtaposition. It never gets old.
Surprise, tactics and desperate violence are all on the side of Old Mictlan, as the interlopers are surrounded and
pummelled. Sef has the savage satisfaction of a look of helpless fear on Brianna's face, just before Sef stabs
her with a cavalry spear and destroys Brianna's astral form.
Back in the real world, Sef watches with equal satisfaction as Brianna stumbles slightly, looks around in shock,
spots her grinning from the sidelines and storms out of the room.
Nimue, who was just warming up her oratory and getting into her stride talking to Boudicca, looks awfully
confused. Boudicca watches Brianna go, shrugs and goes back to the conversation.
Cobalt comes back from talking to Solarious, to find Boudicca talking to the Pendragon by herself.
"Go for it" - Persephone
"What happened?" - Cobalt
"Uh... I dunno" - Persephone, grinning
Cobalt approaches the conversation.
"You must understand the lich has other concerns" - Taliesin
Gawain nods to Cobalt, and returns Sef's wave from the sidelines.
Ag: Orchid has already slept with him. I have to catch up
Nimue relaxes a little when Cobalt joins them - he is, after all, the one who saved her from that Astral lynch
mob one time.
Dave2: And she's forgiven me for giving her Rod's number
Boudicca explains to Taliesin and Nimue what she explained to Cobalt - that Kosciej was in it for Solemn and will
now fall in line to take out Civitas and then get on with his next plan.
"Naturally, whatever he does to remove Civitas will set him up for that next plan" - Taliesin
"The canny old bastard - the other one, not Kosciej - has a lot of blackmail information. If there's something
there Kosciej wants, maybe... I just don't like the way Djehuty, Brianna... They look to Kosciej for orders" Cobalt
"The extent to which Kosicej has wormed his way into my Assembly does disturb me" - Boudicca
"I'm sorry I let him out. I should have seen what would happen" - Persephone
"Have we had any more on Galatea recently?" - Cobalt, gently
(shakes head) "Still in hospital. Still unconscious. Still not in Mictlan" - Persephone
...
-Well, that explains THAT- - Chronos
The victorious oMictlaners are gathered around one of the fallen robed servants.
-What is it?- - Persephone
Baal pulls the hood back.
It's Persephone.
It might be the shock, but Sef bursts out with a laugh, then stops, not knowing why she did that.
-Are the others?- - Persephone
Hades pulls back more hoods.
Six Catherines lie unconscious on the rubble-strewn ground.
Chronos prods one with his walking stick
-Stop poking me!- - Persephone
-It's not you- - Chronos
-I.. I know. Is this some kind of elaborate joke? Why do they all look like me?- - Persephone
-...They're their Daimons.- - Chronos
1.
Uprising
-That's why he's able to spread the Legacy so fast. He's using the Ankh to overwrite the souls of his followers,
turn them into copies of his own, Attainments and all. But he doesn't have his own Daimon. He should have
Calliope's Daimon, but instead somehow he has the Daimon of the body he stole...- - Chronos
-...Which was yours. Once again, this comes back to being my fault- - Hades
-Sophia never mentioned this to Samael- - Persephone
-Maybe it's not the Ankh. Maybe he's just using magic to perform spiritual plastic surgery- - Chronos
-Maybe it's how he keeps control over his branch of the Legacy. You guys are an individual bunch, but Kosciej's
people all follow his orders - he's half-cloned his mind into them- - Hades
-So what do we do with them?- - Persephone
-We could try holding onto them. It's possible they could summon them back- - Chronos
-But that's why they act so odd around you. Your face is in their Oneiros- - Hades
-Unfortunately, none of these are *your* Daimon. They're their daimons that have been warped to look and act
like yours. Otherwise... But this is good news!- - Chronos
-How is this good?- - Persephone
-Your real Daimon is out there. Admittedly in Kosciej's head, but it's not been destroyed. And he's made you an
awful lot of sympathetic connections- - Chronos
The merry band of rebels start moving, moving the Daimons. Nergal and Azrael start hefting bodies,
announcing their intention to build a rudimentary stockade. The rest of the gang start looking for whatever
breach in defenses the intruders used.
...
Without the Parliament around, Boudicca is more willing to offer concessions and listen to reason. The day ends
with Cobalt and Taliesin believing they've stopped Machester from joining the Nameless - Solarious promises
aid and assistance in rebuilding London's resources after the struggle is won, but no combatants.
Sef warns Boudicca to watch herself - Kosciej won't hesitate to throw her in harm's way if it's in his interests to
do so.
Cobalt breaches the subject of what the Seers are up to, learning that the Nameless fought off an attack only a
week earlier.
Solarious says the Seers are quiet - concentrating on places like Bradford and Leeds, where their efforts to
foster hate among the Sleepers stand more chance of working.
"If your people are wanting to have action..." - Cobalt
"Against the Seers, not the Pentacle" - Solarious, considering and liking it
"You stop Boudicca from having to fight on two fronts, and you do us all good by doing it. It's a fight I can get
behind" - Cobalt
He leaves Solarious deep in thought.
...
That evening, before the trip home, is spent catching up with the Pendragon.
"You're sorry?" - Nimue
"For sending you to Rod. Gawain's a good man, and Cal's a steady hand, but it wasn't ideal" - Cobalt
"I seem to have fallen on my feet, though" - Nimue
"I'm sorry you got mixed up with the Cambridge mess, though" - Cobalt
"That blonde girl ran out of here like someone punched her in the face" - Adder
Sef laughs
"She was asking for it" - Persephone
Everyone stares at her.
"You didn't assault her when we were.. No, we'd have sensed it.. Wait.. She's in the Parliament?" - Cobalt
"What do you think? Mictlan is under no treaties and she'd crossed the line" - Persephone
"So while we were negotiating, you tracked her down in Mictlan and beat her up?" - Cobalt
"Oh, please. We weren't negotiating with her" - Persephone
"Exactly. But you're telling me that while we're... You can go around beating up Nameless... That's important
news, for when we're..." - Cobalt
"Only if they cross into our territory. We've also made an amusing discovery" - Persephone
She tells them the news. They between them try to figure out the Daimon-chain.
"Does that mean that when we were in Hades' Oneiros she was in there?" - Symmetry
"Damn. Now I'm going to wrack my brains to see if we had any hints of her" - Cobalt
That was session.. Uh... 6.1 or 6.2, I think. "Butterflies and Hurricanes" certainly. Toward the start of the second thread.
Your mission is to go back and see if there IS any sign of Sef's Daimon acting as Hades' Daimon there!
The conclusion, like Chronos', is that Kosciej has gone from the "craftsman" method of soul-changing to pass on
a Legacy into Mass Production.
"I wish Samael were here. Lots of questions about souls" - Cobalt
"It is fairly esoteric" - Haruspex
"As I understand it, the Daimon is the drive to self-perfection" - Cobalt
"More self-actualisation. 'The Daimon wants you to be better' is a simplification because 'better' has moral
leanings. It wants you to overcome your weaknesses, the things that weigh on your soul. And most aren't
above reverse psychology" - Haruspex
"But - again, only as I understand it, when the parliament swap them around they carry an echo of the original
host but still perform their function for the new host. The Daimon is the host's potential, no matter who the host
is" - Cobalt
"The Daimons we're exchanging are special - they're self aware" - Persephone, thinking
-ALL Daimons are self-aware - we didn't become so just because of the Legacy. I am Sef's drive to power and
self-actualisation, not Kosciej's. I remember being Kosciej's, certainly, but I am integrated part of Persephone's
soul now. Her betterment is my purview - I work to the betterment Persephone, not to that of Kosciej- - D!
Kosciej
"But if he's copying rather than exchanging, does that hold for the new guys? Could their Daimons still be
working in Kosciej's best interests?" - Cobalt
"Which would explain why they follow orders" - Persephone
-It's like Agent Smith!- D!Kosciej
"I *KNEW* someone was going to say that. I should have done it right off and got the quote points" - Cobalt
-Look into the face of your enemy, Mr Anderson!- D!Kosciej, happily
"No wonder Brianna was giving you the eye if there's a little you in her head telling her to go along with all
Kosciej's plans" - Cobalt
-Of course, I happen to think, and have advised of this often, that Persephone would be more powerful and able
to follow and address her goals *were* she more like Kosciej...- - D!Kosciej
"One more word and you're going back into the closet" - Persephone
-You DO have to admit that he's achieving a lot of his potential- - D!Kosciej
"He's a dick" - Persephone
"Where does he go from here, in your professional opinion?" - Cobalt
-I don't know. Everything he's doing points to gathering resources- - D!Kosciej
"That's what worries me" - Cobalt
-This business with the parliament would seem a perfect solution to his concerns. He has a rapidly-growing
supply of new bodies he can move into when the need arises. He's conquered Death for himself. He is
essentially immortal- - D!Kosciej
"But he's under near-constant Seer attack. Just between us in these four walls, Samael is planning on tearing a
hole through the Abyss to send a Supernal Creature back home, and he's only just getting attempts on his life
from the Throne. Kosciej has been under siege pretty much from the moment he broke out of Mictlan. Whatever
he's doing is shitting on the Exarchs in some way - that's point one. Point two is he *could* get a lot of support
simply from having that kind of deathmark against him, if he went public with the plan. But he's not, which
leads me to point three: collatoral damage. I'm really worried about what he's up to" - Cobalt
"If he has to, he'll sacrifice all his minions" - Persephone
"And I'm pretty certain... Okay. Boudicca doesn't care about the Aetheneum in London. Brianna wants the
cookies. She had that look that said 'I see a piñata'" - Cobalt
"I've only met the Heirophant of London the once" - Haruspex
"But Tiresias isn't the Councillor. There's Cadacaus" - Cobalt
Gawain smirks.
Gawain hasn't said anything all scene. Or all story, actually. It's odd. I think seeing someone else play him in Island of
Souls - and play him so well - broke him for me. Cal is the same way, but I force myself onward with him for plot
reasons.
"Yeah. We probably won't do much good talking to him" - Nimue
"Constantine?" - Cobalt
"I've know him only by reputation" - Tiresias
"Who are the other two Councillors, though? The art of Mysterium in-fighting might win us their vote, and the
Ladder are already leaning toward seeing sense" - Cobalt
"We've danced around it long enough. I think we need to go to London to get some kind of peaceful resolution"
- Nimue
"You've scored. She knows if she gets too out of line she'll be replaced. And not with Brianna - he'll use another
catspaw" - Cobalt
"We're going to go to London then" - Nimue, firmly
"Try to find the Arrow. I don't think you'll have much luck with the Guardians, sadly, but if the Arrow could be
swayed, and Tiresias could sway Cadacaeus..." - Cobalt
"You head up North. We'll head south" - Nimue
....
In the morning, the Auric Horizon find Excalibur waiting by their van.
"Cal?" - Symmetry
"I have been instructed to go with you" - Excalibur
"Whose orders?" - Cobalt
"Nimue's, on Haruspex's advice" - Excalibur
"You have business to finish. A conversation with someone in particular, right?" - Cobalt, grave
"There's something I've been putting off, and apparently the time is nigh" - Excalibur
"Good to have you" - Persephone
1.
Uprising
Samael and Magog are woken by a commotion in the Aetheneum. The Sleepwalkers are in a panic, trying to
find Key
"What's happened?" - Samael
"Master! Levie has set off his alarm" - Female Sleepwalker
"No other communication?" - Samael
She shakes her head, and he looks to Magog
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" - Samael
"We'd only be outside for a bit" - Magog
"You realise that by saying that you've doomed us both?" - Samael
"I say bring em on" - Magog
"All right" - Samael
...
And so Magog and Samael ride North on their motorbikes, heading for the Newcastle suburb Rice lives in.
There's a reason Magog rides a motorbike, which will be revealed in the finale. I expect people to groan. I mention this
as it was brought up here, when Dave noted that for a character originally intended to be his nemesis, Magog was
pretty well set up to be Samael's opposite instead.
The scene of Rice's apartment is deserted. Not much has moved, but to Samael's SphinX attainments there has
clearly been a struggle of some kind. They must have left by the rear exit of the building, into the back lane.
As they exit, Samael is reminded of the Werewolf incident from a year ago.
And then they find Levie, face down in a heap of discarded furniture. He appears to have been thrown from a
moving vehicle. Samael immediately calls on the Life Arcanum to heal the Proximus, who yells in pain and
surprise as he comes to.
"WHERE ARE THEY?" - Levie, wild
"Levie. Tell us what happened" - Samael, businesslike
"They jumped me from behind. I heard the target - Rice - yell out. I think... They did something to me. But I'm
over it" (nods) "Okay" - Levie
He runs off.
"Is he normally that..?"
"Energised? I may have overhealed him" - Samael
Levie runs out into the main road at a right-angle to the back lane, and is nearly run over by a passing car.
Which he starts beaing on the bonnet with using his fists
"YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!?" - Levie, incandescent with rage
Samael catches up and grabs him
"Levie! Calm down!" - Samael
Levie tries - and fails - to punch him. Magog, though, is much larger, and soon has him in a hold
"Okay. Smeone got up a little fiesty" - Magog
Samael scrutinises Levie, and feels a terrible chill down his spine.
He's felt this resonance before. Levie has been Echo Walkered - by Vahishta.
Magog casts Suppress Other's Life on Levie, rendering him safe, while Samael explains the very bad news
"Ball monkeys. Monkeys. With balls. Do we go straight after them or call for backup?" - Samael
He's starting to get text messages from Mystagogue retainers. Key has gone missing.
Samael phones Logos
"Red alert. Echo Walers incoming. Where are you?" - Samael
"In a cafe, halfway to Bede's What's happened?" - Logos
Magog is phoning the rest of the Cabal
...
"Too far. You want to pull over and I can Portal us?" - Excalibur
"Yeah. Let's flag down Cobra and company - they can take the van back" - Cobalt
Some negotiation ends up in Quark opening a portal and the cabal's transport taken car of.
...
A few minutes later, and the alley is much fuller.
"So. How long ago did they take our artist?" - Cobalt
"An hour maybe?" - Samael
"I hate to mention this, but Vahishta doesn't need a Moros. How close is he to Awakening?" - Cobalt
"No way to tell for sure, but we thought he was really close" - Samael
"Any magical trauma could set him off" - Magog
"Like being soul-ripped, as for example" - Samael
Cobalt and Sef cast postcognition. They see, fifty minutes earlier, a van pull up. Four people get out and make
sure the area is secure - Vahishta (who they've seen in postcognition before), a younger couple and an older,
battle-hardened man. The young woman gets into the drivers sea. Vahishta and the older Echo Walker (who
turns out to be Michael) discuss the plan. Apparently, "The Old Man" said that this was the place. The Echo
Walkers use their Attainments, smash into the house and grab Rice - Suppress Others Life renders Rice
unconscious, while Levie is soul-ripped when he tries to fight back. Then they roar off into the distance.
But at least Cobalt and Sef get the numberplate.
Sef casts a Fate-based Mage Sight. Excalibur is *covered* in butterflies.
"Cal, could you move out of the way? You're blocking my view" - Persephone
Cal gives her the look of 'I'll explain later', while Sef tries to see if there's a way to track the enemy. With no
luck.
"Okay. I suggest we get as many people as we can and..." - Excalibur
"Start scrying?" - Cobalt
"That might set them off - if they've taken Key hostage they might execute it if they detect a window" Excalibur
"Why Key?" - Samael
"The Old Man must be Bede. He told them where this is. You haven't been poking Bede with sticks, have you?" Cobalt
"No, but Logos is on her way." - Samael
He calls her again
"Hang tight. We're coming to meet you - Bede may be in on this, and we should all go as a group" - Samael
"We can ask him what they want, although I can guess. If I'm supposed to be back here now..." - Excalibur
"The worm?" - Cobalt
"The worm" - Excalibur
And that's all for this time! Next time - The Echo Walkers, Penshaw monument, Bad Touch attacks and at least one
person being beheaded.
1.
Where Does It Go?
Interlude: Where Does It Go?
Part One: Mind the Gap
Pandora waits at the tube platform, checking the crowd for Guy Fawkes masks, fingering the casing of the Juryrigged pda-turned-SMG in her pocket.
"Penelope. You look tense"
Ashlar looks like Ashlar always looks - rumpled, open shirt over a T-shirt (concession made, this late in January,
to the cold in the way of a faded duffel coat and a woolly hat that covers his wild hair). A face built for laughing
on a body made for relaxing.
"For God's sake, Rufus, at least tell me you're armed"
"More triggers than the Imperial War Museum. And don't worry, we're not going to get attacked today"
The train pulls up, and they join the crowd.
"You heard about the visit next week? Carlos and his friends are in town, talking to the boss" she whispers in
ancient Greek
"Lets hope it goes better than last time they met"
"That's not what you wanted to see me about?"
He shakes his head softly
"Mozart was killed last night. Masks"
She swears, blinking back tears as she tries to control herself in the crowd. Glaring at the few commuters who
are looking, she masks her Aura, feeling the numb deadening of Stygia wash over her pain.
"How many more? Damnit. He was good"
"He was a Guardian"
"That doesn't mean anything! We're all just Diamond to those..."
Ashlar is shaking his head. THIS is what he wanted to talk to her about.
"No - no. Dora, listen to me. You've not been attacked. *I've* not been attacked..."
"Because we're linked to the Auric Horizon. Kosciej doesn't want to risk..."
"Risk what? Catherine having a tantrum? Jeremiah losing all objectivity? Rex losing his link to the Diamond? No.
I've been watching.. Everyone they've hit. And everyone they haven't. Last November - when you were with
Gareth? They ran him out of town but they didn't touch YOU"
"Because I'm on 'Mister K's List'" A flare of bitterness escapes the spell.
"But who *else* is? I've been looking at the Gap in who's been targetted, and" (he leans closer, conspiratorial)
"I think it's bigger than the two of us. Not one Mystagogue has been hurt. Intimidated, sure. Scared out of town,
some of the kids. But not murdered. Not even assaulted"
"You think... What? Cadacaeus has cut a deal?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out"
1.
Where Does It Go?
Part Two: Aftermath
"Not joining the party?"
Boudicca's voice makes Djehuty jump. The Apostate clutches the file he's holding to his chest, visibly tries to
calm himself and looks around for the Strategos.
Boudicca is leaning in a doorway, shadowed. She says something else, but the celebrations nearby hit a loud
cheer, and he misses it.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked if you knew anyone that we lost"
Her lip curls in a sneer and Djehuty sweats. Boudicca did know some of the casualties. That much he's aware
of. Looking to take it out on someone, and who better than the untrusted traitor?
"We suffered losses, but the.. uh... We have valuable intelligence. The Seers are broken in the city, now.
Without the Hub, they're..."
She cuts him off, chopping the air with her hand
"Spare me. I take it that file is some of your Valuable Intelligence?"
She reaches for it, and he hugs it tighter.
"Please. Boudicca, please... I've been asked to take this to Kosciej"
"Kosciej. Kosciej, Kosciej, KOSCIEJ"
She shoves past him, storming off, scattering the file to the floor. Djehuty drops to his knees and scrambles to
collect it all, shoving it back into the binder. He glances the way she went, making sure she's out of earshot.
"I'm sorry. For everything"
1.
Where Does This Go?
Part Three: Missing Pieces
"I'm sorry, Master, but those documents are sealed"
Ashlar frowns, tapping a pencil on his notepad. The desk in front of him, deep in the Library of St John, is loaded
with records. Cabals. Consilii.
"Why?"
The Proximus blinks, nervous. Ashlar has the impression she's never been asked that before.
More than that. She's pale. Looks like she hasn't seen sunlight in a long while. Probably sleeps somewhere in
here. For safety.
"I... Don't know, Master Ashlar. It is in a room marked with a Heirophant seal"
"So go get Tiresias"
"I... Ah.. Uh..."
She shifts from one foot to the other.
Ashlar smiles, as gently as he can manage.
"Spit it out, girl"
"I already went to Master Tiresias, Master. He said... Uh... He said that he wouldn't open it for you"
"He said that?"
"He said that there were things in there you weren't supposed to know, and that it would bring too much
danger on your head for him to accept"
Ashlar sits back. Takes that in. Huh.
"Well, then. I must accept the word of one deeper in the Mystery than I, mustn't I?"
The Proximus (Juliet?) shifts again, unsure if she was meant to answer that
"Thank you Juliet" (definitely Juliet) "That will be all"
She flees, and Ashlar doesn't blame her. Doesn't want to get caught between two of the Awakened.
Ashlar gets up, feeling his bones creak. Getting old.
He walks into the Bibliographic wing, cheerfully waving hello to the Librarian on duty.
"Too much danger for him to accept", he mutters to himself
"Master? Can I help you?"
It's Juliet, again. Ashlar looks around, realises that he's come to the sealed door.
He smiles
"About my request"
Ashlar reaches out, finds Arcadia, waiting, like an old friend. Feels the power pour down, through the Abyss into
the World. Shapes it in his mind. Lets it go.
There's a smell of dust as his Nimbus flares. Juliet stares, frozen. Hung in the moment.
Too much danger
He regards the door.
"Bugger Tiresias"
Ashlar steps over the rapidly-crumbling dust that used to be a sealed door, and looks around the shelves for his
book.
1.
Where Does This Go?
Part Four: The first sign of madness
Djehuty, file under his arm, approaches the inner sanctum. When he sees who's on guard outside he mentally
curses his luck.
Brianna. Fresh down from Manchester with a doubly wounded pride - for being jumped by Persephone and for
missing the attack. Left behind by Kosciej, sent off and allowed to be humiliated while he concentrated on the
job at hand.
Frankly, Djehuty thinks, she's lucky to be alive.
"He wanted this" he says, as flatly as he can manage.
"What is it?"
"None of your business"
"But yours?" She prickles
Djehuty lets himself smirk, pure imitation Brianna
"Yeah. Guess you're not in the loop on this one"
And, feeling the tattered remains of his ego swell a little, he slips past her and enters Kosciej's study.
The lich is sat, fingers steeped, keenly examining a chess board. The game is in play.
"Kosciej?"
He reaches out and takes the file from Djehuty. Flips it open and runs a finger down a page, scanning it
"Well done, Djehuty. Thank you - and thank Allendro for retrieving it"
Djehuty pauses on his way back out
"Something else?"
"Solemn is still demanding to see you"
"Ignore them. Solemn is no longer an obstacle. If he insists on making demands, have him kept in a coma until
the Surgeon arrives"
"But... You've spent so long fighting him. Aren't you even going to go down there?"
There is a long silence.
"Thank you, Djehuty, that will be all"
Kosciej goes back to looking at his chess board. Djehuty swallows, considers speaking up again, thinks better of
it and leaves.
Kosciej blinks.
-A late challenger arrives. What do you think?-You're asking my advice?His opponent reaches out and picks up a piece. Kosciej blinks, feelig the wooden token in his fingers.
-We don't have time for distraction. We need to shut this down quicklyHe feels her guide his hand to make the move, then considers his response.
-There's a way to do it quickly and easily...He looks up at his opponent.
Daimon!Persephone sits back in her own chair, opposite him, and smoothes her skirt.
-...Kill her. Today.-
1.
Where Does This Go?
Part Five: Rufus Jackson, Two-Fisted Mystagogue
Ashlar's mobile phone rings. The caller ID says "Cadacaeus"
"Jackson"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Hello, sir"
He holds the earpiece away from his head. Partly in case the Obrimos attempts an attack using sound waves.
Mostly just so he doesn't have to hear the Councillor whine.
After two minutes, he returns the phone to speaking position
"Finished?"
"No - YOU'RE Finished. The Censors will be with you shortly"
A click. He hung up.
Ashlar shrugs and waves at the phone, reducing it to a dessicated lump of plastics and heavy metals.
He clicks the button on a Dictaphone.
"Notes. Tiresias hasn't said anything. I stole from his library, and Cadacaeus is the one to lay down the
demands. Interesting..."
He leafs through the books, speed-reading them, allowing Fate to guide him to revelant pages.
"Consilium Records. Noting Awakenings in the community... Cabal histories of our own Order... What does this
have to do with..?"
He slaps the book flat with a hand, open on a page.
"Wait. Not our order. The Library's a Censorium. These are Veil records"
There's the sound of an explosion, far below
"Also, need to transfer money to landlord's account for the building's front door"
.
The Censors kick in the door to Ashlar's apartment 78 seconds later. They take in the room - the petrified
woman. The Post-Singularity Globe.
The words, burnt into the rug, "Better Luck Next Time!"
.
Three hours later, Ashlar enters a public phonebox in Reading. He carefully dials the number from memory,
grinning to himself.
Just the clothes on his back, and the knowledge in his brain.
He feels alive.
"Gawain? Yeah. It's Ashlar. Cadacaeus probably isn't in a mood to see you right now, but never mind that. I've
got a little job for you..."
1.
Where Does This Go?
Part Six: Threats
In the dead of night, when the revellers have gone to sleep, Kosciej stalks the Precedent's Sanctum.
He opens the door to the fire stairs, making sure his mask is in place, and begins to climb.
--London never really sleeps. The city breathes, like an animal, strange night-time noises echoing hollow around
the buildings that are its thousand limbs. Kosciej is a speck on the roof of one of them, looking out. The Tate.
the Gherkin.
A speck of dust dressed for Bonfire night.
Beyond this point, he's committed. There is no stopping it.
He takes off his mask.
The sounds of the city stop.
"Hello"
His voice is mild. Not shouting - speaking as though to someone close by.
"Normally, when I get the chance to speak like this to an enemy, I let them know that it's not personal. They
were simply in my way. That I regretted it, but that I had no choice.
Tonight is different.
I know you know what I'm planning. I know you can't or won't do anything until I act first, except send your
slaves against me and mine. Your slaves have failed. They're on the run, and won't regroup in time to stop me.
I'm afraid, oh mighty rulers of the universe, that you're going to have to get your hands dirty yourselves.
Except, of course, you won't. You'll wait for me to act, then smite me when you can. You have to trust that I'll
fail.
I am a man of the Fallen World. I was born November 5th 1871. I am.. Still, and forever.. Human.
I get the first shot.
And I won't miss"
Bowing, he puts the mask back on.
To be Continued!
1.
Cast List
Cast List
The Auric Horizon
Cobalt, Free Council Moros Digger. Peacemaker, diplomat and scientist.
Samael, Mystagogue Obrimos Sphinx. Symbologist, and Exarch-botherer
Persephone, Free Council Acanthus Parliamentarian of the Needle. Accidentally caught up in the machinations
of dead men.
Magog, Free Council Moros. An ex-Seer of Praetorian, engineer and bodyguard.
Symmetry, Free Council Thyrsus. Vet, voice of reason and Cobalt's Fiancee.
D!Kosiej, the shadow in Persephone's mind. Kosciej's sense of self-mocking humor.
The Nameless
Kosciej, Free Council Mastigos Parliamentarian of the Needle. Lich, body-thief and war-leader against the
Diamond. Has a Plan.
Djehuty, Mystagogue Moros Sheild of Osiris. Kosciej's servant and dogsbody.
Brianna, Free Council Acanthus Parliamentarian of the Needle. Kosciej's apprentice, PR-girl for the Nameless.
Boudicca, Free Council Obrimos. Strategos of the War-Column against the Diamond.
D!Persephone, the shadow in Kosicej's mind. Persephone's sense of duty and hard work.
The Pendragon
Nimue, Apostate Obrimos. Being trained in all five orders. Has an extremely significant destiny.
Gawain, Free Council Acanthus Child of the Hour. Formerly "Rodriguez"; Driver, pilot and all-round action man
and bon vivant.
Excalibur, Adamantine Arrow Obrimos Tamer of Fire. Hero, duellist, Sentinal and leader.
Haruspex, Mystagogue Moros Oracle of the Lost. Diviner, Seer and Religious Historian.
Adder, Guardian of the Veil Mastigos Concordat of Serpents. Tempter, Investigator and hunter of the LeftHanded.
Taliesin, Silver Ladder Thyrsus. Heirarch-without-a-Consilium, Lictor and Diplomat.
Other Storyteller Characters
Abbot, Silver Ladder Councillor of Durham
Adam Goode, The original Echo Walker, long deceased
Aegis, Durham-based Adamantine Arrow Moros specialising in defensive spells
Agaric, Durham-based Mystagogue herbalist
Aquila, Sef's ex-boyfriend. Adamantine Arrow Thyrsus. Has a Falcon as a Familiar
Archimedes, Sef's former Familiar, a fear spirit bonded to her by Solemn. Deceased.
Archon, Echo Walker and Archaeomancer. Killed by Excalibur
Ashlar, two-fisted Mystagogue, Archaeomancer and Cobalt's mentor
Atia, Guardian of the Veil in Durham
Aurora, Heirarch of Durham, Adamantine Arrow Obrimos Tamer of Fire and former RAF officer
Baal, a Cousin of Mictlan.
Babel, Mastigos Libertine in Durham, keeper of the Lorehouse
Balam, Arrow Thyrsus from Mexico. Shapechanger.
Banneker, Silver Ladder Obrimos, former Heirarch of Washington DC
Bede, Mysterium Moros Stone Scribe. Former Mysterium Councillor in Durham, now exiled.
Breaker, Arrow member of the Smoke Eaters
Brunel, a Libertine member of the Canarvon Consilium, based in Bristol
Cadaceus, Mysterium Councillor in London. Thrice-Great.
Cat, Mysterium Reclamator in Durham
Chayot, Mysterium Echo Walker, Samael's first Mentor, now deceased.
Choke, Arrow Thyrsus, member of the Smoke Eaters
Chronos, a Cousin of Mictlan. Moros, Second-Degree Master and builder of Gateways to Other Realms
Cicero, Guardian of the Veil Epotet for Durham, killed by Kosciej
Cinder, a Mage attending the Paris Convocation
Civitas, Heirarch of London. Guardian of the Veil Mastigos.
Cobra, Leader of the Smoke Eaters, a Libertine Cabal in Middlesborough
Cognos, Free Council Mastigos. Cobalt and Persephone's first Mentor
Constantine, Silver Ladder Councillor of London
Crowley, a friend of Cognos' in the Canarvon Consilium
Cup, a french Mage from Paris
Cuthbert, Silver Ladder mage from Durham
Cxaxa Querephas, Demon-Queen of an ancient Hyperborean kingdom, bearer of the Robe of the Dethroned
Queen, now reincarnated into the body of her own descendent.
Decurian, Sentinal from Durham, comitted suicide to try to frame the Free Council.
Dervish, Moroccan Arrow mage and Sufi Muslim.
Dowse, Mystagogue traitor and Bede's accomplice. Executed.
Duma, Mystagogue adventurer and Archaeomancer, also an Echo Walker. Pattern-Scoured to death in an
Atlantean Temple.
Ebony, Keeper of the Washington DC Aetheneum.
Eddington, Silver Ladder, Hades' old tutor. Formerly of the Cambridge Consilium, now in Canarvon
Emil, Paris Silver Ladder Councillor
Escher, a mage attending the paris Convocation
Exodite, a Daksha in the Canarvon Consilium
Fomalhaut, Thrice-Great from Durham
Fransesque, Paris Mystagogue Councillor
Gabrielle, Parisian Silver Ladder Lictor and Artifact Specialist.
Galatea, a Cousin of Mictlan, has been in a coma since Kosciej's escape
Gaul, a mage in the Paris Consilium
Gaunt, Guardian of the Veil paramedic and remover of evidence.
George, Mystagogue from Paris Consilium. Obsessed with the Knights Templar.
Germaine, a mage in the Paris Consilium
Gloriana (Aeon), Aeon (Astral Arcana-Spirit) of Time
Gloriana (mage), a mage in the Durham Consilium.
Hades, Former Silver ladder, now Guardian of the Veil from Cambridge. His body was stolen by Kosciej, but he
llingers as an Astral Ghost in mictlan.
Hastur, Silver Ladder Obrimos in Paris, and Gabrielle's boyfriend.
Hatfield, Silver ladder Lictor in Durham
Hob, member of the Cambridge Consilium.
Isator, Strategos in the Libertine attack on Cambridge, now provisional Heirarch of the city
Jean, member of the Paris Consilium
Joan, member of the Durham Consilium
Juliet, proximus working in the London Aetheneum
Juliet Brown, an Echo Walker, author of a Daimonicon that transfers the Legacy to the reader
Karen Newton, a Werewolf, formerly resident in Newcastle
Key, Mysterium Obrimos Daksha, keeper of the Durham Aetheneum
Lamorak, Irish Acanthus wheelman
Lankin, Seer of the Throne Thyrsus, and leader of Durham's Seers.
Levi, Proximus servant of the Durham Mysterium
Limnal, a member of the Durham Consilium
Logos, Mystagogue Sphinx in Durham
Loki, Sentinal of Durham
Lux, Free Council Obrimos in Durham
Memento, Archaeomancer from San Diego, expert in High Speech and written Atlantean
Mercury, Echo Walker, former apprentice of Vahista
Militas, Adamantine Arrow from Durham
Mnemsis, Logophage from Cambridge. Executed by the Paris Convocation.
Mordred, Aeon (Astral Arcana-spirit) of Fate. A collosal dick.
Morvran, Mystagogue Councillor of Canarvon.
Mycroft, Guardian of the Veil Interfector and private investigator from Washington DC
Nico, Parisian mage. Obsessed with George
Nimue (original), Welsh Seer of the Throne masquerading as both a Mystagogue in the Canarvon Consilium
and an Apostate. Killed by Adder.
Olympus, Silver Ladder Councillor of Copenhagen
Orchid, Mystagogue Thyrsus and Archaeomancer from San Diego
Pandora, Mysterium Adventuress and Archaeomancer. Samael's girlfriend.
Pascal, member of the Paris Consilium
Pathstrider, Legendary Sphinx and lover of the Archmaster Sophia.
Peter Rice, Sleepwalker and synesthetic artist
Promethea, Free Council Mastigos from Washington DC
Porthos, Adamantine Arrow Echo Walker and Mercenary
Postulant, a member of the Sphinx Legacy, based in the Seattle Consilum
Pythagoras, Free Council Acanthus. Killed by Dowse.
Quark, Free Council Mastigos Thredonist, chairman of the Durham Assembly
Quiet, Mystagogue Moros and Vahishta's servant. Killed by the cabal.
Richeliu, keeper of the Paris Consilum
Rivet, a member of the Canarvon Consilum
Roach, a Guardian of the Veil in the Paris Consilium
Samson, Ashlar's old apprentice. Killed by Seers in Brazil.
Scribe, Bede's former apprentice and Stone Scribe. Herald of the Durham Consilium.
Solarious, Free Council Obrimos and Heirarch of Manchester
Solemn, Guardian of the Veil Thyrsus, Logophage and former Heirarch of Cambridge. Now the prisoner of the
London Free Council.
Sophia, Archmaster of Forces, formerly a Mystagogue
Sybil, member of the Durham Consilium
The King of the Sea, a hybridised Ghost-Spirit genius locii in the Newcastle Quayside.
The Lambton Worm, creature from the Supernal Realm of Aether, mutated by the Abyss and trapped in the
Fallen World. Drawn to purity and fire, it attempts to heal those around it by "fixing" people who have had their
creative impulse gone wrong and are disgusted at the result, trapping them out of phase with the world in the
process.
The Minotaur, creature from the Supernal Realm of Pandemonium, summoned to preserve Cxaxa Querephas'
soul and mind after death.
The Smiling Gentleman, unknown entity that delivered a litter of Barghests to Karen Newton
Tiresias, Mystagogue Acanthus and Sphinx, keeper of the London Aetheneum and Samael's mentor.
Una, member of the Durham Consilium.
Usher, member of the Cambridge Consilium and Brianna's former mentor.
Vahishta, Echo Walker Mystagogue, fled the Edinburgh Consilium when declared Left-Handed.
Venus, Echo Walker. Vahishta's apprentice, Mercury's sister-lover
Vernator, Admantine Arrow tracker and manhunter in the Durham Consilium
Vidocq, Heirarch of Paris
Viper, Member of the Smoke Eaters. Cobra's sidekick.
Warden, a mage in the Durham Consilium
Xolotl, guardian-spirit of Mictlan. Destroyed.
1.
Deeper Underground
"Deeper Underground"
Session 11.1
Welcome back, faithful and patient readers! And so we launch ourselves nobly towards the big finish. This story is a
clearing-house, a sweeping of the decks and a removal of most of our also-ran bad guys. The cabal and their allies sink
deeper into the hole and fight, constantly, for the next four sessions. There will be blood. Some of it theirs.
Dave2: Cobalt's decline into rage at the idiocy of some people, laid out in black and white. As Magog would say:
"Awesome".
We begin right where we left off - the Cabal have just stormed out of the safehouse the Echo Walkers kidnapped Peter
Rice (Sleepwalker and possibly Awakening in the near future) from.
"Cal. Magog. Can you two work on a Portal to Lindesfarne?" - Samael
Cobalt taps at his phone, bringing a Googlemap of the area up.
"I'm getting the traffic camera for the Causeway" - Cobalt
Because it bears repeating, as it'll become important. Lindesfarne / Holy Island, the place Bede was exiled to, is only
an island off the coast of the UK for about half the day. There's a causeway at low tide that has the access road for the
island running over it. It's kind of a three-street, one-horse town, limited by the tiny size of the island and the fact that
drivers heading for it need to pay attention to the tides. In the setting, the island is Bede's territory, but he can't get
*off* it without crossing into the Consilium's, where he's under a deferred death sentence. And he doesn't know the
Space Arcanum.
But in terms of magical society, the island is his. And he specifically denies the Right of Crossing.
Still, he came out much better than Dowse from the whole thing. Dowse got rendered down into Tass.
One Portal later, and the gang cross to a Layby near the turning for the causeway, where cars are supposed to
wait. Logos is here, perched on the hood of her car, coat collar up against the cold as the sun goes down.
"Aloha" - Logos
"Have you seen a van go by?" - Persephone
"Causeway's closed for the night. It's been closed for about an hour. There was a Tesco delivery van that came
and went" - Logos
"The van we're looking for is not from Tesco" - Persephone
"Villains changing getaway vehicles halfway through? Outrageous. What was Key doing when it went missing?"
- Cobalt
"It was just at home as far as we can tell. Is Levie okay?" - Logos
"He's currently dead, but he'll get better" - Magog
They lift the unconscious Sleepwalker into Logos' car.
Meanwhile, in Mictlan, the Cousins search for any clues of how the Nameless got into their part of Mictlan
"What do you want to do?" - Logos
"I don't particularly want to wait until low tide. But another Portal will just slow us down even more" - Cobalt
"Can anyone sort us out a Jesus?" - Excalibur
I just felt "walking on water" should have a slang term for it. And that Cal should know it
"Not that kind of power" - Samael
"Freeze it" - Persephone
"Repeated use of Vulgar magic. Three castings in and I'll be manifesting scars" - Cobalt
"While I can levitate, I can't make *everyone* Levitate" - Samael
"We need to look up the Tides then" - Persephone
There is a flurry of iphone-checking.
"I have... An idea. Are there any Ghosts around?" - Cobalt
Cobalt casts Grim Sight and bestows the Mage sight on Cal, Logos and Samael. Symmetry casts Peer Across
the gauntlet, Magog and Sef their own Grim Sights.
Cobalt peers into Twilight, walking slowly down to the shore.
"Samael. How good would we have to be to control the tide?" - Excalibur
"Not a Jesus. A Moses" - Cobalt
"We have three Adepts here" - Excalibur
"One person walking a dog will cause us a world of misery, though" - Samael
Cobalt, though, has just found the Ghost of a Fisherman. Sticking out of the sand, in the material world, are a
few ribs of his small boat.
"Hello? Don't mind if we borrow this, do you?" - Cobalt
To everyone else, Cobalt seems to be pulling the Ghostly boat out of the ground, attracting it to him like a
magnet with iron filings. He uses one Attainment to reform it in Twilight, smoothing over the hole, and then
another Attainment to bring it into Physical reality.
Suddenly, there is a boat
"Oars?" - Persephone
"Don't need them. I can act as an on-board motor" - Excalibur
"Big enough for all of us, too, although I think someone may have to sit in my lap" - Cobalt, grinning at
Symmetry
"Just when I was going to suggest an air bubble" - Persephone
"Boat is the best option" - Samael
"Also; cool" - Magog
The Ghost anchored to the boat stands at the very prow. All climb aboard, and Cal gently nudges the water
currents to "drift" across the channel to Holy Isle. The whole process is eerily silent; a covert entrance to Bede's
domain.
"What do we do when we land?" - Persephone, quiet
"See the lights of the village? His house is in there" - Logos
"Won't he know if we've landed?" - Persephone
"Only if he's got a lookout" - Samael
"Not Spiritually" - Symmetry
The boat reaches the other side. Which coincidentally resolves the Ghost's final task. With an inrush of
ectoplasm, he sighs and drops from the real world into the Underworld.
"A good deed. And we get to keep the boat" - Cobalt
A cool use of Cobalt's Attainments here, and a lead-in to something over the course of this story. Ghosts are becoming
important to our narrative.
Bede's house is right at the edge of the far end of the village, next to the ruined monastery. As the Cabal pass
through, they note a number of the local Ghosts (monks, tourists, villagers...) have been collared.
"Let's free them..." - Persephone
Cobalt shakes his head
"Not all bindings are unreasonable. Remember the house in France. Unfettered they were drawing people in
and killing them. Bede is... a dick, but making use of the local ghosts? Not that bad" - Cobalt
"Plus they might not have been ordered to report back. If we start breaking the bindings it may alert him" Samael
The lights in Bede's house are on - it's an unremarkable stone cottage.
Cobalt tries the doorbell. The door is opened by an old lady wearing a dressing gown. Cobalt remembers - too
late - accidentally phoning Bede's wife one time. Funny, how you forget these things.
Logos steps forward, smiling
"Hello Jocelyn. Is Michael in?" - Logos
"However did you get on the island this late?" - Jocelyn
"Unattended boat. We'll put it back" - Cobalt
"You should be careful, young man. That channel is dangerous" - Jocelyn, frowning
They are shown into the kitchen, and offered tea and biscuits. Eventually, Bede emerges.
Wearing his dressing gown. And 'Mr Happy' slippers.
Cobalt casts Aura Perception. Bede is *not* happy. Once his wife leaves, the Heirophant allows himself to
openly scowl.
"This is my house" - Bede, dangerous
"Quite correct. We were in the area and wondering if you had any visitors recently. Specifically old
acquaintances. Vahishta?" - Cobalt
"Chayot's old apprentice?" - Bede
"She may have just abducted someone. Key" - Cobalt
"Well.. That is a shame. You should get after them" - Bede
Persephone scowls
"Okay. We'll do it the open way. You knew Key's location. You know the location of the Mysterium's safehouses.
You could have given them both. Rice - the artist - he was taken from your order's protection. We need to move
quickly or someone's Awakening will burn on the fire of another's madness" - Cobalt
"Yes. Vahishta was here. She wanted to speak to Chayot" - Bede
Most people - forgetting Bede's attainments - look blank. Cobalt whistles, impressed.
Stone Scribe, remember?
"...Did she?" - Cobalt
"That's private. But I might be able to hazard a guess as to where she is. Depends on what kind of recompense
you're talking about" - Bede
"I'm given to understand someone here was planning to act as a Bailiff, reacquiring certain items that weren't
handed over in the change of leadership. It might be possible they could be ticked off as personal loans..?" Cobalt
Logos looks at Samael, worried.
"For that, we'd need to talk to Key" - Samael
"You see our circular dilemma?" - Cobalt
"I've known Vahishta for many years without trouble, and I never signed that declaration you shoved through in
Paris" - Bede
"Indeed, as a free agent you are unbound by any Convocation our Consilium attends" - Cobalt
"She is conducting an experiment. After which she will leave" - Bede
"Yes. Reminds me: when do you think the worm will arise?" - Cobalt
Bede grimaces. He really doesn't like the Worm. It's offensive to his Legacy.
"The worm won't be a problem if Vahishta succeeds" - Bede
"Really? You think you've found a way to break it?" - Cobalt
"Her doing so was the Right Exchange. Vahishta and her friends will deal with the worm in exchange for being
introduced to the Newcastle Mystagogues" - Bede
"So you've sold our Mystagogues to a Left Handed Legacy?" - Persephone, outraged
"They're not Left Handed here" - Bede, smirking
Persephone sits on her hands to stop herself slapping him.
Cobalt muses, muttering to himself
"The books I have here are mine by rank and privalege. They don't belong to your Aetheneum; they belong to
me" - Bede
"I don't have an Aetheneum, and they won't even tell me what they are" - Cobalt
"You'll have to give me something else" - Bede
"What could you want? Sun. Sea Air. Tesco Van once a week and a ruin to conduct your research in" - Cobalt
Sef is clearly biting her tongue
"We could play guessing games. They'll have to summon the worm to kill it... Key could be the bait. Not the
mine. Does the strata of this island connect..? No... Vahishta's mind is twisted... Where..?" - Cobalt, to himself
He looks up
"Tell me. Do you have a brick cellar or stone? We're not certain how it passes through different materials, but
this could be an unfortunate place to be if the worm attacks. Just ask Cat" - Cobalt
"If you fail and Vahishta kills you, she has sworn to me that she will destroy the worm. If you win, the worm will
be roused and you'll have to fight it again" - Bede
"On the other hand, we have a plan for dealing with it. Vahishta is a lunatic, while we've consulted with an
Archmaster" - Samael
"We have a plan" - Cobalt
"Well, then, you know how to bind it. the King of the Sea told you that. You need someone to kill it and then
murder the first person he sees. That'll bind it properly" - Bede
"My understanding is that someone did that before" - Samael
"Yes. It only lasts until the person binding it dies, then it gets out again. But that would give you enough time to
experiment..." - Bede
The old man thinks
"If I tell you where Vahishta is, you let me take the Name of whoever dies to bind the beast" - Bede
"That would be a question for the person killed" - Cobalt
"But you'll have a chance of seeing it" - Samael
"I like Vahishta's plan. It's a good plan" - Bede
"Why am I not surprised you're in favour of something conjured up by a bunch of soul-eating lunatics?" -
Samael
"In the past, you haven't given us the benefit of the doubt" - Cobalt
"You were trained by Chayot. You know how methodical he was" - Bede
"I also know how maniacal Vahishta is, and the nature of her experiments" - Samael
"She gets results" - Bede
"Some results aren't worth getting. That's why we're the way we are. You forgot that" - Samael
"That THING needs killing. And Vahishta - far more respected, far deeper in the Order than you are. I trust her
more than you, thinking you've met an archmaster" - Bede, mocking
"You've lost your perspective, and you're now deluding yourself" - Samael
"What makes you so certain you can trust her? She wants to use his Awakening for something..." - Cobalt
"We're not Free Councillors. She gave me her word and I believe her" - Bede
"You're right. We're not Libertines. But YOU forgot that - you forgot that when you betrayed..." - Samael
"That thing..." (pauses) "You are insulting me in my own house. Trade or get out" - Bede
"I can't agree to it" - Cobalt
"You had your chance. Leave" - Bede
"And you had yours. Rot in hell" - Samael
Samael gets up.
"My thanks to your lady for the tea" - Cobalt
"I'm sorry you came this way for nothing" - Bede, not remotely sorry
"You think I got nothing from that?" - Cobalt, amused
Dave2: I liked this line. I have visions of Bede staying up awake that night, re-examining the conversation in minute
detail to try and figure out what he gave away by accident.
It wasn't altogether a nice thing to say, but Bede really deserved it.
They leave and begin heading back to the boat.
"Now we're outside, can someone tell me why we're playing nice with him?" - Persephone
"He can't get off this island. If it's connected to the strata the worm moves through, he's dead. If it isn't, he's
perfectly safe from it" - Cobalt
"He's not abandoned. He's in a loving relationship with his wife, even if she doesn't know what's going on" Logos
"It isn't abandonment. It's the twisting of whatever relationship they have" - Persephone
"Regardless. If we kill him, what do we gain. He's a sad old man" - Samael
"The worm is attracted to a positive emotion suddenly twisted into revulsion. It went for Cat when Dowse
betrayed her" - Logos
"If he's not willing to play ball. If he has NO remorse for the shit he's done..." - Samael
"He's never given us an even break" - Cobalt
"Right back to your apprenticeship, remember?" - Excalibur
"Oh I remember. When he crosses the line..." - Samael
"He's already crossed it!" - Persephone
"That's not for us to decide" - Cobalt
"Why not!?" - Persephone
"Do you *want* to go back and kill him?" - Samael
"No! But we're too nice! He's not going to tell us anything!" - Persephone
"You say that, but if you don't want to be 'nice' you have to come up with something that you're willing to follow
through on" - Samael
"And roughing him up would look bad on the cv when we go up against Kosciej" - Cobalt
Ag: xD
"Once this is over we'll be back for what he's stolen. But that's not for tonight" - Samael
They reach the shore.
"Okay. The artist. Rice. His Awakening - they must be planning to Open him up when he Awakens, to get their
picture entirely unobstructed. The bargain was to make him the target, to deal with the worm..." - Cobalt
"If he Awakens as an Obrimos, while suffering in the way it feeds from, it could wake the Worm up" - Logos
"We know where it is" - Magog
"The Priory Rock" - Samael
"Assuming they're going to do it there, we need to get there before it happens. I know it's the sort of thing me
and Gawain do, but the time to rescue the prisoner is before the sacrifice, not during" - Excalibur
"If he's got any chance of not Awakening as a Banisher or one of the Mad, it's to not have his Awakening fucked
up" - Cobalt
"Why Key?" - Samael
"Because..." (using her Attainment) "Key could be the bait. Or might know something we could use" - Logos
"Key's an Obrimos?" - Persephone
"All Daksha are. It's the Master Race thing" - Magog
"The Uniforms are snazzy" - Samael
"The Echo Walkers have it too, with their Physical Prowess" - Cobalt
"We're just trying to drown out the gloom of the Moros" - Samael
"You add a letter to our path and you get morose" - Cobalt
"Alright. So, the Priory is a likely location for the ritual. They could be anywhere else, laying low until the proper
time. They could be in Azerbaijan" - Samael
"If Key knew something... Should we follow Key's movements? The Van?" - Cobalt
Persephone has a brainwave, and casts a Fate spell to pick the best route.
"I'm getting... Nothing. No clue. Could be because we're still on Bede's patch" - Persephone
"Okay. Let's get back across" - Cobalt
"Who has Space magics, and can we get to her through sympathy?" - Samael
"Sure, if she's not warded. Or Quark could do it if he's back by now" - Excalibur
Samael gets his phone out
"Drop him a text. Let's get to Key's house" - Cobalt
"I have a cunning plan of my own" - Persephone
She produces two items - a mug bearing the legend "monks do it out of habit" and a plastic Eiffel tower with a
thermometer in it
"Took these from Bede's kitchen" - Persephone
She casts Postcognition with the mug to her ear, listening to the sounds it's heard, back through time, looking
for Vahishta's voice.
While she's continually casting, they get in the boat and start moving. The water, though, gets low quickly. Very
low. The boat scrapes the bottom and then... beaches.
Someone is pulling all the water away and up from them.
Cobalt casts Control Liquid.
Samael, though, offers a Supernal Vision. Whoever's casting this isn't Bede.
"Seers" - Samael
Good guess! We'd gone this far without another Seer attack...
"Samael, we're sitting ducks out here" - Cobalt, grimacing
Cobalt is trying countermagic, but it's not working
The boat is now resting on wet sand, surrounded by a wall of water.
"No Scrying windows. They must be able to see us" - Excalibur
Samael peers around. There are only so many hiding places on the shore.
At which point, the Zombies emerge from the water
1.
Deeper Underground
Ag: It still makes me laugh, how we just sat in the boat being all 'wait - what?' and not entirely sure what we're
supposed to do.
"NO STYLE! NO TASTE! NO ORIGINALITY! FUCK YOU AND YOUR ZOMBIE MINIONS!" - Cobalt
Zombies carrying anchors. Well - chains. Anchors. Lumps of scrap metal.
Cobalt eyes the metal the Zombies are holding. To weigh them down? Anchor the boat? A little from both, he
decides
"Well" (drawing his sword) "At least it's not a lake this time" - Excalibur
"I've had enough of this bullshit. Time to make this boat fly" - Samael
He begins casting, while Magog knocks the first zombie to reach the boat off it's feet
Cobalt casts at the weighting material, degrading it. Smaller chains snap, metal rusts more than it is already.
"ARISE!" - Samael
And he bought Paradox down to a Chance die with Mana and tools. Paradox then rolled a Dramatic Failure
"Judge me by my size, do you?" - Magog
"Fuck you, Seers!" - Persephone
"Fuck you, Zombies!" - Symmetry
"Magog. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" - Cobalt, looking down at the soaking wet Zombies
"Water to Petrol?" - Magog
They do so. Then Excalibur, grinning, uses his Attainment and blasts them with fire.
The Cabal, in their flying boat, speed away from the flaming whirlpool. Whoever the Seer is, he gives up and
lets the Water go.
Across on the shore, there's a flash of Sunlight as the Seer exits via a Portal. Samael sets the boat down, and
everyone climbs out.
"That... Was actually not that bad a plan. They're learning" - Cobalt
"First guy fought hand to hand. This one fought like a Seer; from a distance, using expendable pawns. And
when it failed, he ran away and avoided being banished to Scunthorpe. This is sorting the Seers from the boys,
isn't it?" - Samael
They walk back up to Logos' car
"He probably saw the flying boat and figured he wasn't paid enough" - Samael
Cobalt casts Divination
Can we trace Key without Quark?: Yes, with enough Space mages working together he sees himself, checking
his watch
Where will we find Key?: He sees himself in the back of a van. Key's corpse is lying there.
"Oh.. Crap" - Cobalt
He tells them.
"Who's an Adept? How can we find him alive?" - Samael
Persephone casts Prophecy
How can they find Key? Stake out the Priory Rock until the Echo Walkers begin their ritual of evil, then go to the
van
But she's dead: Actually, she's just under a Supress Other's Life
How can we find Rice before he's Souljabbed: Temporal Error.
How can we find Rice before he's Awakened: Go to the Priory Rock
How can we get to them before the Ritual: Herself, casting Postcognition
"Okay. Back to Postcognition, then" - Persephone
"Logically. If it's something Sef will see scrying on Bede's house and we'd recognise if she told us, it would be
something we'd recognise" - Logos
"She wouldn't be stupid enough to be staying at the Priory Rock" - Cobalt
Sef finally gets a hit.
Reflected on the mug, she sees Vahishta and Bede sitting down.
Vahista hands Bede something
"Where did you GET this?" - Bede
The object appears to be a large metal coin
"Uriel bought it from the Cambridge Nameless" - Vahishta
Bede hands it back
"You've been wrong before. I've fed potentials to you before" - Bede
"I'm certain. This time it will work. The Scythe will do the job far better than our spells would - you'll find the
results impressive" - Vahishta
She pockets the coin
"I need to get going" - Vahishta
"Promise me you won't hurt Key" - Bede
"Every effort. But Michael sometimes gets carried away" - Vahishta
Sef recounts their words
"Anyone recognise it?" - Persephone
"If she went to him to identify it, it must be in the books he has, which means Key would know about it and be
able to identify it" - Logos
"Which is why she needed Key out of the way. Cambridge. Call Eddington?" - Cobalt
"Or Taliesin" - Excalibur
"Eddington left Cambridge months ago" - Persephone
"If one of Kosciej's minions sold this thing to the Echo Walkers..." - Magog
"Would you guys know anything?" - Symmetry, to Sef
[i]The Assorted Cousins shake their heads
-It's the Scythe- - Hades
Hooray for remembering Hades!
-The what?- - Persephone
-It's a mind weapon- - Hades
-The coin?- - Persephone
-It's an Imbued Item, creating by a Scelesti. If you press it to the forehead of someone who is astrally travelling,
it destroys the realm they're in- - Hades
-The whole Realm?- - Persephone
He nods
-Shreds their astral self and nukes the realm they're in. Of course, if it's a Temenos Realm it'll reform really
quickly, depending on how many people are aware of the concept of the realm, but if they're in the Oneiros it
can do serious damage to their soul, even destroy it- - Hades
-I.. cannot think of a use for such a thing- - Persephone
-All I know is it looks like a coin with Hyperborean symbols on one side- - Hades
"Hades says its a Nefandic Imbued item that destroys whatever astral realm the person it's used on is in" Persephone
"Would that destroy a Temenos realm?" - Cobalt
Logos shakes her head
"It it were a secret society with only three members? Might make them forget about it for a day or so while the
realm reforms. This sort of thing has been tried before. A major realm - something like Christmas? You can't kill
Christmas. Everyone on the planet would blank the concept for a minuscule fraction of a second, over before
you even know it" - Logos
"Could they kill Mictlan with it?" - Cobalt
Oh yeah, he went there
They consider
"What would it do if they were in a Supernal realm?" - Cobalt
"They could be trying to unclog the path..." - Samael
His and Logos' attainments both ping
"The Omphalamos! The Boundary stone keeping the Temenos and Anima Mundi apart!" - Logos
"Oh, *Hell*" - Cobalt
"It'll fuck Rice right up" - Samael
"How is this supposed to help us find her? Come on, guys" - Persephone
"I have.. No idea. Literally. None. Unless you can link to it, somehow" - Samael
"Don't we? We have an image, a name, a person in your head who's seen it. Sounds like a connection to me" Cobalt
"Quark" - Magog
"You guys?" (points to Magog and Excalibur) "Get on it" - Cobalt
"I can give anyone the memory of what it looks like" - Persephone
Excalibur and Magog cast New Threads
"Got them. They're at Penshaw - the hill the worm came from. They must be trying to build up a connection to it
beforehand. But scrying opens a window, and I don't know if any of them saw me. Me and Magog can chop our
way through Space, but it'll take half an hour" - Excalibur
"I'd like the Legion with us" - Cobalt
"Where to?" - Excalibur
"Call the Legion. Leave a message with Quark as well" - Cobalt
"I'll drive" - Logos
They pile into Logos' car. It's something of a squash, what with Levi in the boot (still temporarily dead). But they
do have Magog and Samael's bikes. Sef elects to ride on the back of Magog's bike.
Cobalt yawns
"Oh, you guys. We've been fighting Seers off all day, you've had a high-stakes trade dispute" - Magog
And off they go, Logos squinting at the road as the head South at speed.
They're roaring along, making progress. About 2am, there's the blare of a horn as a truck makes to overtake.
"Oh, hell" - Cobalt
You know that conversation about how magic turns a car chase into sheer carnage in under thirty seconds? You're
about to get it illustrated...
1.
Deeper Underground
Samael casts Supernal Vision. The Driver looks.. Strange. Not a Myrmidon. Though there are Myrmidons on
board.
Samael waves at the guys in the car, pointing back at the truck.
Cobalt is struck by a sudden thought and turns to look ahead.
The truck is starting to swing alongside them. There's a car ready to accelerate past the truck. And Cobalt has
just seen three Motorbikes waiting in a police acceleration layby ahead.
Persephone casts Temporal Stutter on the truck driver. He vanishes in a flash of blue light.
As do one of the bikers and the driver of the car.
Without a driver, the truck begins to jackknife. And someone casts Friction Knife on the wheels of Logos' car
"Fuuuuck!" - Samael
Logos swings the wheel, skidding as the car lifts onto it's side.
Samael slams the horn on his motorbike, and converts the light from his headlight to Fire, blasting one of the
bikers.
The car rocks to a halt, everyone inside it bashed around. The out of control truck is bearing down on them
"Don't resist! Please don't resist!" - Persephone
She casts Temporal Stutter on everyone in the car. They vanish.
The truck pancakes Logos' car. Magog swings around to a halt
One of the remaining bikers is trying to put himself out. The other is starting to drive down onto the road,
accelerating.
Samael narrows his eyes and quadruples the speed of the other man's motorbike. There's the scream of
rubber, and the biker is flung high into the air as hs bike hits a barrier at 250 miles per hour. He lands and rolls.
The one still with a bike puts himself out; clearly a Myrmidon from his weak Nimbus.
The driver-less Seer car crashes into the pileup.
Magog and Samael look at one another across the tarmac, both sitting on their bikes. The sheer amount of
carnage on display...
There's a flash of red light, and the rest of the group appear in the middle of the crash. They have a closer look
at the devastation - Myrmidons impaled on wreckage, twisted pieces of meat that used to be people. Another
flash of red light, and three identical men appear - one at the bikes, two where the truck and car were when
they vanished. They retain their momentum, and unlike the group they vanished into Time *before* their
vehicles stopped moving.
They are flung through the air and impact on the road, getting severely abraded.
Someone impaled in the wreckage starts screaming.
The Myrmidion who was flung off his bike begins shooting as Magog rounds the crash site. The newly-returned
last biker goes foetal with pain.
He's a Hive-Soul, and his two other bodies were the truck and car drivers. They've both just had a bad case of road
rash
A myrmidon trapped in the wreckage gasps something Cobalt can't quite hear to the screaming man, who
pants a word out. The Myrmidon shakily puts a gun in his own mouth and pulls the trigger.
The injured man is possessed. By an Urim.
"What the... FUCK. I mean..." - Cobalt, to the possessing Seer
He forces himself calm
"Is there something you want to say? Are you done throwing resources away?" (furious) "I can't believe anyone
who came at us in *VEHICLES* would own his own shroud, or this many soldiers. Did you slip into your boss'
office? WHY!? Can't we just drive somewhere - don't you have your own problems!? You've just made us miss
stopping the Worm from getting out! The Worm your Masters bound! You think about that, and about what
they'll DO to you" - Cobalt
Cobalt's fury is understandable. As we said late last thread - magic and motor vehicles results in carnage very, very
quickly.
Symmetry crouches next to the impaled body, keeping him alive.
Samael casts a Life spell at the Myrmidon, making him flee.
Cobalt disintegrates the impaling weapon while Samael heals the body, Symmetry stabilises him and
Persephone dispels the Profane Urim's magic, casting the Seer out.
Symmetry runs off to check for more injured
"Cobalt. You okay?" - Samael
"Sorry" - Cobalt
"Needed to be said. Can you fix a car?" - Samael
"Logos' was okay, apart from the wheels. There's the lorry..." - Cobalt
Symmetry and Samael are healing minions, who have surrendered. Cobalt stalks over.
"What the fuck? Does your oath allow you to tell us what the plan was?" - Cobalt
"I am not a Myrmidon, Atlantean" - Triplet
"He's a Hiver" - Symmetry, clipped and clinical
"A what?" - Cobalt
"A person who's been copied" - Symmetry
"You're a clone?" - Cobalt
"They're using dubious sci fi against us?" - Samael
"I take it this was an assassination attempt. Your target?" - Cobalt
"The Traitor and the Heretic. The men on the motorcycles" - Hive-Soul
"How many more are after them?" - Persephone
"A Worldful" - Hive-Soul
"If we give you back, can we have the evening off?" - Cobalt
"A few hours grace to stop a fallen angel?" - Samael
"Do you wish us to relay that message?" - Hive-Soul
"If you can" - Samael
"Yes. Lankin. Is he up? Did he sanction this bout of crazy? You're not from around here, are you?" - Cobalt
"I am relaying your question" - Hive-Soul
"In the meantime, I suggest we repair the Sleeper's car, push it to the side of the road and put him in it. That
way when he wakes up he'll think this was a dream" - Persephone
"My master promises to not try again for three days" - Hive-Soul
"Wow" - Persephone, unimpressed
"In exchange for my lives" - Hive-Soul
"Huh. One day per life" - Persephone
"Deal made" - Samael
"Congratulations" - Cobalt
"Go take up a hobby or something" - Samael
...
They drive on, cars repaired by Cobalt's Attainment and Levi once again safely in the boot. Cobalt has taken
over driving duties.
"No Seers killed, none of us killed. So far, it's a no-score draw" - Excalibur
"I had three bolts left over when I put the car back together" - Cobalt
"There's always three bits left over" - Logos
"I.. Don't know what to say about what just happened" - Cobalt
"Don't say anything. Just drive" - Persephone
Another hour later, they arrive at the car-park layby of Penshaw Monument. The Echo Walkers' van is here,
along with Cobalt's car and a number of Newcastle Arrow mages
Here's a link to wikipedia's page on the monument, so you can get a feel for what it looks lke: a fake greek temple on
top of an artificial hill
"What kept you?" - Gaunt
"Seers" - Cobalt
1.
Deeper Underground
"Cal!" - Aegis, surprised
"He followed us home" - Cobalt
"Vahista has Rice up on the hill" - Aquila
"They're here at the moment?" - Samael, surprised
Aquila nods
"We have a hostage situation. They have Key at swordpoint and say that if they feel any spell they'll execute
him" - Aquila
"All right. How about we just shoot them?" - Persephone
"If we miss or don't kill them, they'll kill him" - Samael
Cobalt looks through his binoculars, up at the hill
"Looks like Key's awake, on his knees. I don't recognise the Echo Walker guarding him. Big guy, though" Cobalt
"What demands have they made?" - Logos
"That they be allowed to perform their ritual, after which they'll let Key go" - Aquila
"Fuck that" - Persephone
"Samael. Is that sword magical in any way?" - Cobalt
"Enhanced, certainly" - Samael
"you thinking of turning it into a banana?" - Persephone, getting her bow out of the car and stringing it
"There's at least that one big guy and Vahishta. We think maybe two more" - Aegis
"The two others are Vahishta's apprentices" - Persephone
"There are ways to protect Key, but it would have to be followed by direct action... Anyone got a sniper rifle?" Samael
"Not on me. Plans, people. Can we get eyes in there?" - Cobalt
"They might see Apollo" - Aquila
"What about Little K?" - Persephone
"Can you determine if they have a Death spell active" - Cobalt
"Most Echo Walkers won't know the Arcanum" - Samael
"We know Vahishta is a powerful Death Adept" - Cobalt
"We don't know that. Arc was unusual in that he did know it himself" - Persephone
"okay, guys. The sun's coming up. They've been at whatever they've been at for a few hours now" - Militas
"Can you reshape the ground?" - Samael
"It'd be extremely temporary. I could raise a shield between him and Key, if I'm fast enough" - Cobalt
"Shall we go have a chat?" - Samael
As dawn draws near, the group cross the fields towards the monument. At the foot of the hill, Key kneels with
the Echo Walker behind him.
"It's been a bad night" - Cobalt
"Yes, it has" - Samael
"How about you?" - Cobalt, raising his voice as they approach the hostage situation
"I've had better" - Key
"In his defence, Bede asked that you not be hurt. After he sold you out. But, and no offence, I was talking about
Michael. How's Michael doing?" - Cobalt
The Echo Walker gestures for them to stop where they are.
"Michael. Also called Porthos. The least imaginative of Vahishta's students" - Key
Awfully ballsy given who's holding Key at sword point
"But does he believe in the cause?" - Cobalt
"I believe" - Michael
"You couldn't be persuaded to walk away?" - Cobalt
"No need. Five minutes and we'll be done" - Michael
"Five minutes?" - Cobalt
There's a "beep" as Aegis sets the timer on his digital watch
"Flaw in your judgement there, Michael. The deal isn't for you to finish your ritual, it's to walk away with your
life" - Samael
"It must be worth killing for. Though I'm shaky on how the Scythe will let you talk to Angels. Can you fill us in?
All you have to do is keep us talking, right?" - Cobalt
"The spell of the Echo Walkers knocks a person out of the Temenos, allowing the Old Soul to be seen. When
someone Awakens the Ompalamos opens. Using the Scythe when they cross that threshold in their soul? Your
man will never lose that clarity. He will awaken in his natural state" - Michael
"After you shatter his brain" - Cobalt
"Not really Awakening, though is it?" - Samael
"He is already Awakening" - Michael
"And you geta chat with the worm, is that it?" - Cobalt
"No. We get an Obrimos prepared for his place in the Legacy" - Michael
"How does the worm fit in?" - Samael
"The Worm will be drawn to the energies of the Aether released. The bell ringing out into it's rock. This is where
it entered the world" - Michael
"It'll come here and eat?" - Samael
"It'll come here and *leave*" - Michael
"You really have no idea, do you? It's not a cherubic being of light. It's a fucked-up, corrupted mess. It's mad,
angry and hungry" - Samael
"It's as Fallen as we are. Which means we can fix it" - Michael
"So you're taking a risk, trying something that's never worked before..." - Cobalt
"It's *nearly* worked! It nearly worked on Dominic, it came closer on Natalie. Now we have the Scythe..." Michael
"Natalie!?" - Cobalt and Excalibur, simultaneously
"...This time we don't have to worry about timing the spell. We have the Scythe" - Michael
"Which Natalie?" - Cobalt
"The one you're thinking of, I suspect" - Samael
"Mystagogue. Think of what we are achieving here! Are any of you Guardians? We're creating a mage without
the division between the Supernal and the Fallen. We're making the Heiromagus!" - Michael
Cobalt holds three fingers up behind his back
"Don't appeal to my order. I'm sure you haven't forgotten what we believe about magic" - Samael
Cobalt is down to two fingers
"And you cannot 'create' the Heiromage" - Gaunt, deeply offended
And more about THAT in story 12
Cobalt is down to one finger, and then clenches his fist
A spike of stone thrusts up out of the floor between Michael and Key
Sef casts Acceleration, as does Key. The blurs meet halfway as Michael swings his sword... And misses. Key
changes to her female body, slipping easily out of the now too-big bonds.
Michael steps forward, swinging at Sef.
There's a flash of light as it's parried by Excalibur
"Hi" - Excalibur, dangerous
"Up the hill!" - Samael
While Cal and the Echo Walker swordfight, Cobalt (also casting Acceleration) blurs up the hill with Persephone,
with Samael trailing behind and Arrow mages running after them.
At the edge of the monument, there's a barrier - the dew is being stopped by an invisible wall. Venus and
Mercury, the two younger Echo Walkers, are inside. In the middle is Peter, with Vahishta stood next to him
doing.. something.
To Samael's Supernal Vision the spell appears to be a combination Sorcerer's Rebuke, De-combustion and Ban.
He sends a probing Dispel at it, and winces as the barrier lashes out at him.
Sef attempts to invade Venus' mind, making her stop maintaining the spell barrier. The Anti-explosion spell fails
as she stumbles backward.
Venus shakes her head, groggy.
Cobalt, though, has had enough of this shit. He transmutes a bubble of air around Vahishta's head to pure
Carbon Monoxide.
Samael casts Marionette, forming a humanoid figure made of light and gold between Vahista and Rice.
Vahishta, though, is stumbling and choking, her eyes bugging out as she casts Thunderbolt at Samael. The arc
of electricity fizzles against his armor spells, barely shocking him, but he dives for cover in case she aims better
next time.
Rice is just stood there, staring into space. The Marionette picks him up and starts running for the far exit of the
Monument.
Sef throws a Superlative Luck onto herself, or tries to, as Vahishta counter-spells her. Mercury is clearly
sweating, trying to maintain the barrier, while Venus is trying to get his attention, having picked up the Scythe.
"Ignore him... Get the subject" - Vahishta, croaking
Vahishta manages to dispel the Phantasm and Rice-handling is taken over by Venus, while Samael's repeated
slamming of Dispels into the Ban shatters it. Michael cries out as his spell goes down.
Venus stares at Cobalt across the Monument.
Cobalt draws his Knife and shoots her.
Jury-Rig is an awesome spell.
Sef looses an arrow at venus, who narrowly dodges it, a line of red striking onto her face.
Vahishta glows with the power of her Ones Before, and Samael feels his instincts screaming at him to submit.
Grimacing, knees buckling, he tries to counter it and can't get a grip on the power (the Attainment?). He dives
down the hill, capable of only thinking about getting away.
The alternate form of that Attainment, by the way, is what they've done to Rice - he's not processing new sensory
input or memories.
Mercury casts Acceleration. Cobalt fires at Venus again.
Magog and Excalibur are now running up the hill. Gaunt, Militas and Aegis appear to be fighting another Echo
Walker down below.
Cobalt's shots, though are aimed true. Venus tries to scream as the bullet penetrates her armor spells and hits
her lung. She falls, Rice falls next to her and the Scythe rolls and bounces, edge on, out of the far side of the
monument. Sef, blurring with speed, gives chase after the coin, with Michael close on her heels.
Vahishta, shocked, looks from Venus' body to Cobalt
"GUNS. Seriously. Look them up" - Cobalt
Vahishta, her plans undone, screams in rage and charges at Cobalt, colliding with him, hands crackling with
black lightning. Her eyes are still red raw from the bad air around her. He feels his pattern being torn apart Vashista's fingers dig into him, the flesh around the contacts turning black like frostbite...
She Agg-damaged him. To within a single Health box of his life.
Remember when Pandora killed that guy, and you all cheered and made jokes about breaking the cutey? and how
Dave winced?
Yeah. Not so funny when it's a player character.
Dave2: Like I said. Ouch.
Cobalt, desperate, slams his knife into Vahishta's chest and pulls the trigger one last time. Her eyes widen as a
mist of blood fountains up from her side.
Sef fumbles, trying to catch the coin, but claps her hands together and grabs the thing. At which point Michael
nearly collides with her.
Excalibur, Samael and Magog have made it up to the Monument again. Vahishta is howling, continuing to tear
at Cobalt's pattern. Cobalt feels blackness seeping at the edges of his conciousness, sucking him away, but
fights to remain awake.
The Iron Stamina merit really pays off in these situations
Sef dodges away from Michael, both of them blurring around the hillside, as she tries to lead him towards
Excalibur and Magog.
Samael dives at Cobalt and grabs his ankle, trying to heal him while Vahishta continues to try to kill him.
"GET THE BITCH!" - Samael
Magog tries, swings and misses against Vahishta's Untouchable.
Excalibur leaps over the prone Samael, past Cobalt, swinging his sword.
Vahishta topples over.
A split-second later, Vahishta's head lands next to her.
And that is how it's done
Down the hill, Mercury is pleading for his life as Aegis and Militas close in on him.
Samael gives it a few more seconds of healing, before propping himself up
"You okay, Cobalt?" - Samael
"I'm getting too old for this... I... Ahh... Rice. Get Rice" - Cobalt
Sef and Samael find Rice, who is blinking and turning around
"Where am I?" - Rice
At which point he keels over, Samael catching him just in time.
Cobalt's adrenaline has entirely run out. Sef has to help him walk down the hill while Magog carries Rice.
"Can I go to bed now?" - Cobalt
"If Symmetry asks, this isn't your blood" - Persephone
Aegis is holding Michael down.
"Please! Please, I surrender!" - Michael, weeping
Gaunt shoots him in the head. Twice, for good measure.
Well, Michael WAS Left-Handed
"Is that the end of the Echo Walkers?" - Persephone
"I hope so" - Samael
Sef looks at the Scythe, turning it over in her free hand
"I never thought I'd say this.. But this belongs in a Censorium. It's stupid" - Persephone
"Places like Cambridge are unlocking the doors and selling their wares" - Samael
"Ship it to France. Gabi can take it to Vidocq" - Cobalt
.
Back at the cars, Symmetry stops pacing when she sees them coming.
"Oh, my G..." - Symmetry
"It's not his blood!" - Persephone
Symmetry gives her an incredulous look
"I... Just didn't want you to worry" - Persephone
"We were having a close conversation, and Vahishta lost her head" - Cobalt
Samael can't help it. He laughs.
"I can't..." (cracking up with the stress) "I can't believe you're laughing. Or that I'm laughing" - Cobalt
And he, Gaunt and Excalibur all *pass* their Wisdom checks
And, bodies disintegrated, everyone concerned gets the hell away from Penshaw monument.
1.
Deeper Underground
Aftermath.
Gabrielle is called and brought over from France. She takes the Scythe and promises to have it locked away in
the Shadow Directory.
Aurora and Excalibur have a meeting. No one stays within a mile of it in case of fallout.
Lux draws the short straw and heads to the Priory Rock. He reports back, soberly, that the Worm has gone.
Whatever happened undid the Seers' lulling, and the Bound is once more on the loose. He did not stick around.
Aurora wants Samael and Excalibur to put a plan together for the Worm Hunt. Samael has a theory that as a
creature of the Aether, the Worm will fear the Death Arcanum.
Aquila and Symmetry, after going to check the terms of the Worm's Ban again, report back extremly worrying
news: the King of the Sea is gone. The Fisherman's yard has vanished.
The next day, while the Arrow and Mysterium discuss the problems of the Worm and Bede. Samael is of the
opinion that a Censor is needed to deal with the Heirophant, but Bede is of secondary importance right now.
Cobalt and Symmetry have a number of serious talks - Symm is furious with him for nearly dying. Sef, who tries
to help by saying it looked really cool, does not help.
That evening, while Samael is at the Aetheneum and Magog and Persephone are engaged in an Epic game of
Rock Band (Magog is on Drums), Cobalt and Symmetry slip away to a restaurant to try to be Rex and Gemma
for a few hours.
Their waiter turns out to be possessed by Lankin.
"You had to do it, didn't you?" - Lankin, smiling pleasantly
"Am I going to have to kill you to end this conversation?" - Cobalt
"Killing you won't achieve anything. The word of Heaven is that your friends must die" - Lankin
"How do they rate against Kosciej the Deathless?" - Cobalt
"I am not a servant of the General. I have not had the compulsion myself. I have another matter in mind" Lankin
"Stopping the Worm? Are we getting the blame for the crazies?" - Cobalt
"My God *has* warned me about your Liche. But more importantly about that worm. I'm sorry, Rex, but there
are too many people taking an interest. Our working relationship is now broken" - Lankin
"You're going to bind it again?" - Cobalt
"We're going to see how many of you it kills. And maybe finish the job ourselves" - Lankin
"Open Season" - Cobalt
"Too many damn people in my city. Taking potshots at you and your friends. The Word of God cannot be denied
- when I get my orders to act against you I will. Until then, keep checking your lighthouse for explosives" Lankin, still smiling
"We're not going to banish them all to Scunthorpe, you know. Your people will start dying" - Cobalt, warning
"So will yours" - Lankin
He places their soup down, and leaves.
And that... Is where we leave it.
Next time: Kosciej reveals to Cobalt what was in that file Djehuty found him, and the next group in the Consilium's
sights is lined up. See you then!
1.
Deeper Underground
Session 11.2
Welcome Back, faithful readers!
No mass combats here, no over-the-top action sequences. Of the four sessions of Deeper Underground, this is the
quiet one. We hope you like it anyway. Certainly, it should provide more fuel for those of you playing the "figure it out
at home" game...
Time passes.
Rice is now in seclusion, his Awakening upon him. The Mysterium hope (Key less optimistic than Logos) that his
experience won't result in a Banisher Awakening, but the matter is for now out of Samael's hands.
Whatever the Echo Walkers did released the Worm.
The Cabal, though, have a discussion to have. Late one night, not long after Lankin interrupts Cobalt and
Symmetry's date, the Auric Horizon sit down in the kitchen and talk out what they've been putting off talking
out for a while.
The Lighthouse is not safe.
Cobalt's house in Newcastle is known to the Seers, as they know his real identity. Symmetry was renting a flat
and moved out when she joined the Cabal. Samael's home is a ruin they can see from the Lighthouse and
Persephone and Magog are both wanted by the law in the real identities. They can add layers to their defensive
spells, buff up the building's structure itself... But ultimately, the location is known.
In the end, it's Magog who raises the question of where they're going to run to, after a day of Symmetry looking
like she wants to raise it but refuses to.
"The Legion?" - Persephone
"We can't crash at their place every time something happens. Same with the Grey Street Runners" (thinks for a
moment) "Samael could move into the Aetheneum" - Cobalt
"Hmm" - Samael, non-committal
"Just you, Key and whatever joys Bordeaux in excessive amounts will do" - Cobalt
"But it involves splitting up" - Samael, frowning
"But The General is trying to kill YOU" - Cobalt
"Do we spread the load or shoulder this burden ourselves? If neccessary, I can go hide in the Aetheneum to
take some of the heat off you four. Except of course that they won't know I'm gone and will probably come at
you anyway" - Samael
"Someone already attacked us all" - Persephone
"But I was there" - Samael
"So was Magog" - Persephone
"Yeah. They're after me as well. Just not as much" - Magog
"if we run somewhere it will only buy us time, and we'll have to defend it again" - Persephone
"Where does it end?" - Cobalt, weary
"I say we stay here, and cover as many entrances as possible. There are five of us, I'm sure we can come up
with loads" - Persephone
"I say we keep a bolthole" - Cobalt
"We can set up an escape route, maybe divide our time between the two" - Magog
"I just find the concept of having to move every few months for the rest of our lives to be..." (sighs) "wearying"
- Cobalt
"How are your studies with Space? Can you make a Portal yet?" - Persephone
"Not quite" - Cobalt
"If we stay here... What are the methods they're likely to use against us?" - Samael
"So far - correct me if I'm wrong - someone leapt at you with a knife and then summoned a dead dog. The next
sank our boat and tried to have zombis throw weights on us before returning the water..." - Cobalt
"...Which was a pretty good plan, all told" - Persephone
"We'd not be laughing if it had worked" - Samael
"It was only funny because it failed" - Cobalt, nodding
"Next, one sent all his servants at us to arrange a traffic accident. What these have in common is that they're
all the actions of loners. Single Seers, looking for the prize" - Magog
"If I were a Seer with enough strength in Space, I'd open a Portal and throw Grenades" - Samael
"We have Space wards for a reason. But if we're talking a major op, I'd summon a lump of concrete a mile up
and let gravity do the work" - Cobalt
"The Satellite Crash method?" - Symmetry
"Worked for Dresden" - Cobalt
"For the last couple of months I've been cleaning the local Shadow. I've driven off or domesticated the spirits,
and I've been raising the strength of the Gauntlet. That's about as effective as a cardboard tube against a
dedicated mage, though" - Symmetry
"Twilight?" - Persephone
"Some of them I'm allowing to live in this world to act as watchdogs. In a general rule of thumb, Spirits are
more dangerous combatants than Ghosts - they're designed, in many ways, to fight and consume one another,
while Ghosts are rarely self-willed enough to put up a struggle" - Symmetry
"Most Ghosts aren't that aware of what they're doing" - Cobalt
Sef confirms that she's got a Shield of Chronos up on the tower, which should help if the Seers scry on them
"What was it Arc used in London?" - Persephone
"It's a Forces Rote named 'Containment'. I can improvise it, but I'd have to be in the room. What about Life?" Samael
"They could mess with our water or food. Or just give us Ebola" - Symmetry
"You're cheerful today" - Cobalt
"They can also command servitors. Swarms of insects. Local animals" - Samael
"Rats in our grain supply" - Cobalt
"What do we do about it? Sym? Sam?" - Persephone
"I'm not strong enough in the Space Arcanum to Ban against animals. I can push them away from myself" Symmetry
"And most of us have day jobs. Which reminds me - I was asked to remind you of your homework" - Cobalt
"It's been Christmas!" - PErsephone
"Several weeks ago" - Symmetry, dryly
"How about interference with the ley lines?" - Cobalt
"Not a massive threat" - Persephone
"And me and Samael can keep the power on regardless" - Magog
"We're staying here, then?" - Samael
"We're bolstering. But at some point it'll be a team effort" - Cobalt
"Weapons! What can we do? I've mounted a spotlight on the outside of the railing, to give Samael something to
transform into something other than light" - Persephone
"Short of flaming death in the garden..." - Samael
"...Which can be arranged" - Magog
"Exploding Garden Gnomes?" - Cobalt
"Fate-wise, we need to periodically check to see if anyone's been cursed" - Magog
Sef frowns, and checks.
Samael's Destiny is vibrating, within a confluence of events relating to it.
Sef has an idea. She casts Divination, searching for the Seers' next attack.
The Seers' next attack is under a Shield of Chronos.
"They're learning. And we can't divine the future of the lighthouse as it's under *my* shield" - Persephone
"Samael. Do you want to come outside for a moment?" - Cobalt
He nods, and the two of them head to the garden. Magog frowns, thrinking through strategy. Symmetry taps
her fingers on the kitchen table.
"Where would you rather go?" - Persephone, answering Symmetry's unvoiced desire to get the hell out of there.
"There isn't anywhere. This is the most defended position" - Symmetry
"But?" - Persephone
"They know where it is" - Symmetry
...
Outside, Cobalt checks to see if Samael has any time warding on him, and then Divinations up 'When Will the
next attack on Samael be'?
An open-air Newcastle Metro station, at match day for a rugby match. The Cabal, plus Hatfield and Excalibur,
get off in the train in the middle of the crowd
'what will assail us?'
In the crowd, at the far end of the platform, a man Cobalt doesn't recognise mutters the High Speech
'the nature of his attack?'
A man Cobalt doesn't recognise mutters the High Speech. Cobalt *thinks* the Arcana he's using are Fate and
Forces. Which in a metro station is very very bad.
'Why isn't he warded from Time?'
Invalid question
...
They go back in.
"Next unwarded attack I can find is in Newcastle in about four days time" - Cobalt
"How did you get *that*?" - Persephone
"I saw the rugby crowd. The Falcons are playing" - Cobalt
"No - I mean, I asked when the next attack would be, and I got a ward" - Persephone
They go over the exact wording of their Divinations. Sef asked for the next Seer attack, and got a ward. Cobalt
asked for the next attack on Samael.
The two are not the same thing.
"Oh... Yes. The next Seer attack could be on the far side of the world. Or between now and then" - Cobalt
"Or that guy you saw wasn't a Seer. Banisher?" - Samael
"or the next attack isn't to take out Samael, but to take out us" - Symmetry
"But Cobalt saw us. So we must survive. Safe to sleep, then!" - Persephone
"But in seeing that, you're already changing it" - Magog
"Inaction is itself an action" - Samael
"when did you all become the experts?" - Persephone, defensive
"When we met the Aeons? Bede? I've grown cynical about Time. No - what worries me is Lankin. I'd say sleep
somewhere else, but if I went to my house..." - Cobalt
"He knows your name" - Samael
Cobalt nods
"They have intelligence on us. A lot of it. And it's not going to go away by batting crazies" - Cobalt
"And we have none on them" - Magog
"I mean to talk to Gaunt about it" - Cobalt
"he should be at the worm-hunting Consilum" - Symmetry
...
And now, one of my favourite scenes in the Chronicle. I'd spoken to Dave about the situation the characters were in a
few days before the session, and he knew ahead of time what Symmetry's opinion on the matter was while I knew
what Cobalt's was. This allowed me to frame the conversation as we see here, with Cobalt and Symmetry talking about
it with much more realism in the dialogue - they've been over this ground before a lot, off screen.
And the sudden nonsequiteurs threw Chris and Ag off until they caught up with what they were saying.
Night comes, and the cabal try to sleep. Magog takes first watch, Persephone agreeing to do second and Cobalt
third.
After wishing Magog goodnight, and watching Samael and Persephone go their separate ways up and down the
spiralling lighthouse stairs, Symmetry closes the door of her and Cobalt's bedroom.
Cobalt is sat on the edge of the bed, thinking.
"It's all gone rather serious" - Cobalt, sadly
Symmetry starts getting undressed
"You know we can't keep on doing this. I don't think he's realised that" - Symmetry
"I don't think he's realised how permanent this is. And how in a day or so they went from guy with dog to
motorcade of death. This is going to accelerate" - Cobalt
They get into bed, listening to the wind around the tower.
"I think Pete knows. I just don't think he *cares*. Or isn't going to let it stop him" - Symmetry
"Pete" is Magog. Peter Clark
"I don't think Catherine's figured it out. If she had, subconsciously, DeeKay would tell her" - Symmetry
"We're going to have to move. It's just a question of how long" - Cobalt
"We'll figure it out" - Symmetry
"Gaunt. Guardians hide people, don't they?" - Cobalt
"Witness protection? Worked really well last time Pete tried it. Maybe talk to Quark about a portable hole" Symmetry
"A tunnel would be better" - Cobalt
"A one-shot exit button?" - Symmetry
"Yeah. Nothing to be done now. Let's get some sleep" - Cobalt
...
Sef takes second watch, playing video games with D!Kosciej. Well, she plays, he watches. Even in Mictlan, all is
quiet.
...
Cobalt gets up, careful to not disturb Symmetry
"Coffee's on the table" - Persephone
"Thanks" - Cobalt
Sef goes to bed. Cobalt walks through to the living room.
Sat in Cobalt's armchair, flipping through a manilla folder, is Kosciej
1.
Deeper Underground
Cobalt scrutinises. He's learnt *that* much of the Space Arcanum.
Co-Location.
"Oh-kay" - Cobalt
"Hello, Rex" - Kosciej, calmly
"I like this thing I have where adversaries, antagonists.. perhaps even nemeses... feel they can come in and
have a chat. That part I like. It's the sheer volume of them that's beginning to grind. How are you, old man?" Cobalt
"Making concerted efforts to lighten your load" - Kosciej
"Do tell, because letting the Scythe loose was a great help" - Cobalt
"Not my decision, unfortunately. Isator will have his way. Between you and I, he's a bit fervant. Doesn't even
believe in the Supernal Realms" - Kosciej
Isator Levi: I kid because I love
"The freaky use the Echo Walkers were planning to put it to.. yeah" - Cobalt
"Well, it's safe and well in Paris now. Speaking of nemeses dropping in..." - Kosciej
"Your side's getting busy, is it?" - Cobalt
"Yes, but we can handle it. I'm not convinced you can" - Kosciej
"Say on" - Cobalt
"Let's not beat about the bush. Samael has had a hit placed on him" - Kosciej
"By The General" - Cobalt
"And it's only a matter of time. As you alluded, I myself am laboring under such a death mark" - Kosciej
"How are you staying under the radar?" - Cobalt
"Guy Fawkes masks, not leaving defended Demesnes and a little bit of proactive defence" - Kosciej
Cobalt can't help it, he chuckles at that
"In fact, only a few days ago while you were in Manchester, we managed to successfully infiltrate and take
down a Seer Transport Nexus" - Kosciej
Transport Nexii are discussed in Seers of the Throne. It's a fancy Sanctum, really, set up to receive Portals from several
other Nexii, allowing Seers to move around the world easier.
Incidentally, this was the victory the Nameless celebrated at the end of last thread, and this is the file Djehuty was
carrying in those vignettes.
"THAT... Is extremely useful to everybody" - Cobalt
"We haven't so much crippled their communications and movements as taken them down to our level" - Kosciej
"You know, you'd be a real force if you'd work *with* the Pentacle" - Cobalt
"Your dreams may be about to come true" - Kosciej
He hands the envelope to Cobalt, who feels it Apport mid-gesture, becoming real
"Everything we know about Lankin. Or Ernst Schaefer as we must call him" - Kosciej
"Ernst Schaefer?" - Cobalt, opening the file
"Germano-Dutch" - Kosciej
"What's he doing here?" - Cobalt
"Moved on. Made too much noise in his original position" - Kosciej
"Politics" - Cobalt
"Very ambitious young man. Has some rather unpleasant habits. Would be a Tetrarch by now but he hasn't
been admitted to the Council of Four due to his unfortunate choice of Ministry. He himself is personally potent,
but his Ministry is one of the small insignificant ones, so no matter how important he is he doesn't have the
clout to join the ruling council of the UK's Seers. This gives us motive" - Kosciej
"And the General could promote him and drag his Ministry with him" - Cobalt
Kosciej shakes his head.
"Specifically, he is a fervant worshipper of The Psychopomp, the Exarch said to rule over the Death Arcanum.
Although Lankin hasn't been ordered to attack you, I rather suspect he has been tasked with eliminating *me*"
- Kosciej
"Hence the quid pro quo" - Cobalt
"On one level, yes. On another, the Legacy that Lankin belongs to... There's no polite way to put this. They are
related to the Nametakers, and the Devourers in the Admantine Arrow" - Kosciej
"Eat your enemies to take their strength?" - Cobalt
Kosciej nods, sharply
"He's a fine young Cannibal" - Kosciej
"If I had my wishes, I'd find whichever Exarch wrote that into reality and punch them in the face" - Cobalt
"Given that the Psychopomp appears to have a hate for me, stick with me, Rex, and you may get your chance"
- Kosciej
"...I'm listening" - Cobalt
"Part of the reason for his flexibility is that if he eats a Mage. he can replicate their Attainments for a while.
Which brings us to the second part of our quid pro quo" - Kosciej
"... Has he gotten into Mictlan?" - Cobalt
"Lankin isn't planning to attack Samael. He doesn't care about Samael beyond an opportunity kill. As far as our
Diviners can tell, Lankin is planning to have Persephone to dinner" - Kosciej
Bad pun, I know. Which caused Ag to start snickering in the background. No one noticed the Fine Young Cannibals joke
earlier on, though.
"Which brings us to the unpleasantries. There are two means by which I can close this potential security
breach. I have attempted the first; there is his name, his address, his aliases, his place of work..." - Kosciej
The pause is leaden.
"...Don't make me use the second" - Kosciej
And then he vanishes.
What a guy! See - that's the personal touch. Threatening while also helpful and polite.
When Samael gets up, hours later, he finds Cobalt sat at the kitchen counter, file spread in front of him. A
handmade cardboard sign reads 'all visting villains must contribute £1 to the Tea kitty'.
"Busy... Night?" - Samael
"Oh, you know..." - Cobalt, weary
Sef comes down the stairs, yawning
"...threats" - Cobalt
"Who was it this time?" - Samael
"Kosciej" - Cobalt
"What!?" - Persephone
"Wasn't actually him, just a projection" - Cobalt
"Like Lankin. A bit of a running theme here" - Samael, concerned
"They like to talk to me in proxy" - Cobalt
"You need to stop letting them monologue at you. What did he want?" - Persephone, trying to make light of it,
but failing.
"He told me the Nameless just knocked over a transportation network for the Seers, and found out a bit of
information. For instance, Lankin - or Ernst Schaefer - is a follower of the Psychopomp. Apparently he has one of
those healthy, happy Legacies that involves eating Corpses. If he eats a mage, he can use their Attainments;
Attainments like getting into Mictlan" (looks at Sef) "We know why your spell didn't work now. At some point
there's going to be an attack on *you*, not Samael" - Cobalt
"Oh" - Persephone, sitting down hard
"The intention is to steal your powers, get into Mictlan and cause hell. Now, Kosciej put it oh-so-delicately. Sort
it, or he'll make sure there isn't a..." (trails off) "He's going to kill you" - Cobalt
"He wouldn't dare" - Persephone
"Why the hell not?" - Samael
"He doesn't know what'll happen! I'm the only other living member of..." - Persephone
"Galatea is not dead" - Cobalt
"But she's not in Mictlan! We don't know what happened to her!" - Persephone
"I'm not going to get into this argument" - Cobalt
"I have his Daimon!" - Persephone, plaintive
"I think he thinks he's well shot of him" - Samael
"Which reminds me, we need to figure out a password or a handshake with your Daimon so we can tell them
apart" - Cobalt
Samael rubs his eyes
"So what's the lunatic given us?" - Samael
"Name. Address. Identifying habits. A Job - he's an Architect. That said, this guy is not weak. How familiar are
you with Seer Heirarchy?" - Cobalt
Samael shrugs. Sef looks lost.
Cobalt explains Tetrarchs - the over-council of a geographical region, and the body which Lankin wants to join
"...It's considered a combination of magical and political strength. If you're not a Master you're a triple Adept
and considered a hobo by your peers. He's likely to be calling on friends. And he eats corpses!" - Cobalt
"Action wise, we've got the Consilium..." - Samael
Cobalt is still all about the face in the file
"I mean, he looks like John Prescott swallowed Boris Karloff" - Cobalt
"We have the Consilium this evening, and could be hit by Lankin at any time" - Samael
"So what are we going to do? We have all this information - are we going to go gank him?" - Persephone,
incredulous
There is a long and pregnant silence. She realises that yes, actually, Cobalt *has* been thinking about rocking
up to Lankin's house and settling the issue.
"We know where he lives. Is there anything about when he's there?" - Samael
"No" - Cobalt
...
Later, Magog and Symmetry have emerged, and the situation is outlined
"Thoughts?" - Cobalt
"If we have this heads up on the man, then the best way of keeping Sef safe is to round up as many hard
bastards as we can and kill him before he attacks us. Rather than waiting for them to have the element of
surprise..." - Magog
"...We take it from them" - Cobalt
"Won't he just be replaced?" - Persephone
"The combination of his power, his Legacy and his Ministry is what worries Kosciej" - Cobalt
"And if we decapitate the local seers they'll have a few months of in-fighting while they figure out who the next
biggest wang is" - Magog
"But the outside Seers will start gunning for you and Sam again. We should coordinate this with leaving the
lighthouse, break their knowledge of where we are, even if only for a while" - Persephone
"It's an option. I'd rather do it quickly" - Cobalt
"We can sit around and procrastinate or... The Echo Walkers were hanging over our heads for how long? And we
waited for them to come to us" - Magog
"We can't do that again. Sooner or later we'll stop being able to roll with the punches. This is how Kosciej's been
staying safe: stick to guarded Demesnes, yes, but also punching those who look like they're aiming punches at
him" - Cobalt
"I'll go with Symm, then, and look for a fallback place" - Persephone
"I'd rather not" - Cobalt
"No?" - Persephone
"No" (firm) "Not because it's splitting the party, but also because it sends the number one target off with my
fiancée" - Cobalt
"Right. I can.. See your problem" - Persephone
"Besides, we're best off doing that while extracted" - Cobalt
"How long do you think it's been since the Psychopomp put the hit out on Kosciej? Bet he's been using the
worm as a distraction for us" - Magog
"Shit on a stick: he even TOLD us as much!" - Cobalt, slapping the table
"And, of course, if we expend all our energies on Lankin, we might not then be up to stopping the worm" Magog
"At least we know it's a danger. We won't be surprised by it" - Symmetry
"This is bigger than us. We need Cal. We need Gaunt. We need *Aurora*. If we kick a combat off and don't
invite her? My balls won't be worth frying. That didn't come out well, pretend I said something impressive" Cobalt
"Or inspirational" - Symmetry
"So we leave. Now. For someone's house, and by house I mean 'fortified Hallow'" - Cobalt
"Smoke Eaters?" - Persephone
Magog scowls, then shrugs
"It's the last place they'll look" - Magog
"At Cobra's?" - Symmetry
"They DO have nice wards, especially after the incident with the books. Really nice wards" - Persephone
Yeah, Sef: That would be why Magog doesn't like it. He DID the incident with the books, remember?
Ag: emm.... no, actually, I completely forgot ^_^'
Just goes to show how Magog has ingrained himself into the cabal. Or
the effect of D!K on Sef. Or that I'm a lemon.
One of the three, at least :P
"A Cabal of Arrows and militant Free Councillors. Not our usual drinking buddies, but we're on good enough
terms. Yeah - I like it" - Cobalt
"And they probably won't be watched" - Symmetry
"Yeah. You guys want to go visit Cobra? It'll put us closer to Durham, too" - Cobalt
They discuss the mechanics of it - driving away without being noticed by the inevitable watchers. Sef wants to
go for Invisible Cars.
"So we get into the car, make it invisible and..." - Persephone
"...Get into an auto accident" - Symmetry, into her cereal
"This plan... Is a plan. And we can go with it. We don't have an ice palace to detonate with it, though" - Cobalt
He *had* to go there
...
After collecting overnight gear, magical tools, imbued items and some Tass, the Cabal prepare to head over to
Middlesbrough.
"First security sweep on the car" - Cobalt
It isn't cursed, enchanted, possessed by a spirit or a ghost and the only explosive is the petrol that *should* be
in it
Samael seems to be taking it in good humour
"Yeah, you're laughing now, but you're going to have to do this every day for the rest of your life" - Cobalt
...
One Invisible drive later (Fate magic protecting them from collision), and the Cabal are greeted by the Smoke
Eaters.
Cobalt stops at the edge of the other Cabal's territory, formally. Eventually, Choke emerges from the house with
a look of "we haven't seen you in months. What are you doing here?" on her face.
Quiet words are spoken and soon the Auric Horizon are on the Smoke Eater's living room floor, being furnished
with beer.
"We've got advanced intelligence from a dubious source that Sef is gonna be attacked in the next day or so" Cobalt
"Right" - Cobra
"Probably while we're all busy dealing with the worm. Idea is to hit the guy who's gonna do it" - Cobalt
"So you'll need a place to sleep, aie?" - Cobra
"If possible. And when we go for the guy... But we appreciate the floor"
"Aie. We can do that, right lads?" - Cobra
Rivit and Choke murmur their assent
"Who's after you this time?" - Cobra
"Lankin. And the dossier came from.." - Cobalt
Cobra waves it off
"Don't need to know where you got it. You've got Seer trouble" - Cobra
"You don't seem enthused. I would have hoped you'd be happy to fight The Man" - Persephone, worried
Cobra blinks, and takes a swig of his beer
"There's been a lot of Fighting The Man going on. Din worry. We'll find the hexxer and sort him out. Council
takes care of it's own" - Cobra
Breaker coughs
"Arrow too" - Cobra
"Sorry to drag you in, man" - Cobalt
"We were gonna join in on the monster hunt anyway. It needs doing. We got any... other friends?" - Cobra
Cobalt notices that. Cobra is not a man for euphemism.
"Cal's in town, and I'm laying this out in front of Aurora" - Cobalt
"Not what I meant" - Cobra
"No outsiders that I'm aware of. Don't know about the other team, but Lankin won't likly want to share the
spoils" - Cobalt
Cobra clearly wants to say something, but there are too many people around.
Magog and Rivet size one another up. There is something of a vibe going on. Like an impending measuring
contest, or at the very least arm wrestling.
The hours pass by. Cobalt phones around the Cabals, preparing the way for raising an attack on Lankin at the
Consilum.
1.
Deeper Underground
The Consilim. The Cellars of Durham Castle
"Friends. Roman Soldiers. Countrymen. The Beast has awoken, and this Consilium will not tolerate it. I want all
people capable of Divining its target to do so. We will then divide into teams and deny it that target" - Aurora
The Cabal's team consists of them, Excalibur and Hatfield.
"Cobalt. Aegis. Aquila. Tell us about fighing it in the mine" - Aurora
Cobalt describes the Worm's tactics - phasing through rock, the mutation power that Sef thankfully reversed,
eating the power of Aether while also being drawn to them.
Logos stands. She has, after all, been researching the Worm since it was first encountered. In the eight months
since, she's pieced together something of its background.
"If you can believe the Seers, it's one of the Bound: a supernal creature evicted from the aether by the Exarchs
and imprisoned on Earth. In the middle ages, someone attempted to summon an Angel to grant... Uh... He was
an Obrimos Alchemist, who considered himself to be an Angel incarnate himself after his Awakening, and had
slept with and impregnated his own sister. He tried to summon an Angel to cure the child of the... defects. As
far as we can tell, though, he was too close to the Worm's prison when he tried the summoning and broke the
worm out instead. We would know more, but it appears he was immediately the Worm's first victim. It 'fixed'
him; sublimated him into the rock like the modern victims. It was successfully killed in the manner of the
legend by a travelling Arrow Obrimos who made a deal with a river hag to learn the creature's Ban. Just as the
river Spirits were going to contain it, the Seers rescued it and put it into the priory rock" - Logos
"Bastards" - Persephone
"We're still trying to figure out why it stays dead if killed by an Obrimos who then murders the first person he
sees - for as long as they remain alive, anyway. It seem sto seal it away for as long as they remain alive. It's
kind of an odd Ban, really" - Logos
There is more discussion about how long it goes dormant for once it feeds, how long it will take it to reform
after having it's corpus shredded in a straight fight ad other technical details, most of which boil down to "we
don't know".
"We are blessed with a number of young combatant Obrimos men" - Aurora
Lankin's plans for Persephone are then brought up.
"At least he wants me for my mind" - Persephone
"No, no - he really wants you for your body" - Samael
Acanthus: The other, other white meat
"Lankin implied his side weren't going to bind the Worm again, but sit back, wait and take pot-shots. We've
divined their next attack against Samael and got one at a metro station tomorrow. With the information from
Kosciej we have the motive for an attack on Sef..." - Cobalt
Aurora considers
"Alright. This is what we do. We split up into worm-hunting teams as planned, make no reference outside
warded and time-shielded locations that we know about the Seers' plans. We go about our business finding the
worm, but at a set time we Shield, three of the teams meet and we put in a pre-emptive strike on the Seers" Aurora
"I like that plan" - Cobalt
There is much hubbubing as the Consilium digest it.
"Which three teams?" - Cobalt
"Mine, yours and Cobra's. Let's not shit about here. They'll be watching Aquila's - the Seers think all our
combatants are int he Legion. No offence, Aquila. That will do" - Aurora
Cobalt nods
"Fomalhaut. I need the Hallow map of Newcastle - one of those near Lankin's house is probably their Sanctum.
Once we have a shortlist an Acanthus can randomly pick the right one. All other Acanthus, get Divining - who's
the worm's next target? Everyone: This is a Consilium effort. I want no bitching about Rights of Passage.
Understood?" - Aurora
People head off to their designated roles. Cobalt finds Cobra.
"You wanted to tell me something?" - Cobalt
"There's a Nameless cell in town. You wanted me to play nice with the masks? We have been. It's where Viper
is: he's down South. They've been knocking around for a few weeks. Lying around and sniping Seers that try to
attack you guys, or you if you become 'inconvenient'. But if you find an unknown mage out there, they might
be Voters" - Cobra
"Gotcha" - CObalt
"Target rich environment, we used to call it" - Cobra
"Understood. But I can't really spread the word" - Cobalt
"Aurora'd flip her lid. Samael'd flip his lid" - Cobra
At this point, I confirmed to Dave that Cobra's little intelligence operation / feed of info from the Nameless, set up way
back in the downtime before Children of the Revolution, was what told Cobalt about the Nameless' attack on
Cambridge at Christmas.
Which reminds me - remember how Solemn blamed the Parliament of the Needle for "the Christmas day massacre"?
The date of their attacking Cambridge and capturing him in the modern day was deeply ironic...
"One more thing: Has anyone seen a Ghost recently? At all?" - Aurora
"We still have our bound guardians" - Key
"But every other Ghost has vanished? That matches what we've seen" - Militas
"Let me guess: Kosciej" - Samael
"Only if it's a global effect. Could be the King of the Sea eating them" - Cobalt
...
More discussion, and breaking off into teams.
"Guys. If I'm with you when we fight the worm, and I'd be the next person you saw, take the shot" - Excalibur
"Because you don't have much to live for?" - Samael, sarcastic
"Hell, no! I've got loads to live for, but this is important. If you were the first person *I* saw, I wouldn't... No. It
has to be YOU, Samael. You're the one that has to banish the thing, so you have to do the deed" - Excalibur
"Why do you insist on killing someone? I've had it up to here with 'there is only way to do it' things!" Persephone
"It's not like it's our rules. It's the Exarchs'" - Samael
"The rules by which this thing works" - Excalibur
"Blah, blah, blah. Can't we chop it in the river, lock it in a bubble of kevlar and imprison it" - Persephone
"There comes the point when we must not think about this like a Libertine, but instead like a Diamond mage
and have Faith" - Hatfield
Everyone gives Hatfield an incredulous look
"Um. And not second-guess the Supernal?" - Hatfield
"Pentacle. Please" - Cobalt
"You're still all willing to kill - twice" - Persephone
"If Samael does it, he'll probably be able to take it with him" - Cobalt
"Unless we can't get it out until I die. The only truth we have to go on is a dodgy old tale and a dodgy old spirit,
who is now missing. I'm all for Kevlar Team" - Samael
"We have, as a Cabal, a bad reputation for wacky hi-jinks" - Cobalt
"You want to turn all traditional?" - Persephone
"I'm saying that the decision may have to be made to go with the metaphor it's using rather than try to outthink reality" - Cobalt
"And who makes that decision?" - Symmetry
"I'd say it's like all command decisions. Cobalt" - Excalibur
"I was going to fit *you* up" - Cobalt
"Oh, no. You're the boss of me. Well, Nimue is and she very clearly loaned me for the duration" - Excalibur
"Can we first agree that we're not going to kill anyone?" - Persephone
"We'll try. But when I give the signal, can you promise me, Samael, that you'll strike it hard and try to close your
eyes immediately afterwards" - Samael
"And find a dog" - Persephone
"Remember the first guy lemoned that up. And it had to be meaningful - it was *his* dog. It has to be a
Sacrifice. Deal?" - Cobalt
"We'll try our best. But I already tore someone's heart out" - Samael
"No, that's it. History repeating. This creature was... Someone tried to summon an Angel to perfect things he
created, but got a paradox-ridden one that takes things you've created but rejected, drawn to disgust rather
than pride. It's drawn to Obrimos because they remind it of the Aether... Have you seen a Mage's Nimbus when
they feel really guilty?" - Excalibur
Slow nods
"An Obrimos kills it. It shrinks down to it's dormant form. The Obrimos then does something that they feel
shame and regret for - they commit the murder - their Nimbus flares, it mistakes *them* for a safe place and
hides inside them, then gets stuck until they die" - Excalibur
The next bit of conversation is undone by Sef. You can be blissfully oblivious, or you can highlight the spoiler block to
play along with the cunning plan.
"So we *don't* have to kill anyone..." - Persephone
"We're still talking 'my God, I just killed my dad' levels of gut-wrenching self-horror,
though" - Symmetry
"Surely we can replicate it without actually killing anyone?" - Persephone
"How real can Mind magic make the feelings? Would it be genuine enough?" - Cobalt
"Not now he's hearing this. Is there any way to make him forget this conversation?" Excalbibur
Persphone casts something.
Samael blinks.
"We have a plan, Sam, but you may have to go through with it. Don't use your attainment on what just
happened. Trust me" - Cobalt
"Er.. Okay" - Samael
"Our solution may not work" - Cobalt
"Context may dictate, but..." - Samael
"We'll try the wacky hijinks first" - Cobalt
"If I die because of this, I'm coming back to haunt you. You're a Moros, so you'll see me" - Samael
"All the ghosts have vanished" - Magog
"Damnit" - Samael
"Should I die in this endeavour, Get the sword to Nimue. She'll know what to do with it. And give me a Roman
burial" - Excalibur
He marches off
"You know what happens to Martyrs? They *die*. Everyone's really impressed for a few days, then they forget.
Dying is dumb. Don't do it" - Magog
"Morose behaviour aside, what do we have on the prophecy-o-matic?" - Cobalt
He, Hatfield and Persephone head off to the Acanthus gathering.
...
"The worm will attack a police station, rampaging through the cells" - Persephone
"...in an attempt to make one of the prisoners run" - Hatfield
"That prisoner does so. He's held in cell 5" - Fomalhaut
"Andy Howes. He's going to be arrested tonight. Lives in a shitty tower block between the centre and Byker.
Looks like he's going to be charged with possession with the intent to supply and the manslaughter of Vicky
Prior" - Cobalt
"He's going to hide out in a bus shelter, then an abandoned arcade on the coast. The cops will catch up with
him in a metro tunnel, when he's on a train. The cops are in the other carriage to him, so he sees them. When
they get to the station he runs... In to the tunnel, jumping the safety barrier and down into the tracks. At which
point the Worm opens a pit for him and then fixes him" - Abbot
"The Seers.. Are warded" - Cobalt
"This will take place in the next few days. A spiralling situation. It all kicks off with this girl's death" - Sybil
"A cataclysm. She..." - Logos
"...She jumps in front of a metro train. She's his girlfriend, been sampling the drugs in his flat. A Seer has been
accelerating the paranoia. She panics in a crowd and does it at..." - Abbot
"...In the crowd getting off the train for the rugby tomorrow" - Logos
"So THAT'S what the Seer is doing" - Persephone
"Best way to stop this is to have a team on that train. Save the girl, new target" - Abbot
...
The teams disperse, with instructions to ward themselves at 3am. Aurora has decided to do this old-style, and
hit the Seer Sanctum in the dead of night.
Aquila's team head off to the Priory, ready to angrily search for the worm.
The Auric Horizon, Hatfield and Excalibur decide to spend the hours looking for Ghosts. Ghosts are normally
found where people die, as Cobalt explains, or places that were important to them, but Gateways to the
Underworld appear briefly at significant deaths or more permanently in areas "themed" to death. Like
Graveyards. Also, Anchors can be moved.
"Let's light up our black candles and go traipsing around Graveyards" - Cobalt
Newcastle is well-furnished with large, municipal graveyards, and it's to one off the Chillingham Road that the
Cabal head. Under Grim Sight the Crematorium building's front door is an Underworld gate. It has to be
activated to work, but most humans won't notice a thing.
Cobalt considers.
"That's unusual. Every graveyard has one, but they're normally much smaller and well-hidden than that. Looks
stable: I'd expect that in a Hospital or a Morgue. Can you double-check with the Crew?" - Cobalt
-Chronos?- - Persephone
-Unusual, but not inconceivable. This is where the mourning services take place, where the bodies are
disposed. It's past midnight, in winter... Also, the more a gate is used the more stable it becomes- Chronos
She relays that
"So it could have been in frequent use? By who?" - Cobalt
She cocks her head for a second, listening to Chronos
"Ghosts, mostly. Some mages and Vampires. When a Ghost loses their Anchors they come straight to the
nearest Gate and leave" - Persephone
"So someone could have been going around resolving fetters... Do we know where it goes? My knowledge of
such things extends to how to find them, but whenever I broach the subject with Pandora she just says 'don't'" Cobalt
"The Underworld's made of tiered levels, demarked... is demarked a word?... by rivers, which you have to make
bargains to cross. The gate probably goes to the top layer, but could go anywhere. Chronos says you could
open it to have a look by Perfecting it's pattern, Cobalt, but unless we had gear and a Master of Death he
wouldn't advise us going in" - Persephone
"A Master can cross rivers?" - Cobalt
She shakes her head
"A Master can make a Gate at will. If they get trapped, they can come back to Earth" - Persephone
"Anything to parlay with?" - Cobalt
"All realms down there have Laws, which Samael should be able to read. But 'being alive' is a common crime" Persephone
-It could go to the upper reaches, or the mid-levels where the Kerboroi roam, or to the really deep places where
the Cthonians live- - Chronos
She relays that
"What would depth mean?" - Cobalt
"Weirdness of inhabitants" - Persephone
"To us, here? What would it do to this area if it opened deep?" - Cobalt
"He says you'd see less activity but stronger resonance - the more powerful Underworld beings can't come to
Earth unless Summoned. You'd see free-willed Ghosts crossing over if it opened relatively shallow" - Persephone
"Let's take a look" - Cobalt
He feels out the shape of the thing, feels the Death energies pooled in the doorway, and how to twist them into
place to *open*. He pulls...
... And nothing happens. His spell failed.
"...Okay. Let's leave this for now. I don't have enough of a handle on this part of my Path" - Cobalt
Watches beep. Ten minute warning.
Cal and Magog cast Ward. Sef casts the Mind shield, and Cobalt the Shield of Chronos.
-We've scouted and found their Sanctum. I am about to open a Portal. Stand by for further instructions- - Quark
-Understood- - Persephone
And the appointed hour arrives.
Time to get Pre-Emptive on their ass.
And that's it for this time! Next session: A huge fight!
1.
Ask Soul Cage 2
The Podcast of DOOM
http://rapidshare.com/files/42145715...oul_Cage_2.WMA
Apologies for length. Someone asked about Exalted mechanics. Yeah, like that was a good idea...
1.
Deeper Underground
Session 11.3
Welcome Back, Faithful Readers!
This session and next session will be much faster to recap and much, much shorter to read for one main reason;
they're both fights. BIG fights, granted, and ones with tactics of interest and long-ranging repercussions, but fights
nonetheless. There isn't much in this session for those of you who're jonesing for revelation about Sef's plan for dealing
with the Worm - that's next time - or Kosciej's masterplan (that's revealed at the end of 13.1), but there's plenty for
those who like Adept-level Mage combat and blood-soaked scenes.
Boy, howdy, is there plenty for those guys.
There is a brief gut-wrenching feeling of being in two places at once, surrounded by the secretive feeling of
Quark's nimbus. Then the ground becomes solid, and gravel crunches beneath boots.
The Auric Horizon, Excalibur and Hatfield have been plucked from the Heaton Graveyard to... A Graveyard.
Different Graveyard, though.
There's a church directly ahead of them, a low, dark affair with a Norman-style tower on the nearest side. The
graveyard gets narrower as it comes toward them, until they're standing in the point of a long, thin triangle,
bordered by trees on one edge and a raised embankment on the other. Cobalt suddenly realises where they
are: that embankment is one of Newcastle's Metro tracks.
With a sinking feeling, Cobalt further realises that his house - the place he thinks of as being safer than the
lighthouse, if only just - is about half a mile away. He's been living in the Seers' backyard for years.
Symmetry gives him a look.
"Yeah. I know" - Cobalt
Excalibur holds up his hand, casting a minor Forces spell to make a flash of light in his palm. On. Off. On. Off. A
few seconds later, there's an answering few pulses of light from the treeline to the right of the church - another
of the Pentacle's teams is there.
"We in the right place, Cal?" - Samael
"That's Aegis' team. Cobra's should be up on the tracks, and Aurora's on the other side of the church" Excalibur
Cobalt casts Grim Sight. There's another swollen Underworld gate, but no Ghosts.
"The Shadow's quiet. Really quiet, like someone's been clearing it out. Or like a predator's nest" - Symmetry
It starts to rain. A light drizzle.
"Where are we heading? The Church?" - Samael
-Stand by for instructions. According to Limnal's Hallow map, this church is a Hallow. It's been closed for years,
but we imagine the Seers have made extensive modifications- - Quark
-Who's on point?- - Cobalt
-Cobra's team are on the metro track. They've taken one of the engineering trams. Aurora's team are going in
through the front door, the Auric Horizon are at the back and the Legion covering the side entrance- - Quark
Samael looks for electrical activity.
"No normal power lines. Could be running off Hallow energy" - Samael
Sef casts Sense Conciousness
"We're being watched" - Sef
"Through the Gauntlet... Oh no you fucking don't" - Symmetry
She casts something, and the feeling of being watched fades
"Spirit?" - Samael
Symmetry nods, but her reply is lost to the deafening sound of concussive force that accompnies a flash of light
on the far side of the building, loud enough to move gravel where the Cabal stand and bright enough to
illuminate the stained glass on this side of the church from within.
Aurora appears to have signalled the attack.
Chris: I don't have a good record with burning churches...
"That's our cue" - Samael
"Anyone got O Fortuna on their iPod?" - Cobalt
D!Kosciej speculatively appears holding a tape deck
"Just this once" - Persephone
"Steady people" - Cobalt
From the side there is shouting - someone evidently tried to escape out of the side door to find Aegis and
Militas standing there.
A shotgun goes off.
"The building's Warded. No teleporting in or out. Hatfield - stay out here and shout if they get reinforcements" Cobalt
Hatfield nods while Samael raises a boot and kicks the back door in.
The inside looks to have been modified. The main church has been roughly halved in length - they've cleared
the back half out, put up partition walls and interior doors, building rooms.
Some of the voices yelling inside are not of Pentacle mages.
Samael's Attainments buzz - this is Church-shaped, but it's not a church. The symbols are subtly wrong, altered
to worship something other than god.
He eyes a partition-screen, pulls a bundle of what turns out to be corn-on-the-cob from inside his coat and
throws them through the gap between the partition and the ceiling. As they clear the distance, he turns the
corn into Bees.
Bee Grenades! This cheap and dirty trick brought to you by the Life Arcanum
A door nearby opens and slams. Someone nearby casts something, and the area is suddenly filled with thick
smoke.
Cobalt casts Purify Air. No more smoke.
Excalibur considers the tactical conditions - going around the partition wall involves walking into whatever firing
solution the Seers have. So he increases his own Kinetic energy and smashes through the partition, taking the
direct route.
Chris: Should we be rolling Initiative about now?
Yeah, I suppose.
The Seers have set up the new room as a guard post - there are bunkbeds, a table, two people dressed as
security guards being stung severely by bees and one individual (who's Mage armour is sufficient to fight off
the bees) who is engaging Excalibur in Melee, wielding a candlestick against Cal's sword. There's also a big
door (the door they heard open) which looks like the original door to the tower.
Sef tries to invade the Seer's mind, but feels the spell going wrong - it's somehow calling Paradox, even though
it should be Covert. And he has Mental Shielding to boot. The spell fails.
The Seer tries to bash Excalibur in the face with the heav metal cylinder, flailing away while Cal smoothly
parries and ducks.
Which, as any students of Fighting Styles will know, is probably the worst thing he could possibly have tried to do.
Excalibur was very carefully statted for a reason. Look up the rules for "Fient". Ouch.
The Bee'd guards are fumbling for Shotguns. Cobalt steps in and Disintegrates them. Like Sef, though, he feels
the Abyss seeping into the Spell and grasps at it, feeling his muscles scream as he absorbs the damage into his
own pattern.
As you may have guessed, the everything-is-Vulgar is the effect of this being a Seer Hallow, with a Paternoster (Prelacy
of Doctrine) Temple Stone in it. The Players have fought Seers several times by now, so just accepted the Vulgar Field
as one of the home-turf advantages their opponents got. It makes it a much tenser fight than it would normally have
been, though - by the end of the session, some of those Paradox pools are getting rather large.
And because NO player with an ounce of nounce will allow a Havoc (or, God forbid, a Bedlam) to go off in the middle of
a fight to the death, that means it's Resistant Damage all round!
So Storytellers needing to make a fight taut: bring out your Prelates. That is my advice. Paternoster Seers for the
Paradox effect, Praetorians for the Fighting Style negation.
In the background, Aurora Thunderbolts Someone. In the foreground, Excalibur stabs the Seer he's fighting
deep into the stomach. As the Seer contorts, Samael bashes him in the face, knocking him cold. Magog trips
and slams one of the Bee'd guards.
They're doing well so far.
1.
Deeper Underground
Facing the heavy door to the tower, which he knows someone recently went through, Cobalt casts Steel
Windows, rendering it transparent.
Which was lucky, as the guards waiting on the other side behind a riot shield, preparing to fire a grenade
launcher, assume that he's disintegrated the door and fire. The cabal all flinch as the grenade bounces back
and starts spewing a cloud of white gas over the guards.
Hatfield shouts back through the hole that whatever the spirit was, it's now materialising. And large.
"Catch you up!" - Symmetry, running back out.
The Guards on the other side of the door have now managed to put gas masks on. There's another concussive
blast from the far side of the church.
"Hi guys" - Aegis, joining them
"Aegis" - Samael
The Arrow has cast his metal-skin spell, and has splashes of mud and blood up him.
"Aurora's mopping up. Aquila and Choke have gone to help take out the Guardian spirit while we're securing the
perimeter. This looks like the way onwards, but my team's checking the side doors" - Aegis
"The last bastion. We need to get rid of the door, the people behind it and the gas. And I think they just
reloaded" - Cobalt
"The aura of this place..." - Magog
"Is making it difficult. Yeah. Let's not be wasteful" - Cobalt
"The more we delay the longer we give Lankin to prepare" - Persephone
Cobalt winces, and transmutes the Riot Shield to liquid petrol.
"Cal. Get ready" - Cobalt
Excalibur produces a flame in his hand.
"Don't watch this" - Excalibur
Cobalt reaches out, finds the handle and opens the door a crack
"Surrender. Now." - Cobalt
"We surrender!" - Guard
"GAUNT! PRISONERS!" - Excalibur, calling down the corridor.
While the Seers are led out by Magog, Aegis and Cobalt go into the chamber to examine the *next* door. This
one would lead to the belltower stairs.
"Banned. Warded. Reinforced until it could take a bunkerbuster. It's a good door" - Aegis
"The wall?" - Cobalt
"Also done. They've turned the stone into Adamas" - Aegis
"What's the Ban against?" - Samael
"Humans, as far as I can tell" - Aegis
"Let's check the outside. This has other walls, and we'd kick ourselves" - Cobalt
Outside, there's a thing that resembles a dog made of bones and dirt the size of a small pony, being chased
around by Symmetry and the other Thyrsus.
"I have a fairly grotesque method of opening the lock I refer to as the Mr Fantastic. I'd prefer to not try it out" Samael
Let's not go there.
"So. Lockpicking. Any of your guys a safecracker?" - Samael
Samael casts Hone other increasing Persephone's Dexterity. She uses her Parliament of the Needle Attainment
to take on Baal's knowledge of Larceny. The lock is soon unlocked, which just leaves a bar on the other side.
Samael uses Telekineses to lift the bar, and triumphantly pulls the door open.
Tripping the laser tripwire.
Aegis grabs Sef and pulls her out of the way, shielding her from the blast. Samael desperately casts
Containment, slowing the explosion down
"Everyone GO. NOW" - Samael, feeling Mana drain out of him as he struggles to hold the fireball in place.
Aegis and Sef get the hell out of there. Samael gets to the edge of his ability to contain it and runs. The
explosion is contained by the durability-reinforced construction, funnelled up and down the tower and blowing
windows out.
The dust settles. Samael starts dragging broken items of church furniture outside - out of the effect of the
profaned Hallow - and reducing them to Mana. The Guardian spirit falls to the Thyrsus and has it's Corpus
broken. Aurora begins setting up a perimeter, the upper church now completely pacified.
Cobalt inspects the Ban versus humans that is still blocking the entrance to the stairs. Those stairs took the full
force of the blast and are so much rubble blocking the way down to whatever the Seers have done to the
church's crypt, but the Ban is still there.
"We need to unpick this" - Cobalt
Quark sets up outside the Seer Sanctum, preparing to Dispel the thing.
"This might take a while. Half an Hour at most" - Quark
Symmetry reports back.
"Someone Bound a dog spirit to the Churchyard and then force-fed it every other spirit they could find until it
mutated. We had to put it down" - Symmetry
"Quark says it'll take a while - too long if you ask me" - Persephone
"Can you turn into something that isn't a human to get inside?" - Cobalt
"Depends on how the Ban works. Only Adepts of Life could make it" - Samael
"You, me and Aquila then" - Symmetry
"You'll have to go through the stairs. Sym - are you okay to go with him?" - Cobalt
"Yeah" - Symmetry
"I'm thinking bear claws. Some kind of badger-bear creature" - Samael
He, Symmetry and Aquila cast Transform Self, constructing Bear-Mole monster forms for themselves. They
shamble unimpeded through the doorway and begin to dig.
The crypt has been massively enlarged. The art is no longer subtly twisted from Christian - it's overt in
glorification of the Exarchs.
The three molebears shuffle around, sniffing. Through one door, Samael-bear smells *fear*.
The door is flung open and a tiny Celestial Fire hits Samael in the chest before he finds himself mobbed by
people with knives. Samael's mage armour holds against the attacks. Aquila and Symmetry lay in - one of the
Seers, a girl younger than Persephone - is weeping with terror while she's attacking Aquila, who backhands her
into a wall.
Samael shifts back into human form
"Would you give it a rest? You're facing three Adepts here. Back the fuck up into that room!" - Samael
Three of them retreat, taking the groggy female with them. The ringleader curses them for their cowardice and
charges Symmetry, who cuts his legs out from under him.
Once all the junior Seers - two of whom turn out to be Proximi - are back in the room - Samael closes and seals
the door behind them.
Aquila and Symmetry turn back into people. Samael calls upstairs.
"We found their junior league. All locked up now" - Samael
"Find the target" - Cobalt
1.
Deeper Underground
The strike team go through the crypt methodically. Prison cells (empty). Storage. Finally, they open the last
door to find what was the crypt proper. There is an altar designed (Samael's attainment helpfully points out) to
retrieve Mana through human sacrifice. There is the fontal point of the Hallow, focused on a small Statuette of a
throned figure that screams in Samael's Sphinx sight. There are statues around the edge, one of which has had
an ornate robe draped over it.
There's a Seer, various protective spells crackling around him, stood with one hand on the Statuette
channelling Mana through it. He *isn't* Lankin. In fact, he's the Seer who will cast something at the Metro
station to cause the worm attack tomorrow.
The place is lit by candles, the temple stone and ambient essence bleed. There are also too many humanoid
shadows.
Aquila seems to have seen it too - he casts a Counterspell at the Shadowy *thing* on the back wall. It hisses
and detaches from the wall.
It's a summoned Spirit possessing an animate Shadow. Not nice.
The Seer releases the ritually-cast Thunderbolt he's been casting since the attack started, right in Samael's
face. Samael's mage armour is not up to the task and he crackles, feeling his skin burn.
Four Lethal. Ritually-cast direct damage spells only very rarely come up, but they're very nasty when they do
Samael grabs the Statuette, arm-wrestling for a split second before shoving it out of place. Everyone in the
vicinity feels the effect of the warped Hallow fade as the Temple is disrupted.
The Shadowform is fighting Aquila and Symmetry, hissing and twisting as they tear into it.
Samael and the Seer face off. The Seer flashes with sunlight, as armour forms around him and a sword made of
Prime appears in his hands.
Phantasmal Weapon
They charge and swing their weapons at one another. The Seer's phantasmal weapon sparks as it strikes
Samael's Mage Armour. Samael's Ubiquitous Sword, with his Life-enhanced muscles behind it, cleaves the Seer
in half.
Aquila provides the killing blow to the Shadow-creature, which judders and shrivels up like a salted slug.
"Lankin" - Samael, blinking then wiping blood from his eyes
Symmetry starts casting something as Samael looks at the robe on the statue. It's a Profane Urim.
Samael *passes* his Wisdom check. Again!
Outside, Quark drops the Ban. Cobalt triggers Acceleration and heads down at speed.
"Was that...?" - Cobalt, pointing at the corpse
"No" - Samael
"There's a Spirit Door" - Symmetry
"Crap. He escaped?" - Cobalt
"Not really. It's a very powerful spell, like an Acanthus vanishing out of time. Spirit Sanctum; it makes your own
private Idaho, a pocket world inside the Gauntlet. But there's only one entrance and he has to be inside it. Like
a panic room" - Symmetry
"Can we brick it up?" - Cobalt
The prisoners are being led out by Gaunt and Magog
"Check them. They surrendered, though" - Samael
"Give them a chance" - Cobalt
Magog nods
"They looked like Apprentices" - Samael
"The young can be fervant in their beliefs" - Cobalt
"But if we can turn them..." - Samael
"We'd have to physically batter our way in" - Symmetry, returning them to Lankin's panic room
A short conversation about crossing into Shadow and then digging through it with Sculpt Ephemera occurs. Cut
short when the Spirit Sanctuary collapses and Lankin - who had spent the entire combat holed up casting spells
on himself - emerges in the entirely-Shadow World form of a winged, clawed *thing*, which blasts past those
gathered in the Hallow and out upstairs.
Mages give chase, but it looks like Lankin is going to get away. Just at that moment, however, a freezing wind
blows through the church, chapping lips and sending flurries of snow into the building from the open doorways.
Lankin, triumphant, dives to exit the church through the front entrance as the Accelerated Cobalt reaches the
ground floor.
Lankin slams into the Ban - a very specific Ban versus Lankin himself - that now covers the building. He shrieks
with his three mouths as the assembled Furthest Legion and Smoke Eaters pile into him. Cobalt enters the fray,
grasping at Lankin's Ephemeral form and dragging it into physical reality, whereupon it meets Excalibur's
Sword.
Lankin - human again - tries to crawl away, stabbed again and again by Excalibur, Militas and Aegis. Eventually,
the body stops trying to move.
"Who?" - Aurora
Cobalt, though, knows who cast that last Ban. He knows whose Resonance the Freezing Hurricane is.
"Kosciej" - Cobalt
1.
Deeper Underground
The Auric Horizon exit the church.
-Chronos. I think we have a spy in our ranks- - Persephone
"Cobra told me he had his own team in play" - Cobalt
"It's important enough to make sure that it was done" - Samael
Cobalt casts Spatial Map
"He could have someone with eyes on whose eyes he's borrowing" - Cobalt
Got them.
"Aquila. Gaunt. The explosions are going to bring down the cops" - Samael
Gaunt nods
"In hand" - Gaunt
Cobalt is waving into the distance
"Who the hell is that?" - Aurora
"Nameless. Kosciej has had them watching - and he threw the ward up at the end. I don't like being secondguessed" - Cobalt
The Auric Horizon march off to confront the onlookers, climbing up and then down again from the metro track
into the huge lorry-park of a baked goods factory.
UK-based fans - this is the headquarters of Greggs the Baker. Oh yes!
There are three of them.
"Any of them yours?" - Cobalt
"Mine?" - Persephone
"Brain Soviets" - Samael
Indeed, in Mictlan, as Persephone and Chronos approach Kosciej's wall, they spot a man sitting on it waiting for
them
The lead Nameless removes his Fawkes mask. It's the same man as in Mictlan.
-There he is- - Persephone
"So" - Cobalt
"Congratulations on your victory" - Well-spoken Nameless
"Oh, please" - Persephone
"Tell me, why did he feel the need to use a catspaw?" - Cobalt
"We didn't know what was inside" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"Nor did we. Didn't make much difference. And the ward?" - Cobalt
"A Spur of the moment thing. A piece of aid to help show you our good intentions" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"And if it hadn't worked?" - Cobalt
"Hence our presence as backup for you" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"As what?" - Persephone, riled
"Backup" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"You had our backs very well" - Persephone
"And I presume you were going to kill Persephone if we failed, right?" - Samael
"This cell has defeated three attempts to sabotage your lighthouse" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"I don't give a shit if you're here to knife one of my friends" - Samael
"I'm not here to kill one of my cousins" - Well-Spoken Nameless
-HOW DARE YOU USE THAT WORD!- - Persephone
She punches him
In the real world, he doesn't react
"Thank you for the backup. And for the lighthouse" - Cobalt
"There will be no Knifing tonight" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"Because we succeeded?" - Cobalt
"Let's.. Not put qualifiers on it" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"Why not? It's true. Your boss would have had her killed if we hadn't killed Lankin" - Samael
"But made every effort to avoid that" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"Both are true. Are you staying up North?" - Cobalt
"With the Seers broken there's no reason. And in the interests of good relations we should withdraw" - WellSpoken Nameless
"Good idea. There are a lot of angry mages looking for their next fight" - Cobalt
"I suggest you channel those energies towards the Monster" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"It's on the list" (pause) "So is the worm" - Cobalt
He lets that sink in
"Ready to get out of town within an hour?" - Cobalt
"Oh, yes" - Well-Spoken Nameless
"Better get on with it. Give Him my regards" - Cobalt
The Blank Badge bows. The Tamer of Wind bows. The Well-Spoken Parliamentarian bows
"lady Persephone. You are every bit as lovely in the flesh" - Well-Spoken Nameless
They leave.
Samael twitches
"Let's get a better location for the battle of the ages" - Magog
...
-Chronos. What would happen if we broke the Underworld gate and allowed it to spill in?- - Persephone
-It would.. Kill everyone?- - Chronos
-Hmm- - Persephone
...
The Auric Horizon return to the church. The prisoners will be interrogated and assessed for potential as
hostages and maybe even converts for the very youngest apprentices. But they will be so interrogated in York,
far from here.
"Old monsters like Lankin are one thing" - Samael
"You don't have to tell me that some Seers can be human, and recruited by the wrong side" - Magog
"I'm worried about Gaunt. Time was Cicero would do all the Hard work" - Excalibur
"He can cover up our messes, but not put down prisoners?" - Samael
"When I get back I'll talk to Adder, see if we can have more Guardians sent up here" - Excalibur
Cobalt spots Aurora
"I gave the Nameless" (checks watch) "About thirty eight minutes to get out of town" - Cobalt
"You did?" - Aurora, surprised
Cobalt mentally checks himself
"Sorry. I didn't want to throw down in a parking lot" - Cobalt
"Right. Well. Next problem" - Aurora
"The worm" - Samael
"We know where it's going to be tomorrow night, now that the Seers won't interfere" - Aurora
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were more Pylons, but we've cut the head off them" - Samael
While they're talking it through, Cobalt casts Divination
When will I next be attacked by the Seers?
He's in a building he doesn't recognise, surrounded by people brandishing weapons and magical tools. Ashlar is
here, as is the Well-Spoken Nameless. He's holding a mobile phone to his ear.
"Rex! They're coming for you NOW!" - Pandora, over the phone.
Spells are cast everywhere, rippling around the room
"You can't let them get to his body!" - Pandora
The air rips open. Dozens of spells are flung at the rag-tag band. Cobalt drops the phone, raising his amulet in
horror, as a presence enters the room. A presence so horrifying it sends his Mage Sight screaming,
burning the after-image of a figure winged with bone into his mind
Cobalt comes to, curled up on the ground. His skin has ripped open with a dozen and one superficial flesh
wounds, oozing blood slowly.
"Cobalt!" - Symmetry
"I saw... The Guy Fawkes Precedent and the London Arrow.. Side by side. Ashlar was there. Pandora was on a
phone, screaming that we couldn't let them get to 'his body'... And then Seers. Everywhere. And... Gandalf Balrog. Do the Math" - Cobalt
"... An Ochema" - Samael, whispering
Symmetry is closing Cobalt's wounds. He reaches out and holds her hand, screwing his eyes shut, trying to get
it out of his mind.
An Ochema.
An Ochema.
This is a scene from "All Along the Watchtower". Well, he did ask...
"We get the worm off this woman, chase it down, kill it's manifestation and then go through with the plan" Aurora
"As soon as we do we need to get the third shard soon" - Samael
"Everyone! Get some rest. We've narrowed our list of enemies. Time to finish the job tomorrow" - Aurora
...
The Auric Horizon decamp to Cobra's place.
Cobalt and Symmetry have a serious conversation
"It's all shitty. It's all scary. We need to set a date" - Cobalt
"Was I there?" - Symmetry
"I don't think so. It's hard to remember" - Cobalt
"Well, then. Better get on with it, so I can have your stuff" - Symmetry, making a weak joke.
.
While online, looking for honeymoon destinations, Cobalt finds an email waiting for him.
As a player in the international black market artefact scene, who is currently selling things from Querephas'
temple, Cobalt has been cordially invited to an auction in celebration of the marriage of the Wizard Sen-An-Su,
in the mainland of Japan. The Wizard is an apostate who is clearing some of his collection, and has invited a
diverse guest list.
Cobalt accepts, and minutes later a list of items arrives.
"Honey. What do you think about Japan?" - Cobalt
Lot 23. A Crystal Hand.
They have their third Shard.
And that's it for this time! Join us next session for the enactment of Plan Awesome, and the battle with the Lambton
Worm!
1.
Deeper Underground
Welcome back, faithful Readers!
This is the finale of "Deeper Underground", which has the distinction of being the last multi-session story of the
Chronicle. It's all one-shots from here, as our players undergo the last few shocks needed to put them in their starting
positions for the Grand Finale. Three of those shocks are contained in this session, as the story arc we've been on of
escalating violence reaches the end as the Consilium, on a roll, take on the Lambton Worm and suffer the
consequences. Some of those have already been spoiled, some hinted at.
Again, an important note - there is a long game being played during this session as Persephone puts her plan to save
Samael into action. If you want to be surprised at the "killer moment" of two sessions time, DO NOT open the spoiler
boxes. If you want to have a sense of impending doom as you read along with the rest of the cabal, open them and
enjoy. Once we've got to the relevant point in "Time To Burn" I'll note it, so you can go back and enjoy these sessions
again from the other point of view.
The Consilium is abuzz with activity. The Cabals have not been released back to their individual interests after
the successful attack on the Seer of the Throne Sanctum, instead being put to immediate work on Aurora's
campaign against the Lambton Worm; within a day, the woman who was destined to kill herself has been
saved, her boyfriend forced to reform his life (by copious use of magic) and the police station that was to be be
attacked made safe.
The Cabal see none of this; they're busily preparing, as is their role, for the attack on the worm itself. The
morning after the Seer attack, Aurora, Abbott in tow, visits the Cabal at their temporary home in the Smoke
Eater's Sanctum and outlines the main strategy; now that the worm has lost its intended target, they have a
window of opportunity before it latches onto another unfortunate Sleeper's destiny. With the threat of the Seers
nullified for the time being, Aurora intends to bring out the big guns; a ritual will alter the weather to create a
terrible storm coming in from the sea, which will drive away any witnesses. Then, in dead of night, a team of
Obrimos will create a large flare of mana right on top of the Priory rock, drawing the worm out to where it can
be fought and killed. Excalibur, Samael and herself will be at the forefront as the most qualified Obrimos to kill
the beast, and she requires Cal and Samael to promise that whichever one of them needs to die to seal the
worm away the one doing the deed must do so without hesitation.
When Aurora is told of the Cabal's plan to fake the death, she accepts it - but on one
proviso. The original plan called for Samael to think he'd killed Excalibur, but Abbott casts
Prophecy and determines that that won't work for some reason. The plan has a greater
chance of success if Aurora is the one to be "killed". That matches with what Sef has
been reading in her own Prophecies - this seems to be a very delicate thing to pull off,
with "Samael" dies" being the most popular outcome.
Cobalt runs a quick Divination check on the battle plan, discovering that as it stands the flare will work all too
well - the worm will erupt right underneath the ritualists and kill Lux before anyone manages to respond. He
sets in to think about alternatives while working on a little something extra for himself.
Frankly, Cobalt has been grabbed by one Touch of Death attack too many. He wants a countermeasure. A
countermeasure like an ipod that's been jury-rigged with an industrial generator attached to string that runs,
child's-mittens-like, to his gloves. Cobalt then casts a spell-triggered Alter Conductivity on the string and
gloves. The next person to grapple him is in for a very nasty surprise.
Sef warns Samael - who's practising with the Ubiquitous sword most of the time, getting himself ready - that a
spell trigger will enter his pattern soon which he shouldn't examine, and then cloisters herself in Cobra's
Hallow, putting her plan into action.
by first enhancing her luck and then ritually casting the modified, conditional-triggered
Breach the Vault of Memory on Samael. She achieves the imago early in the casting and
plunges on, making the spell as strong as she possibly can before finally sealing it.
"How do we arrange for people to leave once it kicks in?" - Persephone
"The important thing isn't for everyone else to leave, but for Aurora to if she happens to
be present. I'll talk to her - a triggered Portal would do the trick" - Cobalt
Cobalt's musings are running to plastic flooring for the ritualists. He successfully stopped the worm's progress
with kevlar last time, so now they have warning a safe place to stand should be achievable.
"What else do we need to take into account?" - Samael
"Potential Seer attack. We know they were planning one, and we don't know if we got them all" - Cobalt
This version of events has been considerably rewritten. in play it was quite confusing, with conversations overlapping
on one another. So this is kinda assembled to plug the preparation gap.
Samael phones Pandora
"...So yeah. There's some kind of hair-brained scheme in place that I'm not allowed to know about. I'm assured
it's all going to be fine" - Samael
"There's a lot of it going around. Did you hear about Ashlar?" - Pandora
"...No" - Samael
"Ashlar's been exiled from London. He assaulted several Sleepwalkers and stole material from the Aetheneum"
- Pandora
"That doesn't sound like Ashlar" - Samael
"I saw him the day before. He was ranting about how no Mystagogue had been harmed - intimidated out of
town, sure, but not actually attacked - by the Precedent. He thinks Cadacaeus has some kind of deal with
Kosciej. All Tiresias will say is that he denied Ashlar a request" - Pandora
"Do we know where he is? Is he ok?" - Samael
"No idea" - Pandora
"Are you okay?" - Samael
"Weirded out. Gawain and company called off their visit" - Pandora
Samael's Attainment quivers
"Oh-kay. Related?" - Samael
"Ashlar turns renegade and Gawain decides to abandon his peace drive for a mysterious other mission? I don't
have to be a Sphinx to figure that one out" - Pandora
"Alright. Tell us if you hear of them doing anything crazy, or if anything explodes. If I don't call back tomorrow
night I'm worm food, so blame Cobalt if that happens" - Samael
"Blame Cobalt?" - Pandora
"There's a plan I've agreed to but for reasons of operational security I don't know about. I've already talked to
Key and made sure nothing will be lost to Pancryptia in the event of my... You know. All my research notes,
locations of things" - Samael
We saw what happened to Ashlar in the ficlet "Where Does This Go?" at end of last thread.
1.
Deeper Underground
And so, the appointed night comes.
The assorted (nervous) Obrimos - Lux, Vernator, Aurora, Samael, Key, Fomalhaut and Excalibur gather at the
Priory Rock, standing on artificial flooring which have been made solid in Twilight provided by Moros. There is an
"outer ring" at the thin point of the peninsula, linking the Priory to the mainland, consisting of the non-Obrimos.
Aegis and Aquila. Rivet, Militas, Loki, Cobra and Viper.
The called storm thrashes the rock, soaking everyone and reducing visibility.
Samael is staring at the floor, waiting. His pattern is vibrating under weight of spells - he's tuned his physical
reaction speed and strength to Olympic levels, while Persephone has increased his ability with the sword and
tuned his mental reaction time to that of a caffeine-soaked whippet. Abbott is handing out luck enhancement,
while Quark is willing to cast conditional Portal spells, triggered by whoever has it cast on them shouting a
command word.
Ah, the 'Buff' stage. Supernal Honing, Gain Skill, Superlative Luck...
Samael has a defence of 11. Wits 6, Dex 6, armour...
"Am I late? Did I miss it?" - Hatfield
"In or out?" - Cobalt
"I don't know how much use I'll be..." - Hatfield
"You can be on team rewind with me and any other random Disciples of Time, just in case" - Cobalt, clapping
the old Acanthus on the shoulder.
Everyone takes their positions, and the Obrimos cast the Flare. There's a flash of white light as Mana is
discharged, and a hole is blasted in the cloud cover, crackling with lightning as the flare shoots skywards.
They've prevented the worm from phasing through the floor under the ritualists. Instead, it uses it's tunnelling
ability. There's a stomach-turning feeling of vertigo, and suddenly the Obrimos choir are stood on artificial floor
matting that is plummeting down the large, smooth-sided shaft that's appeared right beneath them.
Sef is the first Acanthus in the outer ring to react, casting Shifting Sands.
"JUMP!" - Persephone
The pit opens again, but this time those endangered have a second's warning. Samael - near the centre doesn't quite make it. He hits the edge of the pit, hands sliding over wet stone for purchase, before falling down
into darkness.
He hits gravel, and starts sliding, as the tunnel turns. Around him, he can hear at least two other people.
"Who's here?" - Aurora
"Me" - Samael
"And me" - Lux
Up on the surface, everyone else made the jump - Key effortlessly (Daksha attainments) and everyone else
with a bit more trouble. Fomalhaut in particular nearly fell, but Key grabbed his hand at the last minute.
"COBALT! GET DOWN HERE!" - Excalibur, waving and peering down the pit
...
Lux is breathing hard - he hurt his leg in the fall. There's a flickering light as Aurora produces flame from the
palm of her hand, running over her fingers.
The tunnel - worm-round, warm and wet - stretches off into the darkness.
Samael draws his sword.
"Shit. Shit. SHit" - Lux
Aurora pulls Lux to his feet and gives him a look over, then a stern nod. He gulps and stops swearing.
"Why did I agree to this?" - Lux
"You had a moment of bravery" - Aurora
...
The outer ring have closed in on the pit.
"SAMAEL!" - Excalibur
Key has opened its Portal, and is ferrying Fomalhaut and company out to safety before retreating to the outer
group to watch.
"I'm here!" - Samael, from below
"Well that's good! We don't know how long we have before it seals the tunnel! Hang on - Cobalt's here!" Excalibur
Cobalt throws a torch down, which Lux catches and lights.
"Okay. I'm only going to make this offer once, but if you jump down there I will too" - Cobalt, to Excalibur
Cal's expression says it all
"Do you have enough down there?" - Cobalt, calling down
"Hey, it's a party! We've got music, lights and everything!" - Samael
"Magog!" - Excalibur
"Yeah?" - Magog
"Don't let Sef and Symmetry follow us" - Excalibur
Cobalt and Excalibur jump for it, sliding down to meet Samael, Aurora and Lux
"You have never been good for my sanity" - Cobalt
Cal shrugs
"It's a trap, of course" - Cobalt
"We have a fantastic history of walking into traps" - Samael
"I've never met a trap I didn't like" - Excalibur, drawing his sword
"Let's make sushi" - Samael
Upstairs, Magog is holding a protesting Symmetry and Persephone back from the pit... Which vanishes, as the
Worm closes the tunnel off.
Sef casts Shifting Sands again, not to jump down before the tunnel is sealed but just long enough to cast
Telepathy on Cobalt.
-Here's the deal. Shout in my head if you need Time rewinding- - Persephone
-Understood- - Cobalt
"We're all going to be fine, right?" - Excalibur
Everyone nods, feeling a little braver as the Tamer of Fire does his work
Lux screams. Everyone spins around, to find that the Obrimos has tripped over a rock. Cobalt picks him up.
"You're not allowed to go last any more, okay?" - Cobalt
...
Symmetry is pacing, angry
"How're they doing?" - Magog
"Walking... Walking... Ohmygod! Lux is down!... No, no.. false alarm" - Persephone
...
"...Guys" - Excalibur
A single tendril of wormstuff is lowering itself into the tunnel, dangling down like a root
"Subtle" - Cobalt
He uses the Matter Arcanum to see through the rock
"Huh. It's head is below us - it's wrapped around the tunnel, waiting for us to go for that tentacle..." - Cobalt
"Who wants to poke it?" - Samael
"I'm going to try something" - Cobalt
He reshapes the ground, digging an instant crater around the worm's maw, exposing its head. The Worm
moves suddenly, tendrils pulsing as it rushes forward.
Lux screams. Samael swings his sword, ripping the pearlescent skin of the worm open and splashing everything
with phosphorescent, milky white blood.
"DEFEND LUX!" - Samael
The Worm screams, the tunnel vibrating with what was once the music of heaven. Aurora freezes.
A Numina, this - if you fail a presence roll you lose your next turn
Cobalt hates Death. He's spent his career fighting the stereotype of the Moros Necromancer, but if there's a
time to take advantage of the nature of the Realms it's this. He throws a Fraying Practice of Death into the
worm's open wound, pulling at the exposed energies.
Tentacles lash out at Aurora, Lux, Excalibur and Samael, burning cold where they touch, wrapping around limbs
and sinking in like the end of a leech.
Aggravated damage! It does three to Samael and Excalibur
Aurora snaps out of it as a tentacle fizzles on her mage armour. She raises her hand and a plume of white-hot
fire lashes out at the worm. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have fazed it.
"Fire doesn't work!" - Aurora
In fact, it gave it Pyros points back, but never mind
Cobalt casts Summon Shadow, working on a theory - if the worm likes Fire, symbolic and otherwise, it must
shun Cold...
Flickering shadows appear around the worm's head, hedging it and channelling it towards Samael.
Samael and Excalibur continue to stab and slash at the Worm's head. Cal attempts a feint, drawing the monster
to pay attention to him, slapping it's nose with the Sword of Britain.
It now loses its defence against the next person to attack it. The Aggressive Light Sword fighting style - just what the
doctor ordered. Unfortunately, it is now the Worm's initiative...
The air ripples as the worm gets a parting shot in. Lux flies backward, hitting the wall. He shrieks as his flesh
begins to liquefy, dripping off his bones - the same effect that happened to Aegis in the old mine before Sef
rewound it. Cobalt forces himself to look away from his dying friend and back at the worm while Aurora renders
Lux unconscious with a jab of magic.
Samael swings, as hard as he can, hitting the wound he made earlier... and chopping the worm's head clean off.
The creature explodes, bursting into white liquid.
Spells trigger as Samael shuts his eyes and claps his hands to his ears.
He looks up, finally, to see a Portal. The tunnel is rapidly fading from existence now that the worm has lost
Corpus.
The only other person in the tunnel is Aurora. She is quite calm.
"My affairs are in order, and you know what you have to do" - Aurora
Samael fumbles for his sword, picks it up, and runs Aurora through the heart. She dies, gasping, and he
stumbles through the Portal.
Most importantly of all, he passes the Wisdom check and therefore feels digust with himself
What Actually Happened...
Spells trigger. Samael wavers on his feet, not knowing what's going on. Aurora vanishes,
an Invisibility reaching its conditional trigger. A Portal opens and everyone piles through.
Cobalt looks around once he's out, to see Excalibur behind him.
"She overruled me!" - Excalibur, kicking a beer can angrily
They're in a back street in Tynemouth, near the Priory.
They see Samael stumble out of the Portal, which snaps shut.
"I hope it was worth it" - Cobalt
"Check him" - Excalibur
Samael feels.. wrong... His stomach churns, as though something is settling down inside it. He realises, with
dawning horror, what's happened.
He can't feel the Aether any more. His path has gone.
"It worked ...Lux?" - Samael
"Regeneration might work" - Excalibur, checking the unconscious, mutated Lux over
"Regeneration isn't permanent. And still needs a Master we don't have" - Samael
They head out onto the waterfront just in time to see everyone else evacuate from the Priory rock.. which is
collapsing. The entire promontory is falling into the sea, crumbling without the worm nesting inside it.
Under Cobalt's hasty Grim Sight, the souls of the people the worm had trapped inside the rock are released, fly
around... And are absorbed by Samael.
Samael is hit by sudden nausea, as he feels Mana of a cold, liquid resonance pooling in his pattern. He vomits
copiously.
"Everyone to the Farthest Legion's Sanctum!" - Quark
Symmetry slaps Cobalt, once, as the remainder of the Auric Horizon catch up with those who went
underground. Then she kneels by Lux, trying to knit his flesh back together, for a few hours at least.
So.. Ever since Aegis had a narrow escape from it, I figured the Worm would get a mutagenic blast off at at least one
character, which is why I was pleased when Lux (poor old Lux) failed the Athletics check to jump out of the hole. As to
why Sef didn't rewind time on it, it all boiled down to Initiative - Samael just barely killed it, even with the setup of
Excalibur making it lose its defence. They simply had to accept whatever the worm did in its initiative turn before
Samael's action. If they hadn't let Lux's crippling stand, it could have taken another turn to kill it... And it was preparing
to use Pillar of Salt on anyone revolted by Lux's mutation, which would have killed half the people down there.
As for Samael, he is now pathless. The worm is inside his soul, feeding hungrily on his connection to Aether as planned,
but this means Forces and Prime spells now cost Mana for him to cast. On the plus side, it can eat dead people for
Mana, but as shown above Samael doesn't find the process particularly pleasant.
1.
Deeper Underground
The Legion's Sanctum is abuzz with activity, as news of what happened trickles out. Cobalt, Excalibur and
Persephone go for a walk to clear their minds, leaving Magog to pat Samael's back as he throws up some more.
Just up the road, at Wallsend Metro station, Aurora is waiting for the last train of the
evening when the trio arrive.
"The only other person who knows is Abbott. I had him work out all the angles" - Aurora
"Good idea" - Cobalt
"Do these two know?" - Aurora
"Know what?" - Cobalt
"What happens if Samael finds out that he didn't kill me" - Aurora
"I'm guessing the Worm escapes" - Cobalt, glancing at Persephone
"Alien-style. It will tear his soul apart" - Persephone
"So. Keep everyone away from the metro for a while, and from the airport. I'm heading to
an old friend's consilium in the states - they have some low-level problems with vampires
and banishers. Work to be done. I'll change my Shadow Name" - Aurora
"It's been an honor working for you, ma'am" - Cobalt
"The worm is gone. The Seers destroyed. This Consilium is conquered and at peace. I
consider it a campaign well fought, and have no regrets about its end. Take care of my
city, Cobalt. I've put a lot of work into it" - Aurora
Cobalt and Persephone nod and withdraw, allowing Excalibur to have a few private last
words with his mentor. Eventually, the train arrives and she gets on.
"Back to the fallout" - Excalibur
Symmetry and Key are conferring over Lux. Symm has restored him to stable, recasting her quick and dirty Life
spell using the Legion's Hallow, but it will still wear off in a few days and the results are still... Lux won't be
eating any time soon. Spells designed to help Astral travellers can let him do without his lungs, his digestive
system - even his heart for as long as they last, but to be able to be woken up and restored to some semblance
of health he'll need a Regeneration cast by a Master - which will have to be recast every day for the rest of his
life.
And they don't have a Master of Life in Newcastle.
Key thinks that there's one in York. Failing that, there's definitely one in Cardiff; another Daksha, with the
Shadow Name of Exodite, that Key met during the Paris Convocation.
Both of them keep looking at Samael, hoping he'll pitch in.
Samael stares at the floor and says nothing.
Cobalt, Excalibur and Persephone return, just in time to hear someone whispering that Bede's Prophecy of
Doom has now come true. The Consilium has fallen.
To his credit, Quark loudly berates whoever it was
"Of *course* the Consilium hasn't fallen. We have lost our Heirarch and the Adamantine Arrow Councillor. We
still have a Council, we still have our Cabals" - Quark
"No Mystagogue Councillor, though. And we need one" - Cobalt
Samael raises his head
"It doesn't have to be a Heirophant" - Samael
"Once Sleep happens, then. Key. Samael. Logos. Talk to your people, get it done" - Cobalt
Key blinks, then squares his shoulders and looks at Samael, ready for a fight
"You've got my vote" - Samael, croaking
The Daksha stops, surprised, and then nods.
Samael is a wanderer, a globetrotter. He's not up for the job of holding office, and he knows it.
"The Arrow have their own command structure" - Cobalt
Some of the Arrow look at Excalibur, who shakes his head. Not coming back.
"Time for Militas' home brew. To remember her life, and all she achieved" - Cobalt
"A Toast, then" - Quark
All are furnished with mugs
"To Janet Holliday, known as Aurora. May she sleep in light" - Abbott
"May she sleep in light" - All
...
Later, and Symmetry finds Cobalt. He swallows his drink and prepares for an ass-kicking
"What was that?" - Symmetry, stern
"A..." - Cobalt, sheepish
"...A last piece of reckless abandon? A moment of exuberance? Can we say a Stag Night?" - Symmetry
"That's a hell of a Stag night" - Cobalt
He pauses
"I'm sorry. I should have asked" - Cobalt
"You never will" - Symmetr
"I always should" - Cobalt
"And it's good you realise that" - Symmetry
"Would you have let me go if I had?" - Cobalt
"I would have come with you. If you ever let me, it would be okay. I'm a big girl. I'm an Adept. The presumption
that I'm not as capable as the other three, or that you're somehow trying to protect me is fucking infuriating" Symmetry
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you" - Cobalt
"We can't put our lives on hold constantly because one of us might die. One of us might die at any moment. If
you're so worried about protecting our time together that we don't end up having any..." - Symmetry
"You're right. I'm sorry - I should have grabbed everyone. I... I'll do better" - Cobalt
She regards his shame, and can't keep the stern expression up.
"Will it do? As a Stag Night?" - Symmetry, quietly
He realises what she means
"It doesn't get any more epic than this" - Cobalt
They look around the room
"Hatfield's a vicar" - Symmetry, conversational
"Yes, yes he is" - Cobalt
"I'm not sure what Cal is, but I'm pretty sure he can marry people..." (thinks about the likly ceremony)
"Hatfield" - Symmetry
"Hatfield" - Cobalt
"Do you want to pick one of the guys?" - Symmetry
"Samael's busy" - Cobalt
chris: Awesome
They each quietly go to their selected witness. Cobalt mutters in Magog's ear - the big man breaks out in a grin
and nods enthusiastically. Symmetry taps Logos on the shoulder and draws her away from talking to Key and
Samael. Then Cobalt finds Hatfield.
And so, in the Hallow, officiated by a surprised but pleased Hatfield, with Magog as best man and Logos as
Bridesmaid, Rex and Gemma are married. Cobalt transmutes a snip of one another's hair into gold, and spins it
into rings with his magic.
Upstairs, news of what's going on in the Hallow quickly spreads. By the time the happy couple come back,
everyone cheers. Cobra in particular shakes Cobalt's hand. The Councillors have met - Aquila, as senior Arrow,
standing in for Aurora and Key as the new Mystagogue Councillor.
Time for everyone to go their separate ways. Dawn is coming. The Priory's collapse will doubtless be blamed on
catastrophic erosion, the storm being straw breaking the camel's back. Anyone who saw mysterious lights will
be under the Quiescence.
As the room thins, Cabals taking their leave, Quark comes to sit by Samael.
"How are you feeling?" - Quark
"A bit queasy still. We've done what we knew we had to - but we need to keep going. Not going to fold like a
house of cards" - Samael
"All I ever wanted was a quiet life, but events, dear boy..." (trails off) "Chayot would be very proud of you" Quark
He pats Samael on the shoulder, sympathetically, and goes to check in on Lux one last time before leaving.
"Rex, Gemma! Congratulations... Rex, could I have a word?" - QUark
Cobalt joins the Thredonist on the landing, outside the room Lux is resting in
"The Council voted on who to nominate as Heirarch. It was not unanimous. Four to One against - I can't reveal
who voted for who, but I as your Councillor have been tasked with making the approach" - Quark
"Who's the lucky guy? Why am I finding this out?" - Cobalt
"It's YOU, Rex. The Lucky Guy is you. Aurora nominated you in her will" - Quark
"... ...I'm going to answer that tomorrow" - Cobalt
"Take your time, my friend, but when you want to let us know, do so" - Quark
He pauses at Lux's door
"The role is not that of Biggest Stick. It is the person who gets the Council to work together, the final
peacemaker. The person who can get mages of wildly differing beliefs and practices to operate without conflict"
(looks back at Cobalt) "I thought you might want to know the actual skill set involved" - Quark
"It's a handy heads-up. Thanks" - Cobalt
"Goodnight" - Quark, going inside.
Cobalt heads back
"That can wait till morning" - CObalt
"What can?" - Symmetry
"I'll tell you then" - Cobalt
And the happy couple leave, without looking back.
Persephone, all alone now on the Legion's sofa, watches them go.
The Daimon Kosciej sits on the arm, smoking a cigar. He blows a ring at her
-I love it when a plan comes together- - D!Kosciej
-What?- - Persephone
-Samael now has the worm inside him- - D!Kosciej
-Yeah- - Persephone
-We'll have to keep our eye on him- - D!Kosciej
-You think?- - Persephone
-Well, I was thinking we could ignore it, see what happens, hijinx, but...- - D!Kosciej
-...We wouldn't want to see him burst like an Alien- - Persephone
-Underhanded and Cunning. I approve- - D!Kosciej
-Underhanded?- - Persephone , frowning
-The amount of deception involved, keeping it up this long- - D!Kosciej
-I did something wrong?- - Persephone
-No, absolutely not. Two Thumbs Up!- - D!Kosciej
He gestures enthusiastically. Sef recoils slightly, the praise stinging
-That's never happened yet- - Persephone
D!Kosciej grins, and shakes his head in wonderment
-It's amazing. The human mind. You hear and notice a lot more than you think you do. Want to know what
Quark just told Cobalt?- - D!Kosciej
She considers for a few seconds
-Yeah- - Persephone
-Cobalt just made Heirarch- - D!Kosciej
-Woah- - Persephone
-As I say. Got the Job done- - D!Kosciej
-That's cool.. The Heirarch, in the Cabal- - Persephone
-Politics. High Office. *Recruits*- - D!Kosciej
-...I... ...I hadn't thought of that- - Persephone
D!Kosciej had.
-Well done, Catherine. Very Well Done indeed- - D!Kosciej
He vanishes
"Why do I always get left alone?" - Persephone
Why indeed? Even Magog went off with Logos.
Cobalt, as if you hadn't guessed, takes the Concil up on their offer, though he demands the right to a Honeymoon.
And we'll see that Honeymoon the recap *after* next, in "Time To Burn". Next Recap is what Excalibur does next,
heading back South to meet up with the rest of the Pendragon. As I get closer to finishing it's Recap, I'll put the
preparation material for the GenCon game up on the thread.
Until then, this has been the fourth and final part of "Deeper Underground". Another step closer to the end...
1.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Part One: Augeries
He crosses the threshold and approaches the inner sanctum, bowing to the gatekeeper in respect. Inside, the
air is tinged with sadness. She sits, calmly facing away from the door.
"It's about to start" He says, a statement of mutually-acknowledged fact. She nods.
"She can feel it coming" She says "Everyone is in their place. They are close to panic"
"Is there no other way?"
"For the time being, but not for long. Once he meets himself, we will be on the critical path"
"Can you show me?"
She shrugs
"If you like"
He sits, facing her, and takes her hands. Closing his eyes, he enters her thoughts. Sees what she sees.
-The King is in his counting house...Part Two: Architecture
Kosciej sits in his Tower, contemplating the design. Rendered in sculpted ephemera and thought-shape, the
planes and inhuman angles of it glitter in the candlelight. Parts of it move, rotating to present different faces to
the outside, rings sliding within rings.
He frowns, dissatisfied, and stands. Crosses to the window. Behind him, the Daimon of Persephone appears,
wearing an exaggerated school uniform as she deliberately bends over to regard the model
-A drill to pierce the Heavens"It's not good enough. And change your appearance"
She does not. If anything, the uniform becomes briefer.
-It's perfect. No one could improve the designHe looks out of the window, across the ruin of old Mictlan.
"Go back to my Oneiros"
-Don't stay up too lateWith a wink, the Daimon vanishes. Kosciej shakes his head irritably. Unsubtle. To call attention to Catherine's
youth in so crass a way, playing to the libido he left behind a century ago.
Yes, Catherine was just a girl. Yes, he took advantage of her - in just as real a way - even if it wasn't his initial
choice to. She wasn't the youngest person to be sacrificed for the plan. And he'd do it again.
Suddenly feeling his One hundred and thirty eight years, he rests his head against the glass.
"Are you out there, old friend?"
Part Three: Apprenticeship
"I wish he'd just SAY something and get it over with. Or leave"
Reading town centre, in a coffee shop. Nimue is ranting, punctuating her sentances by tearing sugar sachets
into tiny pieces. Taliesin sighs into his mug.
"We need him. This business, for example..."
"Is an illustration! Why aren't I *there*, at the meeting? Are his secrets so valuable that I can't even see
someone else ask for..."
She trails off, her face becoming a happy smile. Taliesin looks over his shoulder
"Is this a private party?"
Excalibur. Rucksack over his shoulder, a few new lines on his face by the corners of his eyes. He pulls over a
chair, shakes Taliesin's hand.
"How was it?" The older mage asks. Cal shakes his head. Another time. But "Cobalt is now Heirarch"
Whole speeches packed into four words. Pride in his - their - friend, the loss of Aurora that must have happened
to enable it. Nimue grimaces in sympathy and squeezes Cal's arm.
"What's the trouble here?"
Taliesin begins to reply, but Nimue cuts him off
"It's Adder"
Cal frowns, sitting back
"What about him?"
The dam released, Nimue lays out her grievance. Taliesin, Gawain, Excalibur - even Haruspex - the others have
all taught her the basics of their order philosophies. Haruspex has even put her through the first Mystery
Initiation of the Mysterium. But from Adder... Nothing.
"Not even a recruitment pitch. It's like he doesn't trust me"
"Nim... I've known Guardians. I've worked with them my entire Awakened career. There's a lot they don't tell
outsiders, whole beliefs that are sealed off and secret. If I were to guess.. I'd say Adder is waiting for
permission. Or for a sign. For something, anyway"
She harumphs into her drink.
Taliesin sips his coffee, and speaks into Cal's mind.
-I fear we may have spoiled her. Nimue is used to being told secrets simply upon asking. I wouldn't blame
Adder-What do you think he's keeping back?- Cal sends back
-Something that could kill herPart Four: Awesome
Magog blinks. He wasn't expecting that.
"Sorry, what?"
Logos smiles sympathetically, and repeats herself
"I had fun at the wedding, Pete. But it was only at the wedding"
He looks around the bar and tries to salvage his ego.
"You've had enough?"
"YOU have. Downside of being what I and Samael are is that it's murder on relationships. You... You've been
very sweet, Magog, but we both know that your heart isn't in it. You don't love me... And it's okay, really. I just
don't want to go any further with you while you feel like that"
"This is the weirdest breakup talk I've ever had"
"By far. And Pete? You should tell her"
1.
Part Five: Attainment
The heart of the new Durham Aetheneum is the Mithraeum, the ritual chamber used in deepening the Mystery
of order members. Samael remembers it being built, just a design on a page following the old Aetheneum's
breach, coming to life and becoming *real*, answering his Attainments with layers of meaning, some of which
he can't even now unpick.
He feels the worm inside his soul, testing the limits of its cage.
"Here. This will help"
Pandora arrived the day after the battle. She brought Tiresias with her. After hearing what happened, the old
man told Samael to head to the Aetheneum.
Samael peers at the goblet Tiresias is holding out.
"With what?"
"With your soul"
"What is it?"
"Mostly milk. Plus flour, a bit of human blood and a few other things"
"Human blood?"
"Only a few drops"
Tiresias smiles beatifically. Samael, realising he's not going to get any further information, takes the goblet and
drinks the thick, ice-cold mixture.
"What are we doing?"
"You are concerned about the iintegrity of your soul.. Understandably. We are examining it for flaws. Use the
Mage Sight, and look at yourself"
Samael casts the spell, feeling the edges of something - there was something in the drink. There's always
something in the drink - playing at his conciousness. He looks down at himself in the flickering firelight, tracing
the outline of his aura. His hand - the lines of aura sparkling along the chi-lines and bones of his hand, the hand
that merged with the ankh in Sophia's Chantry. Tiresias withdraws to the edge of Samael's awareness, a calm
shadow at the back of his mind.
Time passes. He doesn't quite know how much.
"Jeremiah"
He turns. Tiresias is stood next to a full-length mirror made of shining bronze.
"Look at yourself"
He looks into the mirror / out of the mirror
Jerimiah sees Samael, shining with the colours of light-through-glass that others see. He stumbles, and Tiresias
catches him, guiding him to a steady footing. He stares at his own resonance, sees what another mage sees
when scrutinising him... And more. Like the hand, every part of his magical self contains further details, finer
and finer, the colours made up of mixed other colours like in a prism, down and down like fractals, infinite
within the space of his own self - and beyond it. Drawn to the edge, he sees the furthest boundary of his
resonance mingling with that of the room around him, drawing energies in and out. Detail again...
"From a close enough persepctive, there is no difference between the atoms of one thing and those of another.
We believe that the world is made up of discreet forms, but that's an artefact of our macro scale of awareness.
Look at yourself, Samael, and look at the world. Where do you end and it begin?"
Nowhere. There is no boundary. Samael stares into and out of the mirror, chasing the terminal between his
resonance and the Fallen World. It dances at the furthest edge of his perception, but breaks down when he
focuses on it.
"Concentrate"
At Tiresias' speech, he looks up - and then he has it. He sees Tiresias' hope for him, disappointment in him,
pride in him, fear of him, fear *for* him, spiralling out of the old man's aura, crossing Reality and entering his
own pattern.
His knees feel weak.
He feels the connection to Cobalt, and to Persephone, and shies away, remembering their warnings. Pandora's
love and gried, Logos' filial pride, Key's resentment and grudging respect. Bede's hatred, Kosciej's indifference,
his parent's loss, his sister's hero-worship, Cognos, somewhere in America, thinking of him with approval,
someone... Someone he can't think of, on their way to a new life.
And then, like someone staring at a trick painting of faces and a vase, he observes the negative space. All the
Fallen World's influences on him ignored, leaving only...
Him. Perfect, and powerful. The Aether.
He is put in mind of the Echo Walkers' battle form.
...He feels the drug leave his body as Tiresias casts something, gently tugging him back toward life. His
attainment tells him the drugged drink would have been fatal in a few more seconds.
"Did you find any flaws?"
Trembling with withdrawal, Samael can only shake his head.
"What was that?"
"The Mysterium Calamitas. You saw yourself without the Fallen World, for an instant. You saw the flaws all
around us, legacy of the Fall"
"It was terrible"
Tiresias nods
"Good. Yes. Why?"
"Because..." Samael grasps for the words "... We don't live like that"
"Exactly. All the pressures of this world, the influences of everyone and everything around us, friends, enemies,
lovers... They make us. We are ever-changing, Samael - when you feel the worm move, your soul moves *with*
it; it is not a brittle shell to be broken by a mere push"
"Like with the Echo Walkers. Without the world around us, we're monsters"
"Do you know why the bodies of the Ascended turn to Tass? Because, bathed in perfection, they cannot
interface with the rest of us any more. There was a mage in Ghana who tried to Ascend through this method;
through unwise spells he cut himself off from the rest of the world, turned his aura into a perfect shield and
divorced himself from reality"
"What happened to him?"
"Nothing. Ever."
Samael nods, wiping foam from his chin
"You go into battle against those who have lost this perspective. The Exarchs, up on their Thrones, have
forgotten what it is to be human. They no longer dwell in the world"
Samael breathes, feeling the worm at rest.
"The Mysterium Calamitas"
"Congratulations, Heirophant"
Part Six: Agenda
Cobalt peers intently at the glass of water, and uses his Attainment to determine its age to the second.
Then he checks his watch.
Damn. Time isn't dilating
It's just the effect of Key speaking.
"...And from Solarious"
The Mystagogue finishes and leans back in its chair. The other Councillors look at Cobalt.
Right. My cue
"Scribe - I'll write return well-wishes to all of them. Vidocq especially"
Scribe, taking the minutes, nods
"What's next?"
"Uh.. Bede, Heirarch" Scribe says, hestitantly
"What about him?"
"He points out that his prophecy has come to pass, and asks that he be allowed to view Aurora's body to
minister the last rites of our Legacy..."
She's cut off by Cobalt shaking his head
"...The answer was no when he was offering something in return. Please send Bede a dictionary. With a
bookmark pointing to the meaning of the word 'Exile'"
Part Seven: Antagonist
Sef sits on the balcony at the Furthest Legion's sanctum, legs dangling into space as she watches, down below,
Lux be wheeled out by Atia and Key.
There is a Master of the Life Arcanum in York, whom Key has bought the services of. Sef isn't aware of the
details, but the impression she gets is that the cost is... expensive.
-Did you bring me here to assuage your guilt?- Asks the Daimon of Kosciej, sat next to her with his back to the
rail. Not bothering to look
"The fact that you don't feel guilty persuades me I should"
-Touché, Catherine. Touché. But I had nothing to do with Lux's injury. I was barely present for the entire sorry
episode. You did it all by yourself"And you approved"
-Implicit in my absence. Yes. I appear to offer advice when needed or - rarely - requested. You arrived at the
correct course of action all by yourself and so *I* was not required to guide you to it. The downtime did allow
me to ponder the questions you have"Such as?"
-How to use the artifical propogation method Kosciej has invented for his new Legacy against them.
Unfortunately, impersonation does not seem feasible. If we had access to the Ankh... But never mind.He stands up and claps her on the shoulder companionably.
-And cheer up Catherine! Lux was not the first innocent soul to be sacrificed for your aims. Merely the first that
you have noticed. And I very much doubt that he will be the lastShe flinches, angrily
"How DARE you..."
The Daimon faces her, quite calm.
-The Ends justify the Means. If it meant the end of Kosciej's plan, would you sacrifice Solemn? Djehuty? Bede?
Key? Quark? At what point of personal hostility or friendship does someone become an acceptable loss, and for
what justification do you exlude anyone save false sentimentality or a primitive sense of vengence?He crouches, levelling their eye line.
-If it would save the world... Would you sacrifice Samael? Ah! But of course... You already havePart Eight: Apprehension
New York. 1:13 AM.
Cognos looks out of the window at the rain. Down at the Sleepers, hurrying about their lives in the avenue far
below.
"Do you know why I started travelling?"
His guest doesn't answer.
"I settled. For a long time, actually. I told myself I was done with the adventure of life. Found myself a
Lighthouse fed by Orgones and started working on my Sex drive. I find... I find Pandemonium sits in the part of
my psyche that is argumentative. Confrontational. I feel closest to my power when I know something and am
having to make a case for it to the ignorant. You know?"
Still nothing.
"No. Well... I found that it suited me. I had a regular sparring partner, who I detested of course, and that kept
me happy. I raised my apprentices, and he raised his. Until the day he was killed. It turns out, he'd made a
mistake a long time ago, and the mess from that mistake came back for him. I left his apprentice to deal with it,
resumed my travels"
There is a slight noise.
"You think so? It wasn't out of any cowardice. I can tell when I'm not in a story, when I'm not needed. My petty
wants and desires were a distinct second place to Destiny's Way, and I remain a side player. Content to cameos
when needed"
He turns and addresses the man lying on the couch directly
"And that's your problem. You see, time was when I'd have just handed you off to someone else. But I have had
some... news... from back there. About what they face. And YOU are simply not important enough to bother
them with. They've outgrown you, just like the outgrew me"
He feels the edge of the spell being tested, but the prisoner is not strong enough in the Space Arcanum. Not
strong enough by far.
"They have bigger things to worry about. So, Uriel, I'm afraid you get me instead of Samael. We will play our
little melodrama out on the sidelines"
He regards the Echo Walker, trapped in a cocoon of folded space.
"It's a shame. Samael might have let you live"
1.
Part Nine: Alliance
Djehuty wakes with a start, gripping the edge of the table in sudden panic.
He'd dropped off. Dangerous.
Especially with his dreams. Anyone could be watching them.
Nervously, the apostate looks around the canteen. No one seems to have noticed. Nameless hurry to and fro
about their business, ignoring him.
The Dark lit up...
He shakes his head, clearing the dream away, and decides to go for a walk. The activity seems... of a higher
energy than normal. There is anticipation in the air.
Finally, he spots a friendly face. Allandro, back from Newcastle following his mission to protect Persephone.
Allandro has never made an issue of his apostasy - he's always so well-spoken.
"Cousin" The Parlimentarian acknowledges him
"Comrade, surely?"
"Aren't we all Cousins, in the end? You look like you could do with some sleep Djehuty"
Djehuty scratches the back of his neck
"What's going on?"
Allandro glances about, and for an instant Djehuty feels crushed. Left on the outside again. But the Nameless
leans in, confidential.
"There's been an development that has advanced the timetable. Boudicca was contacted last night"
"By who?"
"Let's just say you're not the *only* Diamond mage to see the light"
Allandro claps him on the shoulder encouragingly, and hurries off to his destination.
Djehuty feels the bottom fall out of his stomach.
He'd thought he had more time.
Part Ten: Avernan
She remembers the pain. A flash of fire around her neck, a hideous sense of tumbling from herself.
The final sight of her own body, toppling from the unbelivers.
And then nothing.
She can't get the fog to clear.
She doesn't know her name.
All she can hear is the sound.
She's somewhere else. In the dark. There are many others here, pressed in together. In the stillness, there is
only the shuffling of feet and the occassional gasping sob of what passes for sound. Except for the Call.
It comes to them, in the dark. Reminds them of who they were, and promises to them.
Like her neighbours, she begins to move, drawn through the dark by the sound.
The walk is long. No one speaks. No one has to.
Memories flow through her, in and out like breath. She remembers, and then forgets, that she was once
Vahishta.
The sound draws her on.
There must be some way out of here.
Part Eleven: Assistance
Introductions over, the three men sit back and regard one another.
It's Adder, of all people, who breaks the silence.
"What brings you to me?"
Ashlar looks over his spectacles at him. Gawain crosses his arms, waiting for the answer himself.
"You are the Snakestaff, correct?"
Adder, not breaking eye contact, nods slightly
"What's his weapon got to do with anything?" Gawain asks
"The Concordat of Serpents is a very respected Legacy among the Guardians. Your friend here is the leader of
his generation, the favoured student of his mentor"
"My Mentor? You want something to do with Ladon?"
Ashlar nods. Adder frowns.
"Start at the beginning, Mystagogue"
"I have been exiled from London for probing too deep into the shared recruitment histories of our orders. There
is something taking shape, something wrong, and I think that we have all overlooked the vital piece of
evidence"
"Such as what?"
"I was wondering why the Nameless hadn't attacked us directly, and that led to me wondering about the one
time they *did*. When he first came back to this world, Kosciej didn't run immediately. He took time out, in his
significantly weakened and mana-starved state, to infiltrate the most heavily guarded Sanctum in Newcastle
and murder it's owner; a Guardian of the Veil named Cicero"
"Excalibur's friend" Gawain says, quietly
"Indeed. And I need to know why. Cicero was from London, originally - that much I've been able to find out - and
he was handed over to the Guardians as an Apprentice by the mage who found him after his Awakening. The
identity of that mage is at Heirophant level of clearance, and it took my getting myself eiled to find out who it
was"
"Cadacaeus?" asks Adder, but Ashlar shakes his head
"Tiresias. And this is where it gets really screwy. Tiresias didn't start out as a Mystagogue. He converted, after
basic training"
He leaves it hanging. Adder nods, understanding
"He used to be a Guardian"
"Apparantly so. And then the trail goes cold"
The old man leans forward
"You don't know me from Adam, Adder, but my friends are your friends. This could be vastly important to all of
us. Your Mentor is the senior recruiter for the Guardians in this country. He's the secret-keeper, in lieu of
keeping written records. What we'd call an Egregore. He knows"
Adder looks at Gawain, who narrows his eyes, expecting Ashlar to be rejected. How little he knows me, even
now, the Guardian thinks.
"I'll ask him"
Part Twelve: Arrival
The taxi arrives at the hotel from the airport. The passenger checks in, leaves her cases in the room and getting changed - hails another cab downtown.
The neon lights of Las Vegas go by as she arrives at the nightclub. Nodding to the doorman, she ignores the
queue.
Upstairs, in the owner's area, she is greeted by a man in an expensive suit.
"As lovely as ever" he kisses her cheek. They shake hands, and sit.
"You've chosen the name of..?"
"Miranda"
He smiles, genuinely pleased
"There's no need to compliment me so"
She shakes her head
"Not for you, old friend. Not all, at least. Brave New World"
"Well. Welcome to Las Vegas, Janet"
"Thank you, Heirarch Prospero"
1.
Won't Get Fooled Again
Session 12
GenCon 2010
Welcome Back Faithful Readers! Sorry about that - there was a thing, then another thing and... You get the idea. Many
things I can't talk about for now have taken my attention away, for which I am eternally sorry.
It's weird to be writing this. This was the GenCon game in August 2010 (yes, I am that far behind), yet here I sit at the
end of January having just booked for GenCon 2011. Soul Cage finished three weeks ago from my perspective and I'm
idly planning a reunion tour of sorts for the August meetup, as maninblue is coming with me to the states this year
allowing Cobalt, at least, to be in it.
Assuming he survived the finale
Anyways. Yes. You should have seen the run-up to this story in the little ficlets I've been posting in the thread, but for
those who haven't or skip bad game fiction, Ashlar has asked the Pendragon to seek out Adder's mentor, an old
Guardian named Ladon. Ladon is a kind of senior recruiter for the Guardians and knows the cyphers neccessary to
unlock the secrets in the material Ashlar stole from London, which Ashlar hopes will explain why Kosciej killed Cicero
back in "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and why the Mysterium so far hasn't been attacked in the London War.
I haven't posted the character write-ups for the Pendragon I gave to the players ahead of time because some of them
contain great big honking spoilers. There really isn't a good place to put them except maybe right at the very end of
the chronicle along with the final character sheets for the Auric Horizon.
So. Let us cast our minds back to 2010, where, in the free gaming tables on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency, six
gamers did gather. One of them was new and hadn't subjected herself to my Storytelling before. The other five have
no excuse.
Jason, playing Taliesin, the elderly Thyrsus negotiator and Mind-specialist who acts as the morals of the Cabal!
Nick, playing Gawain, the Acanthus Child of the Hour and Mexican daredevil!
Alec, playing Excalibur, the Obrimos Tamer of Fire who's the World of Darkness' answer to Captain Britain!
Mike, playing Haruspex, Moros Time-specialist who divines the future through examining things he sacrifices!
Phil, playing Adder, Mastigos Concordat of Serpents and the bearer of the Snakestaff; the Guardian of the Veil in the UK
tasked with judging Apprentices who turn to hubris!
Grace, playing Nimue, who may or may not be the Heiromage!
Despite his promise to contact Ladon, Adder doesn't seem too happy about it. Gawain muses out loud that he
must be fighting his Guardian instinct to go back on his word a few times (which doesn't help), but eventually,
swallowing the misgivings that are churning in his stomach, the Mastigos casts a sympathetic Telepathy to his
old mentor.
The conversation is brief - Ladon was always rather curt, but he seems especially frosty through the spell,
which firms up Adder's misgivings. Nevertheless, Adder reports that Ladon is next due to visit a Cabal of the
Sodality of the Tor based in a Berkshire town named, improbably, "Upper Muchton".
Ladon's role is as an advisor on the complex subject of Awakening potential recruits - who to maze in the
Labyrinth, who to attempt the breadcrumb trail of secrets with and who to attempt, in very rare circumstances,
to shock into Awakening directly. Mostly, Adder notes to his companion's raised eyebrows, the job consists of
warning cabals *not* to attempt to intervene themselves, with the authority of the order to back up his
prohibitions.
The Sodality are an old, old Guardian and Mystagogue legacy based in the South of England and Wales who
believe each mage has an ideal spirit-form, analogous to a pagan God, that they can channel during rituals and
occupy many of the most ancient Hallows of the UK, stone circles and ancient monuments built at leyconvergences millennia ago. They're unusual for a Guardian Legacy in that they have large Sleeper and
Sleepwalker followings - most Tor members are surrounded by a cult, which they carefully watch for signs of
Awakening. The Legacy has few accidents thanks to the weight of tradition, keeping the cults in the family
wherever they're based and careful self-pruning, but even so it doesn't seem unusual that Ladon would have
been called in by such a Cabal if they had a delicate situation to unravel. Business as usual.
And so, in the morning sunshine, the landrover of justice rolls into Upper Muchton. It's not much of a town,
spreading in a lazy crescent behind it's "main street" on one side. On the other side, there's a meadow and
then, about half a mile away, a hill topped with a Victorian Folly. The tourist information centre is the ground
floor of a house. The municipal car park is a layby. To Haruspex, the hill is plainly artificial - a mound from
ancient times.
He squints at it as they all climb out of the land rover. The hill would be a Hallow - the Folly probably covers the
grand project in the 1880s to redirect England's ley lines and conceals the Sodality's rites from view.
"There are two Witches living here according to records - a Mystagogue named Violante and a Guardian I don't
know the name of. We could find her" - Haruspex
"If Ladon's advising them then she'll know where he's staying, or when he's arriving" - Taliesin
"Hopefully, he'll already be here" - Haruspex
"Okay. Everyone look for Cabal signs" - Excalibur
"I say we start with the bar" - Gawain
"Worked last time" - Excalibur
"I'll stick with Haruspex, thanks" - Adder
"It might not be a bad idea. Judging by our sample group, many mages are alcoholics" - Haruspex
"Alchoholics go to meetings. We're drunks" - Gawain
Haruspex pauses
"My apologies. Many mages are drunks" - Haruspex
"Let's just have a little walk around, see if we can find any signs" - Taliesin
"It's a gorgeous day" - Nimue, brightly agreeing
Haruspex regards the bright sunshine. He regards the birdsong. He regards the happy, smiling people.
He feels a great existential dread, deep in his soul.
"Yes. Lovely" - Haruspex
Everyone casts Mage Sight spells. Under Supernal Vision the Cabal note the two ley lines nearby, which are
being attracted by some effect at the Folly causing them to spiral in and meet there. The leys resonate with
peace and ecstasy.
Cal feels the hair on the back of his neck prickle. They're being watched. He slowly looks around, noting the
observer as an elderly lady who is gently wheeling a baby stroller - with no baby on board - down the street.
"You guys see her?" - Excalibur
Taliesin glances over. There is an old lady with a baby stroller. The stroller has a baby in it, and the child is
staring right at him.
Gawain glances over. There is an old lady with a baby stroller, but the stroller is empty.
Adder glances over. There is an old lady with a baby stroller. The stroller has a baby in it, and the child is
Haruspex glances over. There is an old lady with a baby stroller. The stroller has a baby in it, and the child is
Nimue glances over and can't see anyone there at all.
"Huh?" - Nimue
"Should I... tackle her?" - Gawain
Nimue squints in that direction, scrutinising. There's something... wrong... where the guys are looking.
"What IS that?" - Nimue
"Magical" - Excalibur
"A Phantasm" - Gawain, with a bit more confidence
"Illusionary? The Sodality are Thyrsus; hardly likely to be throwing around that complex a Prime Practice" Taliesin
"I'm going to get a map" - Excalibur
He casts Spatial Map while Adder casts Sense Conciousness.
The results are conclusive. Most of the people in the village are real, but there are exceptions. The old woman
they're looking at, a dog being walked by a (real) little girl further down the street, a teenaged girl walking past
the village's only pub and a policeman surveying the scene are all the same mind to Adder's spell, and all
phantasms to Excalibur's.
"I... Don't like this town" - Excalibur
"A human-level intelligence at least" - Adder
Nimue is increasingly confused - she just can't see any of the people Adder is pointing out.
"Any way you can contact Ladon?" - Excalbur
"Yes" - Adder, grim
Nimue and Taliesin are conferring.
"What about the kid with the dog?" - Taliesin
"I see her, and she seems really happy" - Nimue
Haruspex, meanwhile, has spotted a Cabal Sigil on a house next door to a pub
"Over there" - Haruspex
Adder tries to cast Telepathy to Ladon again. He feels the connection open, and the touch of his mentor's mind
-Ladon. My Cabal and I have arrived- - Adder
-You think i'll fall for THAT?- - Ladon
The spell cuts off. Adder, confusion on his face, looks blankly around and walks off.
"What is it? Everything okay?" - Taliesin
"No" - Adder
"What is *wrong* with you guys?" - Nimue, confused
"There's something going on" - Taliesin
Gawain considers
"Maybe we should just say hello" - Gawain
Before anyone can stop him (everyone except for he and Nimue are casting mental shields of some variety or
other), Gawain strides over to the "dog-walking" child
"Hi!" - Gawain
Excalibur has had a bright idea and is trying to cast a Prime and Space Knowing spell to track back to whoever
cast it. The answer is "Everywhere".
"Hello mister!" - Girl
"I wasn't talking to you" - Gawain, momentarily before looking back at the dog
The dog barks. Gawain narrows his eyes
"Does it shake?" - Gawain
"No, but at least I can teach him how to" - Girl, happily
"You couldn't before?" - Gawain
"My Dad said he'd gone to live on a farm, but then he came back!" - Girl
"When did he come back?" - Gawain
"Last week" - Girl
"Interesting" - Gawain, stroking his moustache
Haruspex walks off, heading for the Cabal house, while Adder tries it again
-Ladon?- - Adder
-BEGONE, DEMON!- - Ladon
Adder doubles over as Ladon - and from the resonance it's definitely Ladon - casts a Mental Fraying spell down
the connection at him.
"This whole town's alive" - Excalibur
Taliesin narrows his eyes, scrutinising the "dog"
"We're not dealing with a mage here" - Taliesin
...
"Is he any different?" - Gawain
The girl shakes her head
...
"Something far, far worse. Hey - Adder. This feels like Abyssal magic to me. You?" - Taliesin
Adder holds a finger up, wait. Cal thinks about it for a second.
"Oh, come ON. We can't go anywhere, can we?" - Excalibur
1.
Taliesin casts a Numinous Shield over everyone while Adder tries to find Ladon's location magically.
"Warded. And not by him" - Adder
Taliesin feels something trace at the edge of his Unseen Senses.
"Whoa!" - Nimue
"You saw that?" - Taliesin
"Something just probed you. It looked like a Spirit, maybe" - Nimue
"Oh, Great" - Taliesin
...
Meanwhile, Haruspex has reached the Cabal house and knocked. The door is opened by a middle-aged lady.
His fingers flick out a greeting sign of the Mysterium along with his rank. Her signal back indicates that she is a
Neokoros. Under the Interconnections he cast on the way, she appears intimately connected to the whole town.
And under his Supernal Vision she's see-through.
She's one of the phantasms
"Violante?" - Haruspex
She looks around
"You'd better come in" - Violante
He waits at the threshold, suspicious. She pauses.
"We haven't had visitors from the order for many years. What can I do for you, sir?" - Violante
"You weren't told we were coming?" - Haruspex, wary
"No - should we have been?" - Violante
...
Out on the street, the team have reached the limit of passive senses. Time to get experimental.
Excalibur takes careful aim, forms the imago in his mind and casts Supernal Dispellation at the old lady with the
baby carraige. Both stiffen as though electrocuted, then explode into rapidly-crumbling shards; it's as though
they were hollow, like an easter egg, and he just smashed them.
None of the passersby bat an eyelid.
"Let's start taking these things out" - Excalibur
Adder counterspells the policeman.
Taliesin casts Sprit Tongue and Peer across the Gauntlet.
To his eyes, the policeman, the old lady and the baby are still there in Twilight - they're indistinct outlines.
Adder counterspells the teenaged girl.
"They're still here. Sort of - there's something in Twilight" - Taliesin
Excalibur hurries to catch up with Haruspex
"What is going on?..." - Excalibur, trailing off when he sees that Violante is fake.
"My Cabal mate" - Haruspex, by way of introduction.
...
Adder casts Mental Projection to leave his body. Everything else goes indistinct and hazy apart from the fakes which are all looking at him. They're on the same frequency of Twilight as his Mind spell, so he deduces them to
be mental projections rather than spirits.
As he realised earlier, they are all the same mind. He senses, through his Attainment, that that mind has a
particularly strong sense of Justice.
Adder can detect people's Virtues
...
Nimue by now is working herself up in grand confusion.
"Nimue. Since this has something to do with our minds, I'm going to try to lend you my senses" - Taliesin
He tries an improvised Mind-based version of Spirit Tongue, even burning Mana, but the spell fails. Taliesin
clucks back a curse, and explains what he was trying to do to Nimue. She nods, and casts it herself.
Enlightenment dawns as the projections appear to her - even Violante off in the distance. To Taliesin there's a
strange doppler effect as he sees both the phantasms and the mental projections inside them.
"Oh, that's MUCH better" - Nimue
...
"We were told you had a Guardian visiting" - Haruspex
"He arrived yesterday, and was talking to Spiral. Last I saw they were off to drink. The Vortigern; take the next
right" - Violante
"Thank you very much!" - Haruspex
They walk back to the others
"We're going to the pub. The Vortigern" - Haruspex
"Cool! It's a chain" - Gawain
"Has anyone looked into Fate on that issue?" - Taliesin
Gawain rolls his eyes.
"I wasn't actually intending to go to the pub" - Excalibur
"The usual: You and Nim are Destined for greatness. Haruspex is cursed by The Ruin" - Gawain
"*I* think we need to do something about this" - Excalibur
"My mentor is inside a Ban of some kind, and when I contacted him he thought I was a demon" - Adder
"He must know you pretty well" - Gawain
Adder glares at Gawain. Taliesin holds a hand up for peace, but is distracted momentarily by his wife walking
past. He shakes his head, but doesn't say anything.
"I think we should go someplace private as a group" - Haruspex
"Let's just go for a walk" - Gawain
They start strolling. Gawain casts a Fate spell, allowing himself to be guided to wherever he's needed. Or a pub.
Whichever.
Adder catches sight of the phantasm of Taliesin's wife - he's the only cabal member who knows what she looked
like, knowing Taliesin before she died. He stops.
"Tal. Whatever's doing this..." - Adder
"It probed my mind. It probably probed Ladon's too, and it's been tormenting him" - Taliesin, holding back his
anger.
"It's not done anything to us" - Gawain
"Does anyone else look familiar?" - Taliesin
Adder thinks about it; looking for people who Ladon might have known.
"Uh. Gawain... You were just probed" - Nimue
"Did I enjoy it?" - Gawain, grinning
"... ...Apparently it was unmemorable" - Nimue
"Can you tell where it came from? Give me something to shoot at?" - Gawain, grin vanishing
"Most likely from the large entity over the whole town. Rather than shoot everyone at random, I think we
should take some time to figure this out" - Haruspex
Gawain feels his spell end - whereever they are now is where he's meant to be. The Cabal quickly spot a High
Speech sigil worked into the front door of a nearby house; this is someone's Sanctum. Spiral's Sanctum, by
process of elimination.
"Before we enter, could I suggest we stay within one another's sight, since it can make us see things?" - Nimue
Taliesin peers across the Gauntlet.
The Shadow is empty. Completely empty.
"The Shadow's a wasteland. Scoured clean of spirits and Essence. This would never have happened if the
Sodality were here" - Taliesin
"Is there an end to it?" - Excalibur
"Not that I can see. I need to get up higher" - Taliesin
"if I were going to make a spiritual wasteland, I'd start at the Hallow and work out" - Haruspex
They knock, with no answer. Adder looks around to make sure noone's looking and animates the snake on his
staff. He closes his eyes as the snake drops through the mailbox and begins exploring the house, seeing what it
sees. He gets a snakes-eye-view of a tiled front hall, and as the construct moves around exploring the house he
relays what he sees - living room, kitchen.. stairs. The place looks like it hasn't been lived in for a while. There's
a pile of post inside the front door indicating noone's picked it up for two weeks. BAsement stairs...
Excalibur senses a Ward over the house, and dispels it.
"I just dropped a ward" - Excalibur
Adder tries to Scry on Ladon again. He's inside. Adder and Cal look at one another and kick the door in, jumping
the post-pile. The snake reattaches to Adder's staff as they reach the basement door. Scrutinising it indicates
that Ladon himself has laid a Sorcerer's Rebuke linked to a Ward on it - the door will blast anyone trying to open
it.
Adder shifts from one foot to the other impatiently while Cal and Nimue dispel it.
"Remember you're a demon" - Taliesin, to Adder
Gawain starts to enhance everyone's luck, just in case.
"Is going down here a good idea?" - Adder
Haruspex checks
"Bad for the first person to go down. There's a surprise" - Haruspex
"Meh" - Gawain
"You know his powers. What's he likely to do?" - Haruspex, to Adder
"Likely a mental attack" - Adder
"I'm probably the best person to go down first" - Excalibur
In fact, he's definately the best person to go down, as the trap isn't a magical one - Ladon has rigged a gas pipe
to fireball someone in the face when he lights it with a minor Forces spell. Cal holds his hand up and the flames
are turned back by his Attainment
"This is why I don't like doing things on the fly!" - Haruspex
"LADON! LADON! IT'S ME!" - Adder
Ladon has barricaded himself in the basement in a fort of sorts made of toppled shelves. He's been eating
canned food.
"LADON!" - Adder
Ladon - unshaven and unkempt from a fortnight of squatting down here, tries to dispel the mental projection he
believes Adder to be. The spell fizzles.
"Ladon... It's really me" - Adder
The old man shudders, then sits down, hard
"Damnit, Adder. Why did you have to come now?" - Ladon
"Because we planned to meet here" - Adder
"You mean that was actually you?" - Ladon
"Yes" - Adder
"I was trying to draw the creature into a trap. I'm sorry" - Ladon
"What do you know about the creature?" - Taliesin
Ladon peers up at the group, clustered on the stairs
"How many of you *are* there?" - Ladon
"Six of us" - Taliesin
"Don't feel bad. Perhaps it was its way of giving you what you need" - Nimue, cheerfully
Ladon squints at her.
"A... large Cabal for you" - Ladon
"Things change. Needs change" - Adder
"So I hear. I thought you'd be dead by now" - Ladon
Adder keeps his expression carefully blank
"All of you down here. I'll try to shield us from interruptions" - Ladon
"Got anything to drink?" - Gawain
Ladon nods towards a supply of bottled water. Gawain shakes his head, sadly
"I don't know how long I've been here. This is Spiral's house - the local GUardian. I've seen something walking
around pretending to be Violante, but I haven't seen Spiral. Something's happened here... I was called here
because Spiral has been trying to encourage his son towards Awakening. You can't force the insight, but you
can encourage - but I haven't found Spiral" - Ladon
"If it helps, you and he were last seen going to the pub" - Excalibur
"Well, I didn't" - Ladon, suddenly scathing
"I do understand that" - Excalibur, mildly
Ladon appears to calm down a bit
"Whatever the force behind the illusions is, it's attempting to right wrongs in a very simplistic way; trying to fix
anything anyone is upset about" - Ladon
"Do you have any inkling about what it is?" - Haruspex
"It feels like it's not Supernal. Something from..." - Ladon
"...The Abyss" - Taliesin
Ladon nods
"Do you think it has a centralised being somewhere?" - Haruspex
"When I try to track the projections, they're coming from everywhere" - Adder
"Have you tried leaving town yet?" - Ladon
The implication sinks in
"Ah, crap" - Excalibur
"Doesn't work. After a few miles, you come back on the town" - Ladon
(to Adder) "You always take us to the most interesting places" - Gawain
"Why'd you think my mentor thought I'd be dead by now?" - Adder
"I thought you'd be dead because of what you've been doing for the last year" - Ladon, with a sidelong glare at
Nimue
The old man tears into some food, while the Cabal think.
Haruspex thinks. The UK has an occasional problem with extra towns, but this is new to him. He hasn't heard of
things like this happening.
"Ladon. You saw something - phantasms or an actual creature?" - Gawain
"So far it has impersonated five dead colleagues" - Ladon
"It also put a ward up around the house" - Taliesin
"Probably to stop me from raising help... Although it let Adder's message through..." - Ladon
"Thanks for that, by the way, I owe you one" - Adder, grumpy
"A trap?" - Haruspex
"I was hoping you could answer that for us, man" - Taliesin
"I can give it a go. Do you have any rats around..?" - Haruspex
"I'm sure there's a farm or something nearby" "If I were an Abyssal, I'd be hangin' at the Folly Hallow"
"Can we *please* check before we go in there?" - Haruspex
Cal and Gawain grin
"All right" (placating) "first animal we see, Haruspex checks the future" - Taliesin
Haruspex tries to cast a Time spell - will going to the Folly be dangerous? Yes.
As Alec pointed out here, pretty much everything the Cabal do is dangerous
"Needs more work" - Haruspex
"Can I help?" - Nimue
"Sure. And find me an animal" - Haruspex
"I can do that" - Taliesin
"So this Spiral... He wanted to Awaken his son?" - Excalibur
"I tried to tell him on my last visit. Most people cannot be forced into the Supernal. But some have unrealistic
expectations of the young" - Ladon
The old Guardian looks right at Nimue, then at Adder.
"Later" - Adder
Ladon shrugs
"Can someone Awaken to Abyssal magic?" - Haruspex
"Legends" - Ladon
Nimue, Gawain and Taliesin head upstairs and out.
...
"Here kitty kitty kitty" - Gawain
"Carlos" - Rodriguez
Or rather, a phantasm of Rodriguez. The real Rodriguez, whose name Gawain stole after he killed him.
"Just ignore him" - Taliesin
Gawain shoots the phantasm in the face.
...
In the basement, the others look up at the sound of the gunshot
"Gawain" - Excalibur
"Your friend is likely shooting someone from his past" - Ladon
...
Up on the street, the gang have found Snowball.
Taliesin casts a Life spell to puppeteer the cat, feeling rather guilty.
They head back
"Bingo" - Gawain
"Oh, hello Snowball" - Haruspex, mildly, stroking the cat
"Is there anyone walking around town I would recognise?" - Adder
"Some former students who disappointed me" - Ladon
"You thought I was one?" - Adder
"Until recently, I thought you were just a former student" - Ladon
Gawain takes in the implied insult
"I *like* him" - Gawain
"Not. Now" - Adder
"Snowball should provide us with enough information... We can presume the creature is at the Hallow at the
centre of the Spiral. We need to know if it has a central conciousness..." Haruspex
"If it IS an Abyssal" - Excalibur
"What is it's weakness?" - Nimue
"Good call" - Haruspex
"What kind of Abyssal entity it is?" - Excalibur
"Well, it could be an Intruding creature from the Abyss or a Scelesti casting things" - Haruspex
"If it's a Scelesti we'd want to know their weaknesses" - Taliesin
"Could an Abyssal be possessing someone?" - Nimue
"Yes. And I felt a Numina - so there's a spirit involved" - Taliesin
"A mage we can shoot. A spirit we need more information on" - Excalibur
"I have had great success in shooting spirits. But it's Bane would help" - Gawain
"Anything else?" - Haruspex
"Where is Spiral. Is his son involved?" - Taliesin
"Okay. Well, Snowball, let's hope your death is not in vain" - Haruspex
Haruspex strokes the cat, then plunges his ritual knife into its belly and opens it up. His eyes flicker rapidly as
he sifts through the entrails.
Spiral is somewhere dark and stony. Tree roots dangle from the ceiling - he's underground. He's on his knees,
weeping. A woman Haruspex does not recognise stabs him
"You said he had a son, right?" - Haruspex
"Right" - Ladon
"I saw a woman stabbing him, around his age" - Haruspex
"The mother. Or a projection of her" - Taliesin, theorising
"I'll see if the boy is involved" - Haruspex, putting his fingers back into the dead cat
Late afternoon, in a school. Haruspex sees a boy walk past a pair of larger girls bullying a smaller girl his own
age. The child hunches, trying not to get involved.
The bullies burst into flames - white-hot - furnace-hot - and are quickly reduced to charred skeletons. The
flames don't touch the smaller girl, who stares blankly into the middle distance.
Where they were stood copies of them appear, hand the smaller girl her satchel back and walk off to their next
class.
Noone notices the corpses.
"... ... Oh" - Haruspex
"So. Is the son involved?" - Taliesin
A phantasm of snowball appears next to Haruspex, mews, and runs off upstairs.
"Er..." - Haruspex
"Spit it out, man" - Ladon
"Yeah. He's involved. It's righting wrongs - it just killed two girls and replaced them with duplicates less likely to
bully people" - Haruspex
"How'd it kill them?" - Excalibur
"Fire" - Haruspex
He explains. Ladon, stone-faced, fetches out a large Bowie-knife and begins sharpening it.
"Are you sure that he did it?" - Gawain
"Not positive, but I think so" - Haruspex
"That's a rather powerful spell to cast" - Excalibur
"For one of us, sure. We also have a rather unwise mage to deal with" - Taliesin
"Our next course of action should be to check if the boy is a mage" - Haruspex
"Did you see where Spiral was?" - Adder
"I would think he'd be at the Hallow" - Haruspex
"Well, maybe we want to go... Was his wife Awakened?" - Adder
"What did Spiral's wife look like?" - Taliesin
"No idea" - Ladon
"Any family pictures?" - Gawain
A brief search turns up some key evidence. Judging by the funerary urn, the wife is dead. Spiral's magical
equipment is hidden away in the attic - it looks like it was once further spread, but Spiral has hidden it within
recent memory. And the woman Haruspex saw was the wife.
"So he's punishing himself" - Taliesin
Tal can relate
"We think it's in his son, though, right? I've studied a bit of psychology - it's not unknown for children to blame
the surviving parent" - Nimue
"Okay. We can stop by the school, or go up the hill" - Taliesin
"Hill. Where he is, has or will be being stabbed. Armour up." - Excalibur
While Nimue, Gawain and Haruspex stay behind to cast further divinations, the rest of the gang hurry out and
across the meadow to the hill. A short climb later and they're at the folly, which looks like it's been been
defaced, and recently; blocks have been knocked out, the door ripped off and decorative stonework
deliberately trashed.
"This... Used to be a Fetter" - Taliesin
"That makes sense" - Excalibur
They duck under the (entirely fake) Police Tape, and enter the building.
Inside, Excalibur is surprised, then grim, to see Cicero.
"Excalibur. This must happen" - Cicero, holding his hand out, signalling them to stop.
Adder dispels the phantasm
"They're not real" - Adder
The earthern floor seems to have been dug into, leaving a hole. The gang drop down into the underground
chamber, to discover the phantsmal wife of Spiral yank her dagger out of his chest. The wound closes up, but
as she lunges to stab him again Adder swings (and misses) with his staff before Excalibur dispels the "wife".
Spiral, mind thoroughly broken, curls up on the floor and babbles.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" - Ladon, kicking him. Excalibur interposes himself, shooting the old Guardian a warning
look with one hand on his sword pommel. Ladon looks Cal in the eye, realises the Arrow isn't going to back
down and, disgusted, turns on his heel to stride a few paces away and lean against the wall.
Cal stays right where he is.
"Let me try to help him" - Taliesin
While Taliesin works trying to sooth Spiral's trauma, Adder casts Read the Depths. And fails.
Adder grits his teeth and recasts the spell... failing again.
Under Taliesin's ministrations, Spiral has improved from babbling to catatonic. Adder tries one last time and
manages to break into the other Guardian's mind.
Spiral's wife was a Sleepwalker, a member of the cult the Sodality arranged around them, but his son was
disappointing. Spiral wanted his son to be a Sleepwalker at least, Awakened preferably, but every minor test
showed the child to suffer from the curse of Quiescence. Spiral took it poorly, although the final straw only
came when his wife died of an illness neither he nor Violante could cure.
The Cabal's Hallow, legend had it, imprisoned an entity bound there by the earliest members of the Sodality. It
whispered to Spiral, and offered him a deal; if the child had no inner God, as per the Sodality's beliefs, then it
could take the place of one and Awaken his son. Violante realised what he was doing, so he murdered her,
damaged the Hallow to the point that the entity could get out and allowed it to possess the boy.
And ever since he's been down here being tortured by his "wife".
Adder relays the sorry tale of Spiral.
"All right. So we need to exorcise the Abyssal Entity from the boy" - Taliesin
"Great" - Excalibur
Adder feels Ladon cast Telepathy
-You see? Unrealistic Expectations. Will your friends interfere?- - Ladon
-I don't think they can do anything. But distract them- - Adder
"Gentlemen. We need to find the child and figure out some way to banish the creature" - Ladon
Cal and Taliesin turn to Ladon to reply, while Adder concentrates in the background.
"That much is obvious" - Excalibur
"I'm just calling the Diviners, to get them to adjust their questions and if not meet us at the school" - Taliesin
Adder finishes his spell. Cal and Taliesin are suddenly aware that Spiral has stopped making any noise at all.
"School's nearly out. We should hurry" - Adder
"What happened to him?" - Taliesin
"The creature must have been keeping him alive" - Ladon, completely blank-faced
And Adder loses another Wisdom point! Go Wisdom 4!
"And are you going to do the same thing to his Son?" - Taliesin, harsh
"We're NOT killing the child" - Excalibur
Adder just shrugs.
...
Meanwhile, back at the house, Gawain has been led by a disturbance in the force to the beer in the fridge.
Nimue, seizing her moment, has stuffed her backpack with as much Guardian of the Veil paraphernalia as she
can lay her hands on.
Team Divination have their answers;
The three of them working together got a rather stonking five questions.
What is it's ban?
The Creature's Ban is simple: If it enters a mind with no regrets, it will have no power over that mind and be
trapped.
What is it's abilities?
It's mentally scanning everyone in the vicinity, keeping everyone here and it's using it's power of illusion to
fulfil it's hosts subconscious wishes
"At least he's not a teenager. At the minute he's just trying to make everyone happy; three years time and it'll
be women in bikinis and swords on fire everywhere" - Haruspex
"Why'd it get us here?" - Gawain
If it enters an Awakened host it will be much, much stronger
"How can it do that?" - Haruspex, worried
It would have to be accepted by the new host
"What are it's limitations?" - Haruspex
Ultimately, it's an enabler, incapable of it's own agency unless outside a host in the which case it's also much
weaker and manifest as a Spirit
"And then we could kick it's ass. We need to catch up with the others. Call them" - Haruspex
...
Cal's phone rings
"What's going on?" - Gawain
"We found him. We're on our way to the school" - Excalibur
"Okay. See you there" - Gawain
Gawain hangs up
"... What did you find out?... Damnit" - Excalibur, talking to the dial tone
He calls Haruspex, and gets the skinny
"So what you're saying is, don't kill the kid?" - Excalibur, loud enough for the Guardians to hear
"Definitely don't. And don't go to the school for now. We need to prepare a trap" - Haruspex
Suddenly, as they are halfway across the meadow, Taliesin, Adder, Ladon and Excalibur are walking in the
middle of a mid-sized fun fair. The Carnival has come to town.
1.
Nimue, Haruspex and Gawain leave the house. Passing by Snowball's owner (an elderly lady)
calling it in for dinner, they see the fair. To Nimue, who still can't see the outer shells of the
projections, this loks very odd indeed.
"Two Guardians in a phantasmal funfair. Recipe for disaster" - Harsupex
"They're not very... Stealthy. Are they?" - Gawain
Haruspex grunts.
...
The Cabal meet up on the outskirts of the funfair, surrounded by happy townsfolk and especially
the local schoolchildren, who headed straight for it when classes finished.
"We're dealing with a kind of Abyssal Genie. It goes into a host and then grants wishes" Haruspex
"Can it move?" - Taliesin
"If we force it out of the boy it'll try to go into someone else. Anyone who would try to use it will
do" - Haruspex
Excalibur is half-listening, half watching Gawain apply himself to the tin-can shooting ally with
gusto. The man manning the booth is Cal's old Sergeant from the Bosnian War.
"This is not a very fun fun fair" - Excalibur, to himself
"It'll try to wear us down" - Haruspex
"We noticed" - Excalibur
Taliesin tries to ignore the happy laughter of his own daughter from the merrygoround behind
him
"Where's the boy now?" - Nimue
"On the bumper cars" - Adder
Gawain returns, handing Nimue an over-sized stuffed toy
"I have a question. The Numinous shield you put on us. Will it help against possession?" - Gawain
"It should. What about weaknesses?" - Taliesin
"If it goes into someone who truly doesn't want anything, it has no wishes to grant" - Haruspex
"That can be done" - Taliesin, musing
"I may have few scruples, but I draw the line at offering up an infant..." - Haruspex
"No. GOD, no. No." - Taliesin, shuddering
"We'd be swimming in milk and nappies" - Nimue
"I... Don't want to think about that. But you had another idea?" - Haruspex
"Who has no regrets? No one. No real person" - Taliesin
"Are you suggesting we make someone?" - Nimue
"I can alter someone's personality, temporarily. I wouldn't want to, but I *could*" - Taliesin
"You'd have to have a virtual saint to start off with, a paragon of virtue. We're talking Jesus, here.
Do you have Jesus to hand?" - Haruspex, scoffing.
Ladon looks at Nimue, then snorts.
"Can we just shoot it? We can injure the spirit" - Gawain
"If it's out of the child's body, sure" - Haruspex
"What if it's not?" - Gawain
"Any attempt to harm the child would... Make him want you to Go Away" - Haruspex
"The child gets what he wants, and he wants to be safe" - Adder
"Another question, then. If it can read our minds, and we're planning to stop it, why isn't it
coming after us?" - Excalibur
"It can only do what he wants" - Haruspex
"Or it can only read our regrets" - Adder
"No, I'm pretty sure it's our minds as a whole. I'm thinking it wants us to try, but not necessarily
succeed" - Haruspex
"Why does it want us to try?" - Excalibur
"Think about it. Anyone willing to do the deed is an *excellent* candidate for possession" Haruspex
"Where did the spirit come from?" - Nimue
"Ultimately, the Abyss. From the description, in the bestiaries of the pentacle it would be a
Gulgomoth" - Ladon
"But it was sealed up in the Hallow" - Taliesin
"So... The local Cabal had some way to contain it?" - Nimue
"Maybe. What about Banishment?" - Adder
"Get it out of a body and open a Portal to the Abyss, then get it through said Portal. A plan with
only three drawbacks" - Haruspex
"We've already covered the first. What's needed for the Portal?" - Taliesin
"A deliberately-reversed Supernal Summoning cast by a Disciple, preferably an Adept, of Spirit.
Not for the faint-hearted. We'd need multiple *strong* Space and Spirit wards as well" - Haruspex
"And the willingness to commit a grevious sin, possibly releasing worse monsters into the world" Ladon
"Oh, I agree" - Haruspex
"Which is probably why the local Cabal's ancestors opted for binding it. Can we repair the
prison?" - Nimue
"I don't know. I'd have to have a look along with a someone studied in Space" - Haruspex
"Which would be me" - Taliesin
"Nimue - coming?" - Haruspex
"Yeah!" - Nimue
Haruspex peers at Ladon
"I'd advise you to not make any... rash decisions. It's been working on you for a few weeks" Haruspex
"I'll take that in the spirit in which it was given" - Ladon
Haruspex, Taliesin and Nimue leave
"If we have to kill the child, we do it without hestitation" - Ladon
Lol
"We're not killing the boy" - Excalibur, flatly
"Besides, it'll just leap" - Gawain
"Then we will hold our mental defenses" - Ladon
"It'll go into *someone else*. You're talking about massacaring a whole funfair of kids" - Gawain, a
dangerous tint to his voice
There is a pause
"I didn't bring enough bullets for that" - Gawain
The moment has been diffused, but yes - it's clear that Ladon really did mean that, at least until
Gawain confronted him. Ladon looks shocked at what he was suggesting only a few moments
before.
"I caution you that your desire to do whatever needs to be done will open you up" - Gawain
"... Thank you, gentlemen" - Ladon
The old Guardian wanders from the group, lost in thought
"Thanks" - Adder
"You know, we don't get on all the time, but we're still Cabalmates" - Gawain
...
"Oh, that reminds me. Adder's doomed" - Haruspex
"...What?" - Taliesin
"You know how I like to look ahead, to make sure of things. Well, I know I'm set up for a bad end,
but Adder is too. It may fall to you to prevent him from being killed, or cast out of the Cabal" Haruspex
"I think I'd prefer Cast Out" - Taliesin, mildly
"I... Uh... Hesitate to question your precognition, but we *are* dealing with an entity that latches
onto our hopes and fears here, guys" - Nimue
"Can you help him avoid it?" - Taliesin
"Adder might take the advice the wrong way" - Haruspex
"Yes, but we need him to be sound" - Taliesin
Haruspex thinks
"Maybe we should get everyone else to join us" - Haruspex
"Once we're there and can find something to serve as a good excuse... Oh... Er... Spiral's death.
He was kind of killed. I think Ladon's sufficiently weak in his morals to be a problem" - Taliesin
...
Back at the fair, Cal is watching Ladon
"You want to maybe try to get him to calm down?" - Excalibur, to Adder
"I'll try" - Adder
...
Nimue, Haruspex and Taliesin have reached the tower. Haruspex examines Spiral's body.
"Alright. Let's see if he knew anything. If he's here" - Haruspex
"We'll poke about. Shout when you're done" - Taliesin
Haruspex tries to summon the man's ghost. Spiral appears, transparant body forming out of
ectoplasm, and looks around.
-I have to go- - Spiral
"Where?" - Haruspex
-OUT. I have to get out. There must be some way out- - Spiral
"Wait! Why was it hurting you? You released it" - Haruspex
-Spite. Please... I have to GO- - Spiral
"What's pulling you? What is it? Where are all the Ghosts going?" - Haruspex
Spiral opens his mouth and a noise comes out. Haruspex feels the room spin, and loses his
balance. When his head clears, he's sat on the floor.
It sounded, to Haruspex the Moros, like Stygia
"You... You can go" - Haruspex
The ghost walks straight out of the hill. Haruspex climbs back up and sees him heading for the
nearby churchyard
"Don't tamper with the mechanisms. I'll be back" - Haruspex
He hurries to catch up with Spiral.
...
Taliesin and Nimue are making progress - Nimue has made several intuitive leaps about which
aspects of the structure are significant. Essentially, the Folly hid a three-dimensional runic cage
within the lines of it's design, and it's that the Spiral broke.
Haruspex phones Cal on his way off to the graveyard
"We could really use you up here" - Haruspex
"Trouble?" - Excalibur
"Not at the moment, just figuring out a conundrum" - Haruspex
"When you called I was expecting it to be worse" - Excalibur
"There's something else - and that's worse - but until then the sooner we figure this out the
sooner we can get on" - Haruspex
...
Taliesin and Nimue have decided to concentrate on making themselves smart. In Taliesin's case,
his intelligence is straining the edges of his Patten. Nimue is merely a super-genius
But they're still not quite getting it.
Mages. Grace and Jason looked really pleased with themselves when they decided to buff their figureout-the-monument dicepools.
...
Cal is trying to round everyone up. Gawain is on the Ferris wheel, which doesn't help.
"If the kid was unconscious, would the wheel vanish"? - Gawain, musing to himself.
...
Haruspex watches from the edge of the graveyard as the Avernan Gate opens and Spiral's ghost
steps through it.
"Hmmm" - Haruspex
...
"Does this count as Later?" - Ladon
Adder makes a non-committal noise.
"Very well. What did you want to contact me for, anyway?" - Ladon
"We needed some help for a friend. A records cypher" - Adder
"Training information on Cicero" - Excalibur, joining them with Gawain after having got him off the
wheel.
"Which one? It's quite a common Shadow name" - Ladon
"From Newcastle" - Excalibur
"Bearer of the Eternal Voice?" (when Cal nods) "Do you want to do this now? One of us could die,
after all" - Ladon
"Let's" - Excalibur
"He was the... Huh" (pauses) "His own mentor was an apostate. His mentorship line is a long list
of people who either passed or failed the Guardian initiation tests. Not everyone is suitable for
the order" - Ladon
"I can see that" - Excalibur
"Cicero was originally the student of a Mystagogue in London named Tiresias, who was himself
originally a Guardian but who failed the Initiation ceremonies" - Ladon
"We've met" - Excalibur
Gawain nods.
"He was blinded when he failed his test. He failed quite spectacularly. Tiresias was the student of
a Guardian named Logicus and *Logicus*, at the start of the twentieth century, was the student
of a mage named Solemn" - Ladon
"Dun Dun Duuuuun" - Gawain
"Not the former Heirarch of Cambridge and Logophage, I should note... Although" (pauses)
"although THAT Nephandus was another of Logicus' students, interestingly. Named himself after
his mentor's mentor" - Ladon
He pauses.
"There's another apostate another generation back. One of Logicus' peers, another student of the
elder Solemn. A Guardian named Knave who..." - Ladon
He casts Telepathy on Adder.
-Failed to refuse the order to kill in the Red Veil- - Ladon
"failed to carry out orders. He left the order and did not join any of the others" - Ladon
"Lot of apostates" - Excalibur
"It's not that unusual. Many Guardians have inflated hopes for their students and train them
despite warning signs of unsuitability. The worst happens. We find far more Awakenings than we
recruit" - Ladon
"Okay" - Gawain
"But that does seem quite an unhappy family tree" - Ladon
"You guys must be great at Christmas" - Gawain
"We do not celebrate Christmas" - Ladon
Ladon scowls and stomps up the hill.
...
The Cabal reconvene. If Nimue and Taliesin can figure out what the missing pieces of the 3D
diagram should look like, then Nimue and Excalibur can fill in the blanks with Phantasms.
"If we lure the child back here and find a way to knock him unconcious, we could reseal it" Haruspex
"Can I ask a question? If he were to cross a Spirit Ban, would it push the abyssal out or stop him
in his tracks?" - Gawain
"Don't know. Might be worth trying" - Taliesin
"The kid knows his father is no longer with us..." - Haruspex, musing
"Does he?" - Taliesin
"Well, a phantasm was here" - Haruspex
"But did the creature tell him? I don't think it's telling him anything" - Taliesin
"I think the phantasms are it's way of keeping him comfortably numb. Hiding the consequences
of his desires from him" - Adder
"So what would happen if we showed him?" - Ladon
"His mind might snap" - Taliesin
"That doesn't sound good" - Excalibur
"I much prefer the idea of tracking him down, knocking him out and locking the demon up" Taliesin
"On a cold level, even if we cure him he's going to need major counselling when he realises
what's happened. But if we tell him *before* he'll try to burn the world down" - Haruspex
"So let's go back to the house, find his mobile phone number and pretend to be Spiral calling him
home" - Gawain
"Oh, come on. Who gives a ten year old a mobile phone?" - Taliesin
There is silence as everyone looks at him
"I feel old" - Taliesin
"This is going to sound sick, but what if one of us were to look like Spiral?" - Haruspex
"Potentially dangerous" - Adder
"What's his name, anyway?" - Excalibur
"Michael, from what we could tell at the house" - Nimue
"Right. Okay - so there was two week's post, and Ladon's been in the basement. Where's Michael
been sleeping for the last fortnight?" - Excalibur
"Continuous Sleepovers?" - Nimue
"Oh, by the way. If it means anything I think death released Spiral, absolved him somewhat, and
he's gone to a better place" - Haruspex
...
Back at the house, Gawain finds Spiral's cell phone. Cal and Nimue are looking around Michael's
bedroom - the boy appears to be in his dinosaur phase.
"Ugh.. Dinosaurs. I hate Dinosaurs" (off Nimue's look) "Long story" - Excalibur
"Got it!" - Gawain
Excalibur casts a spell on the phone to make anyone who speaks on it sound like Spiral at the
other end. The Cabal look at one another.
"I'm not good at lying" - Haruspex, backing out
"I... *can*... Lie" - Taliesin
"Give it here" - Adder
He takes the phone, finds Michael's number in the contacts and presses it.
"Michael?" - Adder
"Hi!" - Michael
"Could you come home please? I need a word" - Adder
There's the sound of the funfair in the background
"What's wrong?" - Michael
"Nothing. I just need to speak to you for a few minutes" - Adder
"..Okay!" - Michael
The call finishes. Adder considers the phone.
"Done and Done" - Adder
"We need to be as one on this. We need to agree on our plan and stick to it. Everyone in this
town is riding on it" - Haruspex
"We may be forced to injure this child" - Gawain
"Yes. We may need to render him unconscious at the very least. But the issue of killing him..." Haruspex
"We need to take him alive to the Hallow" - Taliesin
"Air to sleeping gas?" - Gawain
Ladon and Adder both subtly shift expression, becoming grim and preparing themselves.
They have activated the Masque of Lord Asp, the Guardian's stance for fighting evildoers that is based
on their Legacy.
"So. Most of us should hide..." - Nimue
Too late! For the front door is opened and Michael enters. Adder swings his snakestaff and neatly
connects with the back of Michael's head, knocking the boy flat on his face.
"WHOA!" - Excalibur
"He's fine. Alive, but unconscious" - Adder, checking
Michael has four Wounds. Phil rolled exactly four successes on seven dice - three of them were tens but
failed to ten-again. Lucky SOB...
A lot of Adder's cool moments come down to Phil winging it and lucking out
Taliesin casts Sleep of the Just, making sure that the child doesn't dream and won't easily wake
up.
Nimue pushes the door open
"Uh.. Guys..." - Nimue
The funfair has gone, and the townsfolk are dispersing. But arrayed around the house are a horde
of mismatched individuals - Nefandi, Seers, Mexican criminals, American drug lords, Archon the
Echo Walker, Serbian soldiers, Original Nimue and a small flock of sheep.
Everyone the Pendragon or Ladon have ever killed is out to get them.
1.
"Who's is biggest?" - Nimue
"Mine. Ex Soldier" - Excalibur
The Echo Walkers in the crowd activate their attainments. Everyone's victims are staring right at them.
"Nimue... You carry the boy" - Taliesin
"Prioritize. Pick out the worst of them and dispel" - Adder
He takes his own advice - a Seer he spent four years hunting is the first phantasm to be shattered. The rest of
the horde charge, as the Pendragon sprint to meet them.
Cal, Gawain and Taliesin, though, have gone for "wide-beam" rather than potency, making their dispels cover
as large an area as possible. The phantasms converge on the Pendragon, surrounding them, and then shatter in
a wave of broken mana.
"GO GO GO" - Gawain, running
As they run, individual foes are starting to pop back into existence.
"Tal! Can you ward us?" - Excalibur
"A Ban against phantasms coming up!" - Taliesin
Some of Cal's old war buddies fire their assault rifles at the group, but the bullets hit Taliesin's hasty Ban and
vanish. As they run, Haruspex (never in the best of shape to start with) trips and falls, only to be dragged to his
feet by Excalibur. Gawain casts Acceleration and they make their escape back to the Hallow.
Immediately upon arriving, Taliesin starts to ward and Ban the area while Nimue works on completing the
diagram while the child is lying down inside. Adder, just to be sure, activates his snake and tells it to sit on him.
Nimue completes the lines, and the child lurches, his eyes leaking black fluid as something is dragged out of
him. The black ectoplasm pours from the child's ears and throat and he finally collapses like a discarded toy.
There's a wave of concussive force as the Pendragon all feel something try to hit them and the walls vibrate as
the Abyssal tests the walls of its cage.
Under Supernal Vision the creature is hovering between them. To Cal, it looks like Cicero. To Taliesin, it looks like
his wife, to Gawain it looks like Rodriguez. Adder sees his first kill, Haruspex the first human he sacrificed for
mana.
To Nimue, the creature is near-formless, with "wings" made of hundreds of thin tendrils and a dripping skin
covered in opening and closing mouths.
-How long do you think this spell will last?- - Gulgomoth
It rushes at Haruspex, taking the form (to him) of the first person who he was passed over for promotion. He
starts to get visions of himself wielding the power of the gods themselves.. before Taliesin's Numinous Shielding
kicks in and the Gulgomoth's attempt to possess him fails.
"It just tried to possess me! We need another Ban" - Haruspex
Another ban is constructed, and Excalibur draws over Nimue's work with a much longer-lasting phantasm just
to be on the safe side.
From down the hill, there are police sirens and screams. All the illusions have failed, and the townsfolk are
waking up to what's happened.
The Pendragon retreat through the layered Bans, carrying the boy to a safe distance with them, to discuss
strategy
"Can we kill it? No opening portals to the Abyss, just *kill* it" - Gawain
"If it has taken the form of a spirit in this world, yes" - Ladon
"Enchant weapon" - Gawain
"Uh.. I think I know why they bound it" - Haruspex
"Why?" - Ladon
"It's Essence isn't depleting, like it's bottomless. Maybe it's feeding from everyone still, or it has to do with the
wasteland in the Shadow, but even if you kill it's Corpus it'll come back" - Haruspex
"We have to banish it" - Taliesin
"So which one of us..?" - Ladon
"How long? If we killed it, we could prepare before it came back? Make a Genie Bottle?" - Nimue
"We need someone with no regrets" - Taliesin
"No regrets? Just LOOK at it" - Excalibur
"I see it in Twilight. It's like a.. ugh.. But what do you see?" - Nimue
"Regrets" - Excalibur
Ladon cocks his head, listening to them.
Adder casts Telepathy to his Mentor
-You see?- - Adder
-It's not enough- - Ladon
"We're not talking about someone sacrificing themselves, just fighting it off. I rejected it, and Ladon rejected it,
so there's a good chance it won't come after us again" - Haruspex
"I saw too many people. Gawain, too. Taliesin, you saw one - right? Nimue?" - Excalibur
"No one" - Nimue, shivering
"Alright. Drop your defenses, Natalie. You're about to get better ones" - Taliesin
Nimue deactivates all her spells, and then the Pendragon all contribute - Prime Shielding, Numinous Shielding,
Superhuman Willpower, Composure and Resolve, Superlative Luck.
Nimue takes a handgun Adder offers - rejecting Rod's pistols as being liable to snap her wrist - and Enchants it.
Adder drops the masque-pose, trying to make himself feel as much as possible for safety's sake.
Meanwhile, Haruspex is preparing the Abyssal Circle, working from the memory of books only a Mystagogue of
his rank can read. The result is a perversion - the High Speech runes drawn on the grass in ash (withered just
for the occassion) are unpleasant to look at.
"Where did you learn this?" - Taliesin
"Don't ask. And here" - Haruspex
He hands Taliesin a key
"That's to my things. There are... Important things I haven't told you. Any of you. If the worst happens, read my
notes" - Haruspex
"What are you talking about?" - Taliesin
"I'm about to open a Portal to the Abyss, Rhys. There's a good chance I might die" - Haruspex, matter of fact
Adder starts making a cattle-chute Ban, around the structure and to the Portal site.
...
Haruspex is casting the Portal spell on a spell trigger. He feels it sink into his pattern... waiting.
I love this kind of thing. He had to deliberately get a Paradox, which in Awakening is actually harder than it sounds.
Especially as Haruspex is always using a magical tool, thanks to being a high-end Mystagogue.
...
The moment arrives
"Good luck, everyone" - Taliesin
Excalibur stands next to where the Portal will appear. Just in case.
-What are you doing out there?- Gulgomoth, mocking
"You like giving people what you want. You might be interested in this" - Nimue
She ducks through the doorway to the Hallow. The creature warps, trying to assume a form from her
subconcious. Nimue stares, fascinated, concentrating on how it's shapeshifting rather than how scared she is.
The creature focuses, stopping thrashing about. Nimue feels it at the edge of her mind, coming in, and doesn't
resist.
Everything working out fine. Adder lightening up. Kosciej and Civitas shaking hands. The war being averted.
Herself, the wise leader giving advice. In return, being feted. The Nameless, the Seers of the Throne and the
Diamond calling a ceasefire, offering up artifacts in tribute to her... Archmages descending to offer their
counsel... An Exarch, bowing to her...
Ladon begins to cast Telekinesis. Adder recognises the rote Mudra with alarm.
Nimue bursts out with a single, high giggle.
"GET OUT" - Nimue
Her (vastly enhanced) Resolve is pitted against it's, and she comes out superior. Haruspex triggers the Portal,
which opens as a sick, many-coloured warping of space. The Gulgomoth, shrieking, is expelled from Nimue and
claws at the edges of the rift.
A single tendril lashes out at Haruspex, rebounding off the Ban. Another aimed at Ladon is repelled. The
creature falls, screaming, into the Abyss.
"CLOSE IT!" - Ladon
Haruspex stands still, staring fascinated into the Abyss
"CLOSE IT!" - Ladon
Excalibur tries to Dispel the Portal. It shrinks, but slowly. The Things Beyond The World notice it's still open and
begin exploring the edge.
"YOU ARE CLOSING THAT DAMN PORTAL" - Taliesin
Taliesin casts Possession on Haruspex, and closes the Portal.
Haruspex lost Wisdom for opening the Portal. And in fact gained a Derangement - Narcissism
Haruspex looks like he's going to go for Taliesin's throat for a moment, but gets a hold of himself.
"I was *fine*" - Haruspex
Adder looks around, and finds Ladon. He reviews what he saw - Nimue struggling with the creature, the Portal
opening...
...Ladon casting Telekinesis.
He casts Telepathy
-And you call *me* the doubter?- - Adder
-It would have proved it- - Ladon
Gawain looks around
"Hooray! Pub!" - Gawain
Taliesin considers the slumbering child
"We need a good cover story" - Taliesin
Gawain checks the phone for other family members
"We can't raise the child. That would go *horribly* wrong" - Haruspex
"There's a few people with the same surname" - Gawain
There are quite a few flashing blue lights down in the town.
"Okay. What about Spiral's body? What would be cause of death?" - Nimue
"What do you want to be cause of death?" - Haruspex
"We take the kid, leave him near the edge of the meadow" - Taliesin
...
And indeed, Michael is discovered just as the Cabal climb into the Land rover of Justice
"Let's hope he doesn't remember" - Excalibur
"I checked. He remembers feeling powerful, and everything going his way. I pruned us hitting him" - Adder
"Got the information. Saved the town. Killed only one innocent person..." - Taliesin
"...A good day" - Gawain
Adder climbs out again and walks over to Ladon
"Tell your friend. If he has further records - the cypher for that region is Santroth Standard" - Ladon
"I will... And I'm not convinced yet" - Adder
"... ...I'm not. Any more" - Ladon
"You chose me as your apprentice and successor. You gave me the staff. TRUST me. When the time comes, I
*will* make the right call" - Adder
"Even if it means killing her?" - Ladon
"Especially if it means killing her" - Adder
Ladon Teleports. Adder exhales, a vast weight lifted partially from his shoulders. Partially, but not quite
completely.
1.
Five hours later, and the Pendragon are at that night's hotel, going over the day's adventure in their mind.
Haruspex is even drinking.
"So.. Uh... 2017" - Haruspex
"What about it?" - Taliesin
"That's as far as the future goes" - Haruspex
"What?" - Excalibur, confused
"Every Diviniation, every Prophecy I cast. Until then everything's fine, but there's a wall.. I can't see past 2017.
It's like there's no future" - Haruspex
"Has anyone else had this problem?" - Excalibur
"I've only experienced it once. Today. Before I opened the Gate, I didn't know what would happen" - Haruspex
"Do you regularly look five, seven years into the future?" - Excalibur
"I'm one of the best Diviners in the world" - Haruspex, without even a hint of pride. Just fact.
"How far have you ever seen?" - Nimue
"2017" - Haruspex
"No, I mean - is it the distance or the date? Were you able to see further than eight years before?" - Nimue
"When I was younger, I could get impressions - vague only, the future changes all the time - from decades
ahead. But never past that point" - Haruspex
Gawain tries it. His spell fails.
"Does that mean there's no future, or some kind of ward?" - Excalibur
Haruspex downs his drink
"I'm working on it" - Haruspex
He looks at Gawain and Adder
"There's something else. I had a vision indicating that if we allow ourselves to be divided, our efforts toward
peace will fail. If one of us turns on Adder" - Haruspex
"Why would we?" - Taliesin
"I don't know. But the metaphor was the Battle of Camlan, at the end of Arthur's life. Arthur's army and
Mordred's army were meeting for truce. Sir Gawain saw an Adder about to bite his horse, and killed it - the
sight of his sword across the field started the battle." - Haruspex
Everyone looks at Gawain
"I'll bear it in mind" - Gawain
"We have one other metaphysical problem. Where'd all the Ghosts go? I heard..." - Haruspex
"EVERYONE FREEZE!" - Stranger
Someone is standing on a table at the other end of the bar. Large, thuggish men are guarding the exits
"MY LORD OF NINETEEN MOUTHS REQUIRES SACRIFICE! AND YOU, ALL OF YOU, ARE IT!" - Stranger
Gawain grins and clicks the safety off his guns
"We... Can't... Go... Anywhere" - Excalibur
And so ends the second tale of the Pendragon. There will, players permitting, be a third, tentatively called "Breaking
the Habit", to be played at GenCon 2011.
And now - who can guess what was going on with Adder and Ladon?
1.
Rufus Jackson: Two-Fisted Mystagogue
Ashlar sits in the motel room at the cracked plastic desk, pages of notes blu-tacked to every
available surface. He presses "rec" on his dictaphone, to hear his own voice. It helps sometimes,
to sound the problem out.
"Guardian cypher was as expected. Several code words which when applied to the number
strings in the text reveal different information. One for origin, one for last known disposition...
Very neat and tidy.
Forget about Solemn. Either of them. We were already on the Logophage trail when Kosiej
escaped, and he'd want it known, not kill Cicero...
... Waitasec.
Knave. Fellow student of Logicus under Solemn the Elder. Let's see now..."
Hours of crosschecking pass. Eventually, he restarts the recording.
"Knave. Son of russian immigrants, awakened as a Mastigos in an industrial accident in a factory.
Was picked up by the Guardians. Showed exceptional intelligence and fervour in fighting the Lie,
but failed the Red Veil and was struck from the Order. Last seen in Bristol, having declared
himself apostate, in the early 1890s.
The red veil's a test of self-restraint. They tell you to go too far in your duty, and if you refuse to
betray your principals for the mission you pass. They... My god. Solemn told him to kill his Sleeper
family, and he *did*. No wonder he hates them.
Shadow name was assigned after cartomancy, a popular Guardian conceit at the time after the
success of propogating their useless tarot symbols through sleeper occultism.
Knave. Ace. Jack.
Got you, you grinning bastard"
1.
Time To Burn
Session 13
"Time to Burn"
This is it. this is the big one. Please keep your limbs within the car. Big developments are coming.
Previously on Soul Cage, Samael absorbed the Lambton worm into his soul after killing Aurora, Cobalt was made
Heirarch in her place and received an invitation to an Auction of Artifacts and Imbued Items to be held in Japan, hosted
by "The Wizard Sen-An Su" and including the third shard that they need to banish the worm. All they'd *then* need to
do to get Samael's passenger out is the Ankh, which Kosciej currently has.
Of course, Samael didn't actually *kill* Aurora, he just thinks he did thanks to Mind
magic. Should he find out... Well... Best Chest-Burster Scene since "Alien".
The hum of the engines prevents Samael from sleeping on the plane. He looks around the cabin (Cobalt,
declaring that he wasn't going to fly coach, sprung for the good seats) at the rest of the Cabal. Cobalt and
Symmetry are asleep, Symm resting on her husband's shoulder. Persephone is half-dozing, flipping through
channels on the seat-back console. Magog is reading a book, occasionally glancing up at Sef. Pandora is asleep
next to him, head resting against the window.
He feels the worm shift subtly, and remembers.
Tiresias left for London shortly after declaring Samael's new rank as Heirophant, taking the Shard the Cabal
gained from Cxaxa's city with him; with the third shard in sight, all that's stopping the worm's banishment is
Kosciej's theft of the Ankh, leaving them without any way of contacting Sophia, and it's that that Tiresias is
turning his attention to. While the Cabal are in Japan, he'll be in the Astral Realms, searching the Farthest Shore
and the Sphinx Temenos Realm for signs of the Archmaster. Once they find the shard, Samael and Pandora are
under orders to Scry-and-Portal to the Library immediately.
There is no word from Ashlar - Pandora told them of the circumstances of the old man's exile from London when
she arrived, but they haven't been able to find him. Cobalt asked Excalibur and Gawain to look into it and keep
an eye out for him, only to learn from Nimue that the Pendragon had already contacted them and were about
to leave on an errand for him. But Ashlar, crucially, is safe and well.
This story is taking place at the same time as Won't Get Fooled Again
Persephone twitches. Something is happening in Mictlan.
Persephone concentrates, banishing sleep and pushing her awareness into the Astral, where the cousins are
waiting.
-Something very bad just happened- - Chronos
-What?- - Persephone
-They stole the Gates- - Chronos
In fact, N!Mictlan didn't so much steal the Gates as redefine the expression of their boundary wall to
encapsulate the Gates. Both the Portal to the Astral and the Portal to the Underworld now reside in Kosciej's
territory.
-How did they DO that?!- Persphone
-They must have built a Xolotl. Underworld realms are controlled by creatures called Kerberoi who manage the
internal rules of each realm. You remember Xolotl from before Jack escaped? It was an artificial Kerberos,
allowing us the fine control of Mictlan we used to have by capitalising on our half-deathly nature. It seems
Kosciej has replaced it- - Chronos
-Can't we make one of our own?- - Persphone
Chronos shakes his head
-We made Xolotl out of whole cloth - it was an artificial being, constructed by Mictlantecuhtli with Mastery of
the Spirit, Death and Mind Arcana. I'm sorry, Sef, but we don't have the expertise any more... Although...- Chronos
-Although?- - Persphone
-I *am* a Death Master, and I can still affect the Underworld. We don't have the skill to make a new spirit all of
our own, but if we had a Ghost on hand to transform *into* a Kerberos...- - Chronos
Everyone looks at Hades
-He'd still be sentient?- - Persephone
-Probably, yes. But vying for control with whatever being Kosciej has plugged into the Realm. As for the Gates, I
can make one to the Underworld, but we'd need a living Mind Master to remake the Gate of Life. Frankly,
though, we were pushing our limits making the original two even when we were all at full strength- - Chronos
-Hades?- - Persphone
-I'll... Think about it- - Hades
He walks off in to the ruins. Chronos shrugs.
-Probably?- - Persephone
-Best I can do- - Chronos
They consider
-There's something else- - Chronos
He jerks his head in a 'follow me' gesture and floats off. Sef follows him to find him sat next to Galatea's gate.
-Have a look at this- - Chronos
The Gate is still a jet-black rectangular slab, but there's something going on, deep beneath the surface, like an
optical illusion. Sef squints, and realises that it's Galatea - the Gate is starting to form an image of Galatea's
Mictlan-body inside itself
-Does this mean she's getting better or dying?- - Persephone
-One of those, yes, almost certainly- - Chronos
Sef pats the little man on the shoulder, blinks and returns her conciousness to the real world as the cabin lights
turn on ready for landing.
"I hope she's getting better" - Persephone, to herself
...
The city of Toyama, on the coast of Japan. The Cabal have checked into their hotel, used the key cards to
access the luxery floors in the elevators, ridden up and checked out their rather opulent suites.
And Cobalt and Symmetry have found a messenger from Sen-An Su waiting for them.
"Please accept my master's apologies, Heirarch-Professor Cobalt, but we must ask you to leave certain
members of your party behind when travelling to the auction" - Messenger
"Samael and Magog, right?" - Cobalt
"Exactly so. Certain other guests are under.. ah... religious stricture concerning your companions, and the
Wizard does not wish to see any unpleasantness" - Messenger
"All right" - Cobalt
"Again, our apologies. The Wizard expresses his distress at being forced to make this stipulation, and has
already paid for your hotel as small compensation" - Messenger
...
With Samael banned, Pandora declares that she's staying in the city as well.
"Guess that's me gooseberrying, then" - Magog
"Don't think of it as being a gooseberry. Think of it as being a bodyguard" - Cobalt
"It's not so much a bodyguarding job when they also want to kill the bodyguard" - Samael
"Fair. And sorry to bring you all this way" - Cobalt
Magog looks at Sef
"what?" - Persephone
"Oh, sure. Abandon me with these two. Go see the menagerie of freaks" - Magog
"All right - I'll stay. But I want to go to the auction at least ONE day" - Persephone
"Thank you" - Magog
"Hey, no problem. You know what they have here? Kareoke bars!" - Persephone
"I'll get you the Tass we prepared to bid with" - Samael
"Ta. Honey?" - Cobalt
"What did you say? The next time we'll be attacked by Seers is your vision of London?" - Symmetry
"Yep. So the group *I'm* with is safe" - Cobalt
"Wouldn't miss it" - Symmetry, grinning
...
The next morning, Symmetry and Cobalt (Symmetry in a Kimono, Cobalt tuxedo'd and bow-tied) are picked up
at the hotel by a driver and taken deep into the mountains south of the city. High up, on the shores of a lake
and hidden from the main road, they eventually come to a large residence in historical style; although to
Cobalt's sense of object's age the building appears to be much, much older than it appears - it was just
"modernised" in the 19th century. Between the steam coming from the lake, the snow on the ground and the
red-painted building.
They are met by more servants who - like the driver - are dressed immaculately in western-style men's suits.
Even the women. Inside, there are signs of discreet modernisation - hidden plugs and ports for modern
technology, that sort of thing. They're led through the ground floor of the house into the garden. Passing a
steaming pool nestled in some rocks, Cobalt sees a furred face peering back out at him.
"Snow monkey" - Symmetry
The "monkey" then climbs out - it's nearly as tall as Cobalt - picks a spear up from beside the pool and,
glancing back at them, strides off in a very non-apelike fashion
"Monkeys that Walk as Men" - Cobalt
FINALLY!
As they approach the gathering of other guests near the centre of the grounds, they spot more of the creatures
- the monkey-men appear to be working security, dressed in oddly modernised lamellar armor that Cobalt
swears is made of modern ballistic material and packing pistols to go with their spears.
"Some kind of spirit?" - Cobalt
"Weremonkeys, I think. You don't see that everyday" - Symmetry
They arrive at the other guests - most are in western clothing, although enough of the women are attempting
kimonos that Symmetry isn't regretting it. One of the female guests is completely nude.
Oddly enough, it *isn't* Cxaxa. The stone-eyed methuselah turns as they approach and moves to intercept.
Cxaxa is wearing a black skirt-suit and has her hair pulled back, emphasising her artificial eyes.
"Cxaxa. Samael sends his regards" - Cobalt
Chris: No he bloody doesn't!
"The Cxaxa is pleased to once again meet the Arch-Heirarch of Britain" - Cxaxa
"I... Think there's a step or two to go before that" - Cobalt
"Perhaps. But that is the goal" - Cxaxa
They are offered drinks by a servant. Cxaxa looks at her glass as though trying to figure out what it's for, then
gives it back
"We may have cause to speak with you after the event" - Cxaxa
"Of course" - Cobalt
"We understand that your Obrimos has now made his second sacrifice. We hope the third is easier" - Cxaxa
Cobalt is trying to compose a reply to that when they are interrupted
"Aha! You have met the Cxaxa Querephas!" - Sen-An Su
The wizard Sen-An Su is completely hairless, so thin as to appear frail and does not appear ethnically Japanese,
or indeed of any ethnicity Cobalt recognises. He looks, to Cobalt, rather like Richard O'Brien painted a dark
shade of wood, dressed in elaborate robes that don't conceal his gaunt collarbones or his thin neck. The Wizard
is smiling, showing perfect (if rather sharp) teeth.
"In a much nicer setting than the last time" - Cobalt
"The Wizard Sen-An Su. An honour to meet you sir, and your lady wife. Allow me to introduce you to some of
our other guests" - Sen-An Su, offering his hand.
They are led to an elderly Japanese man, who is glaring openly at Cobalt
"Tetrarch Hoshino, of the Praetorian Ministry" - Sen-An Su
Cobalt cheers up immensely
"Heirarch" - Hishino
"Tetrarch" - Cobalt, grinning
"The Wizard Cornelius..." - Sen-An Su, continuing
Cornelius turns out to be from Alabama, and is a Mystagogue. There are mages from both sides here, though
most of the guests, like Sen-An Su himself, profess to be unaligned. The Wizard apologises again for Samael
and Magog having to be left behind, and Cobalt accepts in good grace.
"I myself have bought my freedom. I have made a deal which ensures I have no Throne interference in my
affairs" - Sen-An Su
And which will keep the Empire out of Cloud City for good!
"What sort of deal?" - Cobalt
"Artifacts" - Sen-An Su
The wizard pauses, then changes the subject
"I have an interesting toy I would like to show you later. You are studied in the Time Arcanum?" - Sen-An Su
"Looking backwards, yes" - Cobalt
"I have a Demesne on the premises. This item projects one's mind forwards in time whilst you enter the Astral
Realms, such that you arrive in the Oneiros of your soul as it will be in the future rather than as it is now,
discerning changes to your essential nature. A most specialised subject, but I would be happy to demonstrate
it" - Sen-An Su
"I'm certainly interested" - Cobalt
"And of course, there is the wedding" - Sen-An Su
"So your invitation said - my congratulations" - Cobalt
"Thank you. It will be the eighth time I have remarried. My wife apologies for her absence today, but she is
preparing herself for the journey. She will meet you all briefly tomorrow, and properly after the wedding on the
third day" - Sen-An Su
The Wizard rambles happily on, saying that some of the other guests will join them once the sun sets.
"Wizard, who is that?" - Symmetry, indicating the naked woman, who now that they're closer has an oddly
metallic sheen to her skin
"La Vouivre. She is a Dragon" - Sen-An Su
"Oh... Kay" - Symmetry
They are left to hobnob, and look around the party. In the distance, they can see a young Japanese woman
being intimidated by Cxaxa.
"Shall we rescue someone?" - Symmetry
"Lets" - Cobalt
They approach the pair
"...Yes, I have some experience of that. I summoned a Demon of Pandemonium and had it capture my soul
within a Crystal heart" - Cxaxa
"And the eyes?" - Girl
"Contained my memories. When I was reincarnated several millennia later, it was a simple matter of
reassembling the components" - Cxaxa
"As I recall, there were complications en route" - Cobalt
Cxaxa snaps her head around to stare at him, while the girl breathes a sigh of relief
"Indeed. Heirarch, we forgot ourselves earlier. Our employer wishes to extend their great respect" - Cxaxa
She stalks off
"You realise that next time we see her she'll drop another line?" - Symmetry
"I'm beginning to sense a pattern. And you are?" - Cobalt
The girl's name is Tamina. She's 19, a voice actress of middling success and, she says, Sen-An Su's fiancée.
"That's... Congratulations! How did you meet?" - Cobalt
"He had a talent scout contact my agent" - Tamina
To Cobalt's Supernal Vision, she appears to be completely non-supernatural.
"I'm looking forward to being a wizard" - Tamina
"Oh?" - Cobalt
"When I marry him, all his ex-wife's powers will transfer to me" - Tamina, happily
"...Oh" - Cobalt
Not Again...
...
Persephone and Magog are having an Epic game of Dance-Dance Revolution in an Arcade. Persephone is
trusting to her Fate spells to prompt them to go interrupt any trouble that might befall Samael. Magog has been
happy to let her ramble, indulging her in wandering around the tourist spots of the city.
Eventually, in a cos-play cafe, she decides to ask him what's going on.
"My... What I did, yeah? Everything I did? My punishment was to stick with you guys until the worm was gone.
Once Cobalt and Symm come back with the shard, that's technically it" - Magog
"But... That isn't it" - Persephone
"I'll even make the Portal to London for them" - Magog
"But... Anything could go wrong in the meantime! You... You can't just leave us! You CAN'T!" - Persephone
A few other patrons look around at the commotion. Magog waves her to keep her voice down.
"This isn't how it works! Or are you going to say it was all a lie, and you aren't here to help us with the worm?" Persephone
"Oh, don't give me that. I'm not saying I'm going to quit. Just musing that I could" - Magog
"Isn't Cobalt the one with the decision?" - Persephone
"You seriously think he won't let me? It's... I've never had any choice about where I go, what I do. And I still
don't. But I'm about to" - Magog
"Hn" - Persephone
"Serious business... ... Kareoke?" - Magog
"Yeah" - Persephone
...
Samael and Pandora are wandering, Samael indulging the feeling of sensing the meaning behind every sign,
cultural reference, billboard and mannerism with his Attainments. Simply being able to understand on a gut
level what everything means is just... neat. The worm is churning away, but he's starting to get used to it's
presence.
Pandora clearly wants to ask (for the eleventh time) how he's feeling. She's asked about the pain about twice a
day so far, and she keeps trying to contact Mystagogues back in London to ask how Tiresias is going on and
send text messages to Symmetry asking if she and Cobalt have seen the shard yet.
So the restaurant and the plan for clubbing later are doing a goodish job of distracting them both.
The sun goes down. The vampires come out in ones and twos. Samael is starting to relax... But can't shake the
feeling that there's something he's forgotten.
...
Back at Sen-an Su's, the remaining guests have arrived. An Oni, a large blue creature with a single horn, is
telling of how he was taken by the Oni as a child and transformed into one of them until finding his way back to
earth through the rose garden of heaven. One of the guests is the ghost of a Japanese matriarch named
"Kuzunoha", who apologies to all for being late.
"The hells are especially hard to navigate" - Kuzunoha
"I've heard that. How does it manifest to you?" - Cobalt
"Sometimes I think I can hear a... Call... coming from one of the lower Hells, beyond the River of Tears" Kuzunoha
.
The house is opened, and the guests all move inside to inspect the items for sale and put their own belongings
up on the block. There are jade Artifacts, a gong that summons spirits, the ritual dagger of Cxaxa Querephas
(Cxaxa peers at it, as though making certain it *is* actually hers and not a forgery, then nods in approval)...
"Where did you get it?" - Cxaxa
"An American mage named Balthazar" - Sen-An Su
"Yes. We remember Balthazar. He did not die well" - Cxaxa
La Vouivre offers up a flask of her own venom. Cobalt makes a mental note to hit the books when they get
back, to find out just what that *does*. One of the mages present offers an Abyssal Intruder bound into a
ceramic jar, bought from the new Heirarch of Cambridge.
Chris: Go Free Council!
"Can we afford that?" - Symmetry
"Depends who wants it" - Cobalt
"Hey - look" - Symmetry
The next lot is a green crystal hand in a velvet-lined cherry-wood box. Cobalt checks the shard with a spell,
comparing it to the two he's already seen. It matches.
"That's it" - Cobalt
"Excuse me, Wizard Sen-An Su? Who brought this item to auction?" - Symmetry
The strange little man glances over at the shard, unconcerned
"Tetrarch Hoshino" - Sen-An Su
"Surprised he would let it out of his collection. But then, I'm surprised to see any of these things given up" Cobalt, dubious
Symmetry casts Analyse Magic Item
"It's not cursed, as far as I can tell" - Symmetry
"Curiouser and Curiouser. Sympathetic links?" - Cobalt
"Get someone to severe all of it's threads as soon as we get it, and don't take the box, I guess" - Symmetry
One by one, the guests begin to depart, some already speaking to far-off colleagues on mobiles, setting what
price they'll be able to bid for items and describing what's available.
Sen-An Su approaches the couple again.
"Heirarch. If you have some time, I'd be happy to demonstrate the item I spoke of" - Sen-An Su
"Sure" (looks at Symmetry) "I can be indulged in my vices" - Cobalt
Symmetry rolls her eyes
"Symmetry, if you'd like to go with the guards, they'll find somewhere for you to relax while Cobalt is in the
Invisible and get you something to eat" - Sen-An Su
"Just don't take too long" - Symmetry, leaving
Cobalt and Sen-An Su go for a stroll through the gardens. Cobalt surreptitiously peers at the Wizard under
Death Sight.
The Wizard smiles
"You are wondering, I think, about the mechanism of my immortality. I am not, strictly speaking, alive" - Sen-An
Su
"I've never seen a soul like yours. It's almost like..." - Cobalt
"...I am a Soul Stone" - Sen-An Su
Cobalt processes that, and lets the old man continue.
"I was created by the Archmage Sen-An Su several centuries ago. I don't know if it was intentional, but I took on
an imprint of his mind. You are aware that with a Soul Stone you can cast spells as though you had the Supernal
sympathy of the maker? It is just like that, only with my own independent mind, and knowledge of the Arcana, I
am autonomous. This body is created and maintained through my own Mastery of Life" - Sen-An Su
"Just Mastery?" - Cobalt
"As far as it goes, yes. I began existence with almost no ability, but have learned a lot from mages since,
though the Imperial Practices are beyond me, perhaps intentionally. And there are the Artifacts" - Sen-An SU
"Your collection is also intentional?" - Cobalt
(nods) "I feel... Compelled to seek out such treasures. Sometimes, very rarely, I feel a connection to an Artifact
and cannot bear to give it up, as though my purpose is to gradually accumulate a selection according to very
precise criteria. The vast majority, though, I feel nothing but curiosity for. Curiosity mixed with the knowledge
that ultimately, I am no different from the things I sell. The auctions are a way to efficiently cycle my collection,
getting rid of those that were not neccessary and offering the opportunity to perhaps find some that are. I've
made something of a career for myself" - Sen-An Su
"Allowing you to better find that which you need to collect. Is that also intentional?" - Cobalt
"I don't know. You have heard, perhaps, that Archmasters require unique wonders in order to work their
mightiest spells? Perhaps I am an elaborate means of collection" - Sen-An Su
"While the Archmaster who made you remains safely under the radar. Ingenious" - Cobalt
Sen-An Su is loosely adapted from "The Elder Shard" in Night Horrors: Unbidden. My compliments to whichever of my
fellows created it. The main modifications are to enable his condition to be known about and for him to not be an
antagonist. At this stage in Soul Cage, I have quite enough antagonists.
"My wife, on the other hand, comes by immortality through an altogether different route" - Sen-An Su
"I've seen two means of immortality achieved. Both involved someone else giving up their life. I gather there is
an element of rebirth?" - Cobalt
"She is a Spirit of sorts, and a ghost of sorts. An ancient spirit of rebirth which, not long after I was created,
merged with the ghost of a Samurai's daughter by mistake and took on her personality linked to it's powers.
When she joins with a new host, that person's memories are joined with her own; an evolving gestalt entity,
progressing for eternity and continually evolving, while I, creation that I am, remain unchanged. We are very
different, but our differences compliment one another. It is often the way in romance" - Sen-An Su
Cobalt nods
"Curious" - Sen-An Su
"Very much so" - Cobalt
"Anyway. My latest toy. It is not one of the items I was made to collect; in fact, lacking an Oneiros I am unable
to even use it, but I like to keep it around for guests I feel would appreciate it to try. I sometimes listen to their
recounting of the experience" - Sen-An Su
"I'm midly curious. I didn't know my reputation had come this far" - Cobalt
"You were recommended to me as an Archaeomancer, but when I looked into your background I was fascinated.
The contact you have had with the movers and shakers of this world. You know the Cxaxa. You are on speaking
terms with an agent of the Oracles, and number in your Cabal three personal enemies of the Exarchs. The
Celestial Bureaucracy has issued death marks against three of your companions" - Sen-An Su
"Three?" - Cobalt
"There is some confusion about whether the great Kosciej the Deathless..." - Sen-An Su
"Yeah, we get that a lot" - Cobalt
"But nevertheless, an impressive circle of acquaintances" - Sen-An Su
"There's an old Chinese saying, I believe" - Cobalt
"Yes, I've heard it" - Sen-An Su, smiling
They have arrived at a cave at the back of the garden. The monkey-warriors on guard bow and withdraw.
Inside, the cave turns out to have been appointed (certainly, heated) and comfortable. Cobalt settles himself
down on a mat, while Sen-An Su brings a metal headdress of some kind, all loops and broken arcs, and puts it
on Cobalt's head.
"Anything I should know before I go in?" - Cobalt
"There is a slight chance you will encounter yourself - one of the previous owners meditated forward to a time
when he was coincidentally within the Astral anyway" - Sen-An Su
"Hm" - Cobalt
"He spent many months in meditation attempting to unknot the question of causality this provoked in his mind"
- Sen-An Su
"He imparted information to himself?" - Cobalt
"Something like that, yes. After many months of consideration he returned to his cabal and sold the Artifact,
declaring that 'whatever will happen will happen'" - Sen-An Su, shrugging
"I think, therefore I am" - Cobalt
"A particularly favourite quotation of mine. I'll leave you to it" - Sen-An Su
...
Magog and Persephone are walking to their next distraction
"I think I know why it doesn't sit with me; the greatest danger we're going to be in is when we're enacting the
plan. And you're saying you want to bail on us before that happens..." - Persephone
"I didn't say I wanted to bail, I just said I... Forget it" - Magog
"I get that no one's really given you a choice, and I'm happy that you get to make it, but... We really need your
help! I don't want you to go - I like you" - Persephone
"After the plan is done, they won't have any more beef with Samael, but they will have one with me" - Magog,
sober
"And? I don't mind" - Persephone
"...I might" - Magog
"Do you know the horror we'll feel if we find you were killed somewhere alone when we could have helped
you?" - Persephone
"Yeah. I suppose" - Magog
"if you want to go because you want to do your own thing, I can understand. But if it's to not bring trouble on
our heads then... Don't. That's not a good enough reason" - Persephone
He looks off into the distance. Sef lunges and hugs him.
Meanwhile, in Mictlan, Sef sees Hades watching her
"Do you also need hugs?" - Persephone
"How did we meet?" - Hades
"Why?" - Persephone
"I'm starting to forget things. I can't remember my own parents, and I can't remember how we met. So I either
do something, or I move on" - Hades
"...oh" - Persephone
"When I first came back, I thought this was hell. We never really talked about... You should... I'm going to go
through with it. With whatever Chronos thinks will help things out" - Hades
"Sure?" - Persephone
"Yeah, I'm sure. And you need to move on" - Hades
They sit, next to one another
"So that's what it is" - Persephone
"That's what it is" - Hades
...
Samael and Pandora are in a nightclub, Samael indulging his habit of using Mage Sight to see the people
connecting through the shared experience. After trying (again) to call Cobalt, Pandora heads to the ladies while
Samael goes to the bar to get them some drinks. He slips onto an empty barstool and signals for service.
There is something he's forgotten.
His Attainment picks up on a shift - a jagged break in the meaning of the scene. The atmosphere reads
suddenly hostile, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Where everyone was in harmony, that
harmony has been shattered.
A fight breaks out in the far end of the room.
The bartender is shouting and dialling the police. The air is growing thick, and tastes of copper. Everything
appears to slow down, pulsing in time with Samael's heartbeat, as a patron nearby is glassed. The arterial
spray is slowed, as Samael feels his heartbeats grow further and further apart.
He turns, forcing himself to move, and remembers too late that he saw this in a dream.
To his left, there is a beautiful Japanese woman wearing brief clubgear. The whites of her eyes are crimson with
blood.
Jeremiah. My message did not seem to be reaching you
She spreads her hands as if to gesture, as the patrons of the club begin to slaughter one another.
So I thought I would deliver it myself
People die, and The General smiles.
1.
Time to Burn
Samael and The General.
In case you're still reading this for the first time, the appearance here of an Ochema of the General is *not* the big
revelation of the session. It was trailed way back when in 11.1, when Samael had a dream of the start of this encounter
at the same moment that the General issued the Mystery Command to kill him to the Seers. Chris, on the other hand,
had forgotten all about it, so his date with the king of violence and queen of all wars came as a bit of a surprise.
How did you expect this to go? - Shadow of the General, amused
"The.. tri.." (he feels whatever is restraining him lessen) "trick was to have no expectations. Rather than tie
myself up with fears of the future" - Samael
The man who was glassed expires. The Ochema glances at it, as though curious, then back to him
Really, now. Did you expect to win? - Shadow of the General
...
Cobalt pushes his way through his Astral path and into his Oneiros. The familiar airport-departure lounge of his
Dream Vestibule is dark, as though the airport is late at night, and the level of detail is much more than he's
used to; it's as though in the years between the present and whenever this will be his soul has become much
more complex, building into itself in a fractal manner.
There is neither the clamour of a foreign Oneiros, awash with dream actors, or the deep sense of personal
connection and eerie calm of being in one's own brought about by meditating. Rather, it's recognisably his but
not quite his, like visiting a childhood home long after leaving.
Or the reverse.
"Storm clouds. The Eleventh Hour. Near the end, then" - Cobalt, to himself
He passes through a connection, looking for something familiar, and arrives at a representation of the
lighthouse. It has been rebuilt (his attainment notes where the bricks have been reassembled), and he can
smell the sea air of a choppy North Sea below the cliff.
He reaches out for the door handle.
"You shouldn't be here" - Future!Cobalt
Cobalt turns, to come face to face with himself. The older Cobalt is fuller-bearded and longer-haired. He is,
however, better dressed.
"You should remember being here" - Cobalt
"Yes. And you don't have to do this yet" - Future!Cobalt
The apparition reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun - a long-barrelled revolver, marked with sigils along
the length. Cobalt recoils slightly at the sight of it, and doesn't know why.
"You don't have to do this yet, Rex. Samael needs you" - Future!Cobalt
The apparition walks towards the door
"What are we doing?" - Cobalt
"We're about to die" - Future!Cobalt
"When?! What does it look like out there?" - Cobalt
"You'll know. When you're me, and you see you" - Future!Cobalt
"No more warning than that?" - Cobalt
"Oh, we've had plenty of warning" - Future!Cobalt, closing his eyes for a moment in an expression of pain and
weariness
The apparition produces a large, ornate key with his other hand, and pauses unlocking the door
"It's been a long, strange trip" - Future!Cobalt
"The paradox alone..." - Cobalt
"If you hurry, he may forgive you" - Future!Cobalt
"No taunt? No gag?" - Cobalt
"You know I can't tell you anything else. You and I, we've been through that" - Future!Cobalt
"And you know I had to think to ask. We *have* to be responsible like that" - Cobalt
"Responsibility" - Future!Cobalt, gravely
They shake hands.
Cobalt sits up straight, suddenly back in the Cave.
"I was... I met myself" - Cobalt
"Fantastic! That's very rare" - Sen-An Su
"I was dying" - Cobalt
"I'm sorry" - Sen-An Su
Somehow, though, it seems okay. Cobalt shrugs
"Everything has it's time. Everything ends. I warned myself that one of my colleagues is in danger; I may have
to take my leave. May I write up the experience later?" - Cobalt
"We should get you to the city as soon as possible" - Sen-An Su
"That..." (looks back) "That was a wondrous Artifact" - Cobalt
...
In the club, the Ochema is walking around, occasionally finishing off a dying patron with a stamp of her heel,
but never stopping her lecture to Samael, who is still pinned beside the bar.
It's really very simple. There are people above, and people below. It's the way of the world. Trying
to fight it just redirects your energies back into the system. Every little act of childish rebellion
another prayer to me - The Shadow of the General
"You... You think we're playing a game against you? Trying to set yourself up as the opposition?" - Samael
I'm every enemy - The Shadow of the General
He feels a righteous rage building, and hopes it isn't just her presence causing it.
"You don't seem to know the game we're playing" - Samael
Who do you *think* you oppose? - The Shadow of the General
"It's not a game of... contests. It's not one you can appreciably win... Well, we can't, anyway. I understand it
must bolster what's left of your ego to come down and tell us... how it is... but your perspective is warped" Samael
What is your 'perspective'. What thoughts are running through your worm-meat mind? - The Shadow
of the General
"Worm-meat to you, but it's what I have" - Samael
I am disappointed. I expected you to have a glimmer of awareness of your place in the design - The
Shadow of the General
"You... clearly haven't been paying much... attention" - Samael
You are a weapon. Improperly aimed - The Shadow of the General
"See. That's your problem. That's what you've done to yourself" - Samael
She frowns, and Samael grits his teeth, biting down a scream as his mind burns.
Totally worth it, though!
"I had thought you a player, but you are just someone else's piece - The Shadow of the General
"I'm not... Ah... .Hhahh... Interested in listening... to your.. ranting" - Samael
You bleat about your enlightenment. About being disinterested - The Shadow of the General
Samael, cleaving the Seer in Lankin's hallow in half with his sword
He laughs.
Vahishta dying
He laughs again, the sound turning into a yelp as a fresh wave of agony hits.
The Ochema crouches down next to him, regarding him as though he was a particularly uncooperative lab
sample, and he continues to laugh through the pain.
"Oh... Boy... You don't get it, do you? I'm not claiming to be disinterested. You must be so used to Archmasters
ranting about how powerful they are. I'm not that" - Samael
No. No you are not. You are a pawn of your own Cabal. A fall-guy. And I have wasted too much time
on your already - The Shadow of the General
She bends closer, her hair brushing his face. She smells of cordite.
I wanted to give you a chance, Jeremiah. To tell you that the path you are on will lead you only to
pain, with no reward. But you are not interested. And you do not show the proper respect - The
Shadow of the General
She whispers it in his ear. It feels like a needle.
Persephone lied. Aurora is alive - The Shadow of the General
A blob of blood catches in his throat, and he coughs, crimson dribbling down his chin.
"Why do you think I would... Believe..?" - Samael
She stands now, imperious
It doesn't matter what you believe. It matters what the worm believes - The Shadow of the General
He feels a crack inside, but not inside. He blacks out for a second, as his soul splinters. He comes around to find
himself slumped next to the barman, holding the handle of the knife embedded in the man's corpse.
Have fun with the police - The Shadow of the General
She vanishes, a mocking shadow, leaving him in the slaughterhouse.
He makes it a half-step before his soul feels like a wooden door being hit by a battering ram.
All spells in his pattern fail, including Persephone's mind magic.
Flashback time!
The air ripples as the worm gets a parting shot in. Lux flies backward, hitting the wall. He shrieks as his flesh
begins to liquify, dripping off his bones - the same effect that happened to Aegis in the old mine before Sef
rewound it. Cobalt forces himself to look away from his dying friend and back at the worm while Aurora renders
Lux unconcious with a jab of magic.
Samael swings, as hard as he can, hitting the wound he made earlier... and chopping the worm's head clean
off. The creature explodes, bursting into white liquid.
Spells trigger as Samael shuts his eyes and claps his hands to his ears.
He looks up, finally, to see a Portal. The tunnel is rapidly fading from existence now that the worm has lost
Corpus.
The only other person in the tunnel is Aurora. She is quite calm.
"My affairs are in order, and you know what you have to do" - Aurora
Spells trigger. Samael wavers on his feet, not knowing what's going on. Aurora vanishes, an Invisibility reaching
its conditional trigger. A Portal opens and everyone piles through.
Samael screams, an animal sound of agony, as he writhes on the floor feeling his soul being pulled apart.
The worm roars.
...
Sef feels her spell blotted out of existence, killed stone-dead by something.
She stares wide-eyed at Magog
"COME ON!" - Persephone, running for the street
...
Cobalt and Symmetry are in the car provided by the Wizard, breaking the speed limit back to the city
"I met myself in the future. Not many hints, though" - Cobalt
"Not even a lottery ticket?" - Symmetry
"Sorry. But I said that Samael needed me - right now" - Cobalt
"Well, you'd know. Akbar?" - Symmetry
"Akbar" - Cobalt, grim
It was, indeed, a trap.
"Can we go any faster?" - Symmetry
...
Samael thinks he vomited. He is aware of Pandora shouting.
Pandora.
He feels her cast several spells
"Your SOUL! Oh my god, your SOUL!" - Pandora
There is angry shouting in Japanese.
He manages to open his eyes. From his skewed, lying on the floor perspective, he sees several policemen
standing at the entrance to the club, pointing guns at Pandora who is stood, hands bloodied, over him.
"Please! Just - I have to help him!" - Pandora, distraught
They continue shouting, accusing
"I don't... Just leave us alone!" - Pandora
One of them grabs her
"I said LEAVE US ALONE!" - Pandora
The policeman shrieks as she rips his pattern apart. He jerks trying to let go of her, as his flesh crumbles to
dust.
You remember when Pandora used Death 5 to Agg-damage a Seer to death, and you guys were all "oh, no, they broke
the cutie"?
Yeah
The other cops open fire, bullets bouncing off Pandora's Mage Armor.
At which point, Magog and Persephone burst in. Sef casts Psychic Domination on the Cops, knocking them flat,
while Magog leaps over bodies trying to get to Samael and Pandora. He scoops Samael up and they all retreat
out through the back door.
"What happened to his Soul!" - Pandora
"The worm's trying to get out!" - Persephone
The agony soothes, as Pandora casts a Death Spell using all her Mastery, reinforcing his soul, holding it
together, binding the worm inside... if only temporarily.
Magog's cell phone rings. He answers
"Where are you?" - Cobalt
"We're.. Uh..." - Magog, looking for a street sign.
Samael blacks out.
...
Samael wakes, briefly, lying on the seat in the limo, Pandora sat holding his hand, shaking as she comes down
from the shock.
...
The hotel suites.
"How long will it hold?" - Cobalt
"That took everything I had. Not long - a couple of hours. Maybe a day. Then I'll have to cast it again" - Pandora
In game terms, it's a Death 5 effect, prolonged, and Pandora doesn't have Time 3
Cobalt nods
"We probably should have told you..." - Cobalt
Something rebounds off his Mage armour, as Pandora spins to face him.
"Probably?" - Pandora, murderous
"It's not something we expected. What *happened*?" - Cobalt
"It was like.. they all killed one another. Like someone flipped the switch to 'murder'" - Pandora
Magog is sat with a contemplative expression on his face.
"Sam? You with us?" - Magog
"Room's rather crowded with pain... But yeah. I don't know how to say this, but..." (winces) "The General paid a
visit" - Samael
"We should have seen this coming" - Persephone, blaming herself
"That would explain the murders" - Cobalt
"I didn't play ball... If it wanted to stop us, why didn't it just *kill* me?" - Samael
"I thought it wanted the Worm contained" - Persephone
An excellent question!
"If that was an Ochema of the General, the personification of hatred and conflict, if it was trying to stop us..." Magog
"It would have ripped us apart" - Cobalt
"No. Where aren't you now?" - Magog
"I'm not at the shindig. With the shard. And you're still in the weave" - Cobalt
"You haven't *done* anything. It's not you casting the spell" - Magog
"I'm the vulnerable one? Cobalt... I would seriously suggest going to the Wizard now" - Samael
"Shit. I've dropped the ball" - Cobalt
"I'll stay with Sam" - Magog
"Sef? You coming?" - Symmetry
"Go, Sef. We need the shard" - Samael
She looks at Pandora
"Will you be okay? I don't want to leave you with a hysterical Death Master" - Persephone
Pandora visibly straightens, and uses a Death and Mind spell to kill her emotions. Her aura turns blank
"I'm fine" - Pandora
"You staying here?" - Cobalt
"I don't know when my spell will wear off Samael. I need to stay" - Pandora
"Right" - Magog
Outside, on the kerb, Magog casts Apportation, summoning his motorbike from the UK.
"You know how to activate the Seven-League Engine?" - Magog
He shows Cobalt, who climbs on, Symm clinging onto his back
"Got it. Sef - room for three?" - Cobalt
Sef climbs on as well
"Good luck!" - Magog
And they roar off into the distance.
...
Inside the hotel room, Samael is dissolving the shattered remains of the crystal bowl Pandora threw at Cobalt to
make Mana.
"That was the WORST plan I have ever heard - how the fuck did that stupid bitch think she could get away with
it?!" - Pandora, to Magog
Samael lets her vent, going over his returned memories of agreeing to the mindwipe. He can always inject
reality once she's expressed her fury.
Really, though, it wasn't that bad a plan. It even worked. Unfortunately, Samael mouthing off at an Exarch was not
covered in the parameters Sef accounted for.
...
The others hit the city limits and activate the Imbued Bike, blurring forward as the distance to Sen-An Su's
compound shrinks. Eventually, they come to a halt outside, as the Wizard comes to meet them on the porch.
"You're keen. Late entry to the auction?" - Sen-An Su
"Ah - no. The bike belongs to a friend" - Cobalt
"A curious thing. The Tetrarch you met has sent his apologies, backing out" - Sen-An Su
"His Exarch attacked my companion tonight" - Cobalt
The Wizard blanches, and he makes an instinctive sign of protection over himself
"I don't understand why it felt free to do that. I thought there were *rules*. Apologies. I hope I'm not bringing
trouble down on you, but I had to make sure you were okay" - Cobalt
"Well... Thank you, Heirarch" - Sen-An Su
There is a pause. Cobalt introduces Sef, who Sen-An Su recalls to be a Legacy-mate of Kosciej the Deathless.
Sef is diplomatic enough to not go into a rant.
"Those he left behind" - Cobalt
...
Pandora is pacing.
"Okay. Pandora. This was the Exarch of Anger, among other things. What are you *doing*? What did you..?
Don't answer that, but Think for a while" - Magog
"Aura-bleed from what it is?" - Samael
"This is not about the worm. It can't be. it wouldn't have come to the Fallen World just for the worm" - Magog
"And if it did it would have come for Sophia, not me" - Samael
"There must be something else. Something that pissed it off enough to project into our realm" - Magog
"It's on the tip of my tongue. I hate to say it, but - have we seen any sign of Kosciej? Because I'll be pissed if
I've been mugged by an Exarch because of THAT tosser" - Samael
...
Morning comes. More guests arrive at Sen-An Su's, and the auction begins.
First up is Cxaxa's knife. Cxaxa calmly waits for bidding for finish, takes the highest bid, multiplies it by ten and
then stares around the room, daring someone - anyone - to try to stop her. With a hint of "you're lucky I'm not
just taking it". No one dares.
She takes the knife, nods respectfully to Cobalt and then to the Wizard, and exits.
They're using Tass as currency, by the way.
The auction continues, items coming and going. The shard is towards the end of the list - the Archaeomantic
items Cobalt is selling fetch a reasonable amount of Tass from Cornelius, nowhere near that being gathered by
the imbued items or Artifacts. Sen-An Su only bids once, on the spirit-calling Gong, and everyone else lets him
win.
Over lunch, Sen-An Su announces that that evening's entertainment will be the ritual divorce and the merging
of his wife into her new host, and that tomorrow morning he will (assuming she still agrees to with another
personality added to the mix) remarry.
"Beats the till death part" - Persephone
As she says it, she frowns, thinking of Hades. And looks inward,
Chronos has retreated to the edge of Mictlan with Hades, and they have been speaking together for a while of
many things. The Underworld. Death. Kerberoi, and what Chronos intends to do to Hades.
Dave2: I can't believe it took me this long to get the whole 'she's in the underworld half her life, Hades is the ruler'
thing.
Dave: Well, yes.
Dave2: More so because it snuck up on me.
Dave: Rather than hit you like a halfbrick in a sock like some of the other symbolism in the Chronicle?
The auction finishes for the day, to reconvene in the morning. And the Cabal meet the Wizard Sen-An Su's wife,
the Phoenix Lady.
She's extremely elderly, pushed in a wheelchair by a Weremonkey. She slowly makes a circuit, greeting
everyone, and then takes her place for the divorce. It's short and sweet, more "until a few moments" than
anything, and she relaxes back in teh chair with a smile on her face as she expires.
The assembled guests turn their attention to a shrine in the garden, where Tamina is stood holding a candle.
Moments pass.
More moments pass.
The candle goes out, and a weremonkey hands Tamina a new one, bowing as it swiftly gets out of the shrine
again.
Sen-An Su's smile is starting to look a little fixed.
La Vouvre looks around, as though searching for something more interesting to occupy her attention.
A few of the mages start to shuffle their feet.
Under mage sight, absolutely nothing is happening.
"Um" - Oni
After ten minutes, the ghostly figure of Kuzunoha looks around and decides to relieve the awkwardness
"Honored Wizard. Might I be of assistance? Perhaps there is some hold-up in the Lands Beyond?" - Kuzunoha
"Ah... Well..." - Sen-An Su
He looks around
"I do apologise, everyone. Er.. Drinks! Drinks for everyone! The auction will be resumed once..." - Sen-An Su
The guests wander off, leaving Sen-An Su stood there, holding his ceremonial gourd.
Looking rather sad.
Chris: Aww
The Cabal pause, regarding the tableau. At the shrine, Tamina is starting to tearfully protest that she doesn't
know what she's doing wrong.
"Kosciej" - Persephone
"I can't help but think he's done something" - Cobalt
"I don't think he's done it specifically here, more like to all the ghosts" - Persephone
They watch for a while longer, getting more and more uncomfortable.
"He's taken our gates. Inside" - Persephone
"How's his tower looking?" - Cobalt
"Like a cross between Isengard and Dalaran" - Persephone
...
Back at the hotel, Pandora has checked Samael for the fifteenth time
"Okay. 'Dora. Sleep - now" - Magog
She starts to protest
"NOW. We'll wake you" - Magog
She stops, slumps and nods, heading into her and Samael's bedroom
Magog pinches his nose. He, too, has been up for 40-odd hours
"You too, man" - Samael
"You gonna be..?" - Magog
"If Pandora's spell ends before she recasts it, my soul explodes. If it's dispelled, my soul explodes. If anyone
disturbs my soul's integrity over much, like putting it in a jar or me making a Stone?" - Samael
"Explodes" - Magog
"Yeah. I got it. Nothing's going to happen for the next four hours at least. Get some rest" - Samael
Magog gratefully nods, and lies down on a couch in one corner of the (frankly vast) suite. Samael sits down to
try to read, attempting to take his mind off things.
After an hour, there is a soft knocking at the door. Samael glances at Magog, then goes to peer through the
eyehole.
"What the..?" - Samael
He opens the door
"Mycroft?" - Samael
1.
Time to Burn
Unexpected Appearance of beloved storyteller character!!!!1!!
Samael opens the door. It is, indeed, Mycroft, scratching the back of his neck and regarding Samael with a
particularly hangdog expression
"What the fuck are you doing here?" - Samael
"Late again, am I?" - Mycroft
...
Back at the compound, Sen-An Su and Tamina are now sat next to one another on a bench, both looking in
opposite directions. They have tried to start several conversations and abandoned them all to silence.
The auric horizon continue to watch from a discreet distance.
"One of us should say something" - Symmetry
"Whatever it is affecting ghosts, it's really affecting them now" - Cobalt
"Kuzunoha hasn't come back either" - Symmetry
Cobalt squares his shoulders and approaches the unhappy couple
"I can assure you, it isn't your fault, young lady. The ritual has gone wrong and Kuzunoha hasn't returned. I
believe something is going wrong on the far side; if you want someone living to go into the Underworld, I
volunteer" - Cobalt
"Thank you, young man, but first... I have never had to do this, but I must confirm my fears" - Sen-An Su
The Wizard attempts to summon his wife. After a minute holding the spell, he closes his eyes in defeat.
"Get her some real clothes" - Sen-An Su, to a monkeyguard
And with that, the Wizard walks off into his garden. Alone.
A guard bows to Tamina, who by now is crying openly
"Is there a graveyard nearby?" - Cobalt
"The mistress would not have them in the grounds. She said they were morbid" - Guard
Tamina goes inside. Cobalt returns to the girls.
"What now?" - Persephone
"We either try to do something and find out what Special K is doing..." - Cobalt
"Or console an old man on the loss of his wife" - Symmetry, sadly
"I think he needs to be alone" - Cobalt
"Give him a while, then we need to get the auction moving" - Symmetry, nodding as though making a decision
"I don't think we have the authority to do that, do we?" - Cobalt
"He does. If he doesn't call it off entirely" - Symmetry
...
"Okay. I wouldn't call you 'late' per se, I'd say 'appropriately late'. I don't know exactly what went down in
Washington, but I doubt you want to meet *another* Exarch" - Samael
"It's not high on my list" - Mycroft
"What are you doing here?" - Samael
"I've come to get you" - Mycroft
"Huh" - Samael
"Someone wants to talk to you" - Mycroft
"Who are they, where are they and does it involve sharp things? My soul is held together by spit and glue right
now" - Samael
"Can't tell you, and no. You'll be safe" - Mycroft
"I'll need to let Pandora and Magog know. Will we be back soon, or..." - Samael
"...Yeah" - Mycroft
Pandora isn't happy about it. Really not - she wants to come, but Mycroft is adamant.
"I want to trust you, Mycroft, but how were they expecting me to come along when you can't say where we're
going or who they are?" - Samael
The little man shrugs
"It's up to you. If you say no, I'll leave" - Mycroft
"Say no" - Pandora, to Samael
"So what is it? Portal?" - Samael
"Yeah" - Mycroft
"This is important I take it?" - Samael
"Very" - Mycroft
"It's not like I'm known for my common sense... Okay. If I disappear, it's Mycroft's fault" - Samael
Pandora nods, still unhappy
"If I have to kill him, we'll return the body" - Mycroft, completely dead-pan
Samael kisses Pandora
"I'll be okay" - Samael
"Mind your step" - Mycroft
A Portal opens, and Samael steps in... and in and in and in and in and in, through multiple portals that have
been stacked millimetres from one another.
...And he's in a tent. Green military canvas. Wherever it is, it's *hot*. And humid.
Mycroft unholsters a pistol and takes the safety off, pointing the barrel right at Samael's head.
"Drop any spells on you - any mage sights, ahh" (waves gun slightly) "enhancements. Anything. All spells
you've cast, any you know anyone else has" (off Samael's look) "Yeah, you can keep *that* one" - Mycroft
"Is this a Guardian thing? Because you guys need to work on your PR..." - Samael
"It's not a Guardian thing. And Samael? I like you. We worked together well in Paris. You know I can read you
and you know I can't lie; so much as think about casting anything and I'll kill you" - Mycroft
"PR, man. PR" - Samael
"It is what it is" - Mycroft
"I will be having words with whoever is responsible for this" - Samael
"I'm sure you will" - Mycroft
The tent door opens, and Cxaxa enters
"Is he ready?" - Cxaxa
"Nearly" (to Samael) "Querephas is going to cast something on you now. Don't worry about it" - Mycroft
"What do you mean 'don't worry'? back one step there..." - Samael
Cxaxa casts something. The world seems to flicker for a moment, and his ears pop as though through a
pressure change. Then she nods, and goes back out of the tent.
At this point, Dave and Ag started betting in the background on who Samael was going to see.
"Okay" - Mycroft
He opens another Portal.
"After you" - Mycroft
Mycroft is doing his best to keep his face expressionless, but unlike Mycroft Samael doesn't need physical clues
to read a situation. The Guardian *wants* to tell him what's going on, but can't - some duty constrains him.
Samael steps through to find himself in a courtyard, surrounded by mudbrick walls. It's daytime, and much
hotter.
There's a line drawn on the floor in red paint. Mycroft steps over it.
"This, I am afraid, is a dead magic zone. Only spells already on you will function, and we already cleared those
out" - Mycroft
Samael steps in. Mycroft holsters his gun and undoes his tie, mopping at his brow in the heat.
"I'm sorry for all the security, and that I've not been answering my phone for the last few months, and that I
wasn't there when Cxaxa came back. We have to move around a lot. Any spell creates a conduit to the
Supernal Realms and we can't risk Them seeing her" - Mycroft
"Okay" - Samael, not understanding
There's a door ahead of them, which someone has come out of - a middle-aged Indian woman, dark-skinned
and of a distrustful expression, dressed in a Sari.
The Assault Rifle she has slung over a shoulder is somehow not at odds with her general demeanour.
"The Ochema gave you the 'life is pointless' speech?" - Mycroft
"Yes, and I told it 'pointless' was a point of view" - Samael
"You're already in the right frame of mind, then" - Mycroft
"Of course, then it punched me in the metaphysics" - Samael
"That too. Well. The Republicans have given you their speech. Time for the Democratic response" - Mycroft
He indicates the door. The woman openly sizes Samael up. He looks back at Mycroft, who nods encouragingly,
and he ducks inside into the relative cool of the indoors.
There's a young woman, Indian again though with much darker skin than (her mother? His attainment), again
wearing a sari.
"You look like you could use some food" - Woman
On the table in between them is a large and still apparently fresh American pizza. Samael nods, thankfully, and
chows down. He looks up to find the woman no longer stood in the shadows but sat right next to him, regarding
him as though he were deeply curious.
She holds up a bottle.
"Beer?" - Kemi
Worst-kept secret evar, Kali's cameo appearance in the Chronicle. I asked Samflix's permission to have her turn up
ahead of time, and reread Broken Diamond (as is my periodic wont) to prepare for the occasion.
Any "Neo visiting the Oracle" vibes you got from the above scene are entirely intentional, for obvious reasons.
1.
Time to Burn
"Oh, fuck me I've missed Pepperoni" - Kemi, eating
Samael raises his eyebrows
"You have NO idea. I mean - look at me. This is not how I like to meet people. I would offer you whiskey, but
right now I don't think you need your stomach being turned. So.. Which one was it?" - Kemi
"Which one was..? Oh - the Ochema? The General" - Samael
Kemi makes a disgusted face
"Male or female aspect?" - Kemi
"Female" - Samael
"Nasty" - Kemi
"Particularly bad?" - Samael
"Bit of a bitch" - Kemi
"It's a fair way to describe, I suppose" - Samael
Samael's attainment is going haywire whenever he looks at her. The young woman is effulgent with Meanings.
"Another beer? I had one of my people get beer" (corrects herself) "One of my *friends*... Oh, they really HATE
you" - Kemi, wincing
"The Exarchs?" - Samael
"Your name is being chanted by a legion of subsouls" - Kemi
"Not a football kind of a chant, I take it" - Samael
"Your face disturbs the Minister of Praetorian's dreams" - Kemi
"Well, if he's not sleeping it's one for the good guys" (takes the beer she holds out) "So... Mycroft said
something about the Democratic side" - Samael
"A pep talk. People react differently to Them - i've known Masters who glimpse Ochema go into crisis of selfdoubt, believing that our struggles here are worthless. You seem to be doing okay, all things considered" - Kemi
"The way I see it is this - consider a fighter pilot. Millions of pounds of technology - one press of a button,
thousands die. Nuclear bomb, millions die. An ant on the ground, getting on with his life? Lugging bits of twig
about. The ant doesn't give a shit about the pilot" - Samael
"Such a big threat it doesn't matter how you react" - Kemi
"Does it *matter* to the ant? No. Getting that bit of leaf lugged is what's important. Ant matters" - Samael
She smiles
"'Ant Matters'. I like that. I like you - I knew I'd like you" (turning sober) "I'm going to lay something on you...
Sophia's dead. They've killed her" - Kemi
"That raises a small hole in our plan. And by small I mean huge. Key part of the process gone, equivalent of a
bomb inside me. My reaction can be summed up as one word" - Samael
He takes a swig
"...'Shit'" - Samael
"They do not care about the worm. There is one instance in which one of my husband's crew is allowed... I say
'allowed', but the Pax Arcanum is more of a guideline. Believe me, you're getting off easy. When I had this
speech it was delivered to me in a reverse-time field in an Archmaster's Chantry. I digress. There is one
instance they can interfere to this extent" - Kemi
"..Go on" - Samael
"When the existance of the world is threatened" - Kemi
He takes that on board silently, thinking.
"The worm is small fry. It threatens what? A few Sleepers a year, finding somewhere to hide out? If it broke out
in Japan there are even volcanoes for it to go sleep inside" - Kemi
"I assumed they'd want a crack at Sophia when she poked her head out" - Samael
"They did. And they killed her" - Kemi
"There you go then. So... What IS about to destroy the world?" - Samael
"I have no idea. Liberating, isn't it?" - Kemi
"Mankind's been capable of destroying all life on the planet for what? sixty, seventy years now?" - Samael
"Yeah" - Kemi
"So business as usual then" - Samael
"Pretty much" - Kemi
He frowns
"But they came down and took at shot at ME because some other bugger is threatening the world?" - Samael
Kemi leans forward
"Are you sure about that? That it's not you?" - Kemi
"What? With my twin powers of bad jokes and poor decision making?" - Samael
"Never underestimate either. Bad decision making made me the woman I am today. So there it is." - Kemi
"That does... yeah" - Samael, musing
Silence
"Something's really pissed the Exarchs off. So much they've decided to come kick me in the shins. My lifeline is
dead" - Samael
"She already cast the spell. Maybe that's why they went for her" - Kemi
"How? Without me?" - Samael
"You have an Acanthus in your Cabal. You should be aware of the concept of Triggers" - Kemi
"What does this mean?" - Samael
"If you're around the shards and the ankh for long enough, it'll trigger. Hang on - I've got it written down here
somewhere..." - Kemi
She fishes out an index card
"You're meant to sit cross-legged inside a triangle made of the three shards, skull front - are you left or right
handed?" - Kemi
"Right" - Samael
"Hand on your right, Heart on your left. Hold the Ankh in both hands in front of you and trigger it on yourself" Kemi
"That should make me feel better. Certainly relieved... But Sophia's been killed" - Samael
"There's a lot of it going around. But she knew what she was doing. Doubtless she had her reasons. I wish I
could tell you more, but..." - Kemi
"...Such things are proscribed?" - Samael
"Such things are inadvisable. Giving you too big a... I don't see the future so much as dream the blueprints of it,
and even then I've come to realise that for most people, knowing is really not good for them. We wanted to
give you the pep=talk, say that yes the Fighter Pilot has noticed the Ant, but keep on trucking" - Kemi
"My only consolation is that in a nuclear winter, the ants and cockroaches will survive. I know I shouldn't try to
plumb you for information, but... This destruction - where does it come from?" - Samael
"Everywhere" - Kemi
"Damn" - Samael
"There's a disappointment coming your way. When I'm disappointed with people, I find it's best to try to see it
from their point of view. Please - take the rest of the pizza with you. You look like you need it" - Kemi
By the time you're done eating it, you'll feel *much* better.
He stands up and heads to the door, pizza in hand. She waves goodbye.
And that was that. Samael never even learns Kemi's name - or exactly what she is, though he twigs early on in the
conversation that she's an Oracle or an agent of theirs.
The spell Cxaxa cast on him was the "invisibility to Exarchs" spell from Reign of the Exarchs, that she and a few others
learned from the runes inscribed on her robe. The robe vanished at the end of Broken Diamond, but the people who
know the rote can still cast it. In fact, Samael even got a copy of it in Cxaxa's city.
...
Back in Japan, the Wizard Sen-An Su has returned
"She has gone. I must admit to myself that she has gone" - Sen-An Su
"I'm sorry for your loss" - Cobalt
"Whatever he is doing, I hope that it is worth it" - Sen-An Su to Persephone
"You think I have any..?" - Persephone
"No. No. I apologise. Let us continue" - Sen-An Su
...
The auction continues - several guests have already given up and left.
La Vouivre, smiling, bids far more than the Cabal can afford for the shard. Cobalt feels the bottom fall out of his
stomach.
Sen-An Su bids three times more than La Vouivre, and declares the shard sold to himself. A lot of Tass heading
to the Japanese Tetrarchy, but it's an acceptable price.
The auction concluded, the final guests leave. La Vouivre blurs and turns into a eight-foot long snake, which
sinuously flies away into the night.
Cobalt, Symmetry and Persephone say goodbye to the Wizard
"If you will take a piece of advice, gather your roses while you may" - Sen-An Su, to Cobalt and Symmetry
"To all things there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun" - Cobalt
"And a present for you, to celebrate your marriage" - Sen-An Su, handing the shard (in a new box) over
"Thank you" - Cobalt
"I hope it helps your friend. We will meet again, young man, I am sure" - Sen-An Su
...
The hotel. The Cabal are reunited, after a long bike ride of serious thoughts.
"Where did you get pizza?" - Cobalt
"Magic?" - Persephone
"No. Well, yes, but it's complicated" - Samael
"Did you get it?" - Magog
"Yup" - Symmetry
"Okay! One portal to London coming up" - Magog
"Scry first. Remember the three rules: Scry, Buff, Teleport" - Cobalt
Magog nods
"Oh, by the way, the world is ending" - Samael
"We're not talking climate change, are we?" - Cobalt
"No. Metaphysical Armageddon. And for some reason, the General of the Aether decided to punch me for it" Samael
"So... The Pax Arcanum. End of the World scenarios free their hand, don't they?" - Cobalt
"Yes" - Samael
"So it's all hands to the pump upstairs to prevent them losing their slave-reality, and one of them decides to
spend its valuable time slapping down minor annoyances... That says to me that they can't *find* the big
annoyance" - Cobalt
"Possibly" - Samael
"You have minorly annoyed them. Someone else has pushed the Apocalypse Button and gotten away with it" Cobalt
"If it's Kosciej, why haven't they just obliterated him?" - Samael
"They've been trying to kill him for ages" - Cobalt
"So why can't they do it? Same way they've been trying to kill me and Magog. But an Exarch did send a piece
of itself to torture me last night. Why haven't they dispensed with the niceties for him, too?" - Samael
"We don't know they haven't... The game has changed. The gloves have come off. Sef - what's changed in
Mictlan?" - Cobalt
"They took the gates" - Persephone
"They took the gate to the Underworld. Ghosts have been disappearing for a while now, longer than it took us
to notice, but now it seems like whatever's calling them is irresistible." - Cobalt
"I've scryed. Tiresias just gave me a thumbs up, so I'm opening the Portal" - Magog
"Cool. How do we get to the Archmaster?" - Cobalt
"We don't need the Archmaster. We just need the parts - the two that Tiresias has and the *ankh*. Which
Kosciej still has" - Samael
"The Nameless aren't answering" - Cobalt
"What a surprise" - Persephone
"Okay. Serious thoughts. The Ghosts are starting to be pulled rather than just called *just* as Kosciej gets a
gate to the Underworld installed in his giant cannon-shaped tower" - Cobalt
"And the General showed up that day as well. I was told it was happening 'everywhere'" - Samael
"Sef, any theories?" - Cobalt
She shakes her head.
"All Mystagogues please get your bags. You're about to leave" - Magog
"Sef - go to the people in your mind. Offer them... Anything. Anything they want, for ten minutes with the Ankh.
They can have it back afterwards, we just need it to get rid of the worm" - Pandora
The Portal opens
"Good luck" - Samael
"Yeah" - Cobalt
Samael and Pandora step through
"So. Portal back to Newcastle?" - Magog
...
Samael and Pandora appear in the arrival room of the Library of St John.
It's empty, but they can hear some sort of commotion. The lights flicker. Samael's attainment yells - something
is *wrong*.
Above them, maybe so far up as to be at the surface, they can hear explosions.
"Oh, God. It's under attack" - Pandora
"Tiresias?" - Samael
"Back stairs - this way" - Pandora, setting off at a run.
They reach the stairs and head down ten floors, finally reaching Tiresias' office in the Scriptorium.
"Thank God! You've made it! Do you have it?" - Tiresias
"Right here" - Samael, holding up the box.
"Samael... What happened to you? Your pattern is..." - Tiresias
"I was punched in the Soul by an Exarch. It's a really long story" - Samael
There is an almighty boom from somewhere above them. The lights go out for three seconds and dust rains
down from the ceiling.
Tiresias closes his eyes, in pain.
"Cadacaus just died. They've breached the Aetheneum" (shaking his head, sadly) "Penelope. Could you seal the
door, please? An Exarch? What are the effects?" - Tiresias
Pandora closes the door to the stairs they came through, and fuses them shut.
"Well, an Ochema. My soul's being held together by... Well.. .magic" - Samael, indicating Pandora with a wave of
his hand.
"Held together?" - Tiresias
"The worm's trying to escape. I've reinforced him, but it's only temporary" - Pandora
"Well, we have no time to lose. Over here" - Tiresias, heading to the Artifact cages.
Samael and Pandora follow him into one of the stacks - a blocked-off corridors that don't go anywhere, filled
with moveable shelves and capped with a cage door at the entrance to the main room. From the main room of
the scriptorium, they can hear someone hammering on the door Pandora sealed.
"Who IS attacking us?" - Samael, hand-cranking the wheel that moves the shelves
"The Nameless" - Tiresias
"Oh, the Idiots" - Samael
"I'm afraid the time is nigh. I am the Curator of this LIbrary, Samael, and I must make an accounting of myself.
You have been a fine student" - Tiresias, putting a hand on Samael's shoulder
Samael suddenly realises that his attainment isn't sensing Tiresias - the old man is using his own third
attainment, that hides the user from Fate and the Sight of younger Sphinxes.
"Well... There is a reason for everything. We must trust to that" - Tiresias
And then Tiresias Dispels Pandora's spell.
Chris: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
1.
Time to Burn
And now, at last, the Climax. Still not the cliffhanger, though.
Samael hears screaming, somewhere nearby. A pure sound of pain, ripped from a hoarse throat.
It takes him a moment to realise that it's him screaming.
Somewhere above him (he's curled up on the floor, foetal) Pandora shouts, angrily
"If I were you, I'd start recasting that spell" - Tiresias, mildly.
A few seconds later, and Samael feels the magic start to re-enter his soul, knitting it together again, pushing
the worm back inside. More damage has been done, but at Pandora's touch the agony starts to fade. He opens
his eyes and - through the mist of tears and blood - sees Tiresias close the cage at the end of the stack, locking
them in. The old man then opens his desk and takes out the two other shards, placing them carefully next to
the one Samael brought.
There is the sizzle of conflicting spells, and the entrance door to the Scriptorium shatters.
"Who?" - Samael, croaking
"Brianna. Djehuty.... Kosciej" - Pandora, whispering, furious and in tears.
There's the noise of something heavy being brought down the stairs.
...
The rest of the Cabal step out of Magog's Portal to the garden of the Lighthouse.
"Where the HELL have you been!?" - Ashlar
Ashlar! Let's give him a big hand, folks!
"Japan. We needed to get the..." - Cobalt
"I figured it out! I figured it out! Tiresias is..." - Ashlar
Made of chocolate! No - wait!
...
Kosciej is monologuing. Samael and Pandora have shuffled to get as best a view as they can.
"I admit to being disappointed. Cadacaus, I expected, but where are the Cursed traps - the Fated defences? You
didn't even try to close the back door that Djehuty knew... About..." - Kosciej
There is a pause. Tiresias smiles.
"This is a trap, isn't it?" - Kosciej
Tiresias opens the box, taking out the crystal hand. He puts it with the skull and the heart.
"And Samael just dropped these off?" - Kosciej, dubious
"He's in there. But you don't want him, do you, Jack? You want... These" - Tiresias
Kosciej narrows his eyes
"When I sent the Horizon to seek Sophia, you were *very* insistent that they make a detour to see you so you
could learn what they were doing. You've been keeping the Seers off their back - not so much that they notice,
but enough that they survive" - Tiresias
Kosciej nods at Brianna, then points at the desk. She grabs the Artifacts, clutching them to her chest, and runs
out of the room. Samael hears her taking the stairs three at a time, up and up and up.
"Time Master" - Kosciej
"I'm afraid so" - Tiresias
"You sent Samael to find the Archmaster. It was your idea" - Kosciej
Tiresias looks at Djehuty
"Did you really think, Jack, that I didn't know Djehuty was talking to you? That I was conveniently out of town
when he tried to have Hades break the ankh out of that bank? Of course I didn't change the codes. I am, after
all, a Time Master" - Tiresias
Kosciej taps his fingers against his thigh, playing it out in his mind in fast-forward
"Then... You know what's coming down the stairs?" - Kosciej
"I will offer no resistance. You always would have won this battle, but by sending most of our protectors away I
have reduced the bloodshed to a minimum. I have two conditions. You let me have my last words, and you let
Samael and Pandora go. Incidentally - which one was it?" - Tiresias
Kosciej mutters something
From the doorway, a Nameless enters pushing a wheelchair-bound Solemn. The former Heirarch of Cambridge
has a shaved head and an ugly scar around his skull from some kind of surgery.
Samael feels Pandora's spell take full effect. Blinking tears, she looks like she's ready to go down fighting.
Samael carefully grips her ankle, and shakes his head a fraction. Wait.
"Djehuty. You have performed your role admirably. Brianna has left us, or I would advise her to find a better
class of rolemodel. To you" (to Solemn) "poor creature, my sympathies. And to you two" (raising his voice
slightly) "I am sorry" - Tiresias
They wheel Solemn right up to him
"Nothing will stop you going through with this?" - Tiresias
Kosciej shakes his head. Tiresias says something in a foreign language. It sounds like Russian. Kosciej steps
back as though struck, Hades' mouth hanging open in surprise before he recovers.
"The... Why... Why tell me? You know I can't stop now" - Kosciej
Tiresias smiles, vengeance achieved
"Hurts though, doesn't it?" - Tiresias
The Nameless pushes a button on the wheelchair, and Solemn spasms.
"Don't look" - Pandora, covering Samael's eyes.
There is a terrible sound, then a gunshot and a wed thud.
Kosciej snarls
"BURN IT TO THE GROUND. Djehuty..." - Kosciej
He growls again, Djehuty yelping in fear
"Do what you want" - Kosciej, hissing
The doors slam shut.
Pandora drags Samael to his feet and pulls him to the cage door, which she disintegrates open. The Scriptorium
is on fire - Djehuty is kneeling, cradling Tiresias' body and weeping. Solemn lies dead, a bulletwound in his
forehead.
Pandora shrieks and leaps at Djehuty. Samael clutches her arm, dragging her away.
"I was just doing what he told me to!" - Djehuty, in tears
"WHO? Tiresias?!" - Samael
The apostate nods, helpless. Pandora howls in rage and aims a kick at the little man, before Samael wrestles
her away again.
"Djehuty - OMAR! You have ONE chance!" - Samael
"I know what you're going to ask... I can do better than tell you. I can show you" - Djehuty
Tiresias raises a hand, feebly. Samael drops to his knees, next to his Master
"Don't be too hard on the boy. I gave him a mission and he... performed... well" - Tiresias
"The Library's on fire. I don't think we can save it" - Samael
"Empty... Books" - Tiresias
"Sam" - Pandora, horrified
Burning pages are falling, all around them. Blank pages.
Solemn was a Logophage, with God-knows what done to him. Tiresias knew everything in the Library.
Everything.
Samael stares around in horror, realising the extent of what Kosciej just did. The greatest Aetheneum in the
world, wiped out. Erased.
Djehuty starts to cast something over Solemn's corpse - some kind of Death spell
"The wards are still up. We can't Portal out. Have to take another route" - Djehuty
Tiresias weakly gestures Samael closer
"Chayot made you a weapon. But I picked you up and wielded you. I'm sorry" - Tiresias
"Powerful old men talking behind my back. Nothing but trouble, eh?" - Samael, through his own tears
"Apparently... So..." - Tiresias
Tiresias dies. His spells, holding the room together even as the Nameless detonate explosives in the rest of the
library, begin to fail. Part of the ceiling collapses, and the lights go out entirely. Illuminated by the burning
books, a deep-black portal opens hovering over Solemn's corpse, a Portal which seems to feed from Samael's
feeling of loss and despair, ragged edges warping as it reaches out for him.
Pandora takes Samael's hand, and pulls him through the Avernan Gate.
Into the Underworld.
...
Ashlar explains.
Kosciej was once a Guardian of the Veil named Knave. Tiresias was also once a Guardian who failed his
Guardian initiation, being blinded in the process. He was allowed to pass out with good grace, however, and
years later proposed his own apprentice - Cicero - take the Veils. Which is why Kosciej killed Cicero.
"To get at Tiresias? Why did Kosciej hate Tiresias?" - Cobalt
"Tiresias' trainer was one of three students of Solemn the Elder. The first was a Logophage who then trained
Solemn the Younger. The third... The Guardians have a test, called the Veil, where they give you an
unacceptable order and see if you carry it out. If you follow their orders at the expense of their doctrine you fail.
It's often done by setting someone up to look guilty of vulgar magic and tell the apprentice to kill them" - Ashlar
The old man pauses for breath
"Kosciej was the third student. He killed his own father. Somehow the safety arrangements the Guardians put in
place didn't work. He fled, abandoning the rest of his family and Cabal, and went to the Nameless as the only
people who would take an apostate in. Which explains the feud" - Ashlar
He shakes his head
"I figured it out. It wasn't Cadacaus - it was Tiresias. Tiresias sent you to Sophia. Tiresias told Djehuty to explore
the Underworld, and *must* have known about Djehuty defecting. Tiresias..." - Ashlar
"Oh, Shit. Is he working for? Against?" - Cobalt
"I think 'for'. Because... Tiresias is Kosciej's son" - Ashlar
Ashlar is wrong about one thing. Kosciej didn't know that Tiresias was his son. The Russian exchange in the library was
a reverse Vader - Tiresias outing himself to Kosciej to make the bastard feel *some* pain about committing the atrocity
...
The Mystagogues exit the Underworld through an Avernan gate at Chayot's old farmhouse. Once at the
lighthouse, Djehuty shrinks from Ashlar, who looks ready to punch him.
"Everyone sit. I'll make some tea" - Cobalt
Pandora and Samael look at one another, what they just saw fresh in their minds.
Stumbling through the gate into the cold dark of the Underworld
"The plan" - Djehuty
Screams puncturing the dark. Ghosts - many no longer recognisably human - shuffling about
"The Underworld is a prison. There is no afterlife for us. When we die, we go there and slowly fade - but it
doesn't *have* to be that way" - Djehuty
Crossing a river of blood, paying a skeletal Ferryman with a large, heavy lead coin for the passage
"The destruction of the library. The wiping out of that much magical knowledge from the world, was the price
demanded by Typhon, Aeon of Death, for granting Kosciej the Auctorius Arcanum" - Djehuty
Ghosts now, in increasing numbers, walking the direction Pandora and Samael are being led by Djehuty. At
every junction, more and more of them
"Normally, Masters pledge for that power in order to cast permanent spells; they may temporarily have the
ability of an Archmaster, but they don't know what any Quintessences are, so actual Imperial Spells are beyond
them" - Djehuty
the Caverns get larger and larger, packed with more and more Ghosts. Djehuty climbs a wall, up onto a ledge,
and leads them onward. None of the Ghosts look up
"But Kosciej knows the Quintessence for a Supernal Portal. You've been collecting it for the last year" - Djehuty
A huge cavern now, Ghosts as far as the eye can see, all packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Waiting
"He wants to make a portal?" - Cobalt
Tens of thousands of Ghosts, waiting outside the gates of Mictlan
"The plan is this. Kosciej pushes Mictlan further into the Underworld and opens both gates, then casts the spell
to create a passage through the Abyss to Stygia. Every Ghost in the Underworld. Everybody he's had to kill to
make this plan work. Every mage who has ever died, will go through" - Djehuty
Samael spots Chayot in the crowd
"Because Mictlan is also in the Temenos, every human being aware of the concept of Death will have a channel
to Stygia in their Soul. On seeing the results, everyone who wasn't aware somehow will quickly become so. If
one person were to go through to the Supernal, they would be overpowered by the Exarchs... But Kosciej is a
Libertine. He doesn't want to Ascend himself and only for himself. This isn't Parole for him - this is a jailbreak for
all of us. Everyone who is or has ever been alive, all rushing Stygia at once. The Ascension of the entire human
race" - Djehuty
Pandora nudges Samael, and points - there, on the edge of the crowd, is Tiresias
Djehuty looks around. Samael. Pandora. Cobalt. Symmetry. Persephone. Magog. Ashlar.
"Basically..." - Djehuty
He shrugs, helpless
"...End of the World" - Djehuty
DUN- DUN- DUUUUUUUUUUUHN
Next time: Sympathy for the Devil. In which the Cabal, plus allies, decide how to stop him. IF they decide to stop him.
Who are we kidding, of course they decide to stop him.
1.
Sympathy for the Devil
Session 14
"Sympathy for the Devil"
Nearly there... The storm clouds are gathering, Kosciej's scheme has been revealed, the Exarchs' plan thoroughly
hinted at and our heroes now have the opportunity to compose their response. They have allies - lots of allies, as you'll
know if you've been keeping track of all the people they've met, helped out or been well-disposed toward.
The mother of all confrontations is coming, and the World of Darkness will not be the same afterward.
"How can he possibly expect to survive this?" - Samael
"It's something to do with the Temenotic Realm of Death: he says that there will be a kind of shield that the
Exarchs won't breach while the Portal opens. I'm sorry, but I know much less about the Astral side of the Plan
than the Underworld" - Djehuty
"But whastever the shielding is, it'll kill everyone?" - Samael
Djehuty nods.
The uncomfortable silence returns.
In Mictlan, Chronos has been listening to Djehuty speak with a stony air, giving way to confusion.
-The fuck? I need to do some calculations - but I'll have questions for that man once I'm done- -Chronos
"Okay. Is there *anyone* here willing to risk the lives of every human being on the planet on the success of this
plan?" - Cobalt
"The plan is retarded" - Persephone
"I think that's the point he's making" - Samael
"Yeah. The thing is there is no backup plan. There's no second chance. There is no plan B" - Cobalt
"No 'sorry, I got it a bit wrong'. For a Libertine he seems to care remarkably little for free will" - Samael
Cobalt winces
"Let's leave the propoganda out of this. He's Nucking Futz" - Cobalt
"BHut my point is that he's denying other people the choice, surely going against..." - Samael
Cobalt raises a hand, cutting him off.
Cobalt really doesn't like Samael trying to tell him what his own Orders' beliefs are, and when someone has
transgressed them.
Also, I think the Libertine part of Cobalt, the nascant 'let's stick it to the man' instinct, is *impressed* by Kosciej,
despite everything. It's Cobalt's superego that's pointing out the flaws.
"There is the question of how he's compelling the Ghosts. Astonishingly good argument or something else?" Cobalt, changing the subject
"It can't just be a good argument - he needs everyone to assemble in the same... realm?" - Samael, looking
around the group for the right word.
"Dominion" - Pandora, weary
"Dominion" - Samael
Pandora looks like she hasn't slept in days. The traumas of Japan, London and the trip through the Underworld
have taken their toll.
"Is there a compulsion on the Ghosts?" - Cobalt
"There's a signal calling them to Mictlan" - Djehuty
"How? That's not even been hinted at before; how's he doing it?" - Samael
"There are... things... deep in the Underworld that can be bargained with" -Djehuty
"And they're up for this plan?" - Cobalt
"Enough to set up The Call. Once they arrive, the plan of 'when this gate opens, go through it' is being
explained by agents" - Djehuty
"I'm surprised they believe it" - Samael
"There are lots of beings down there that can't lie. The Underworld is a place of Laws and Rules. The Rules
change from place to place but they can't ever be broken. And, to be honest, the dead are desperate" - Djehuty
"but do they know they'll get ahnialated en masse?" - Samael
"we don't know that" - Cobalt, sharply
"But they don't know they'll survive" - Samael
"The only guarantee they have in their present situation is that they'll fade away slowly" - Cobalt
"And they're being offered a chance" - Djehuty
"A chance to fall into the Abyss" - Samael
Cobalt shakes his head. Samael, wanting to believe the worst of Kosciej, seems determined to state as fact that
the plan won't work. Cobalt knows Kosciej a little better than that.
"The Supernal Gateway will work. That's magic. The question is how long it will stay open and what's going to
counterattack" - Cobalt
"So we let the Ghosts through while stopping the other half?" - Samael
"Yeah. Our priority has to be the Astral gate. That's Apocalypse. That's Planet of the Apes territory. With worse
acting. The main problem with hoovering out the Underworld is this: Where do we get jobs after we die?" Cobalt
Symmetry, who's been nodding along in agreement, looks very confused
"Specifically, in the case of your good self, Samael, very quickly therafter. Because I don't see a way to recover
the shards" - Cobalt
Samael thinks
"The Scythe. The coin-thing the Echo Walkers had. What happens if we blow the Realm of Death up?" - Samael
"It would only work for a moment. A fraction of a second" - Cobalt
"That would require... Really good timing" - Persephone
"And the sacrifice of whoever we trigger the Scythe on. I don't know if you were offering then, Sef, but there is
also Galatea. I don't know her status" - Cobalt
"She's still in a coma. HEr form is starting to appear in her gate - we don't know if it means she's waking up or
dying" - Persephone
"Right. The other problem being that if it goes ahead and clears out the Ghosts there's the possibility it might
not work one way or the other, but *relies* on this shield thing. And you die, Sam. And the Worm gets loose" Cobalt
"There is that" - Samael
"Or we could break into Mictlan and throw you through the Gateway" - Cobalt
"We don't know what happens if I go into the Astral with the worm in me" - Samael
"And you can't ascend in a body" - Ashlar
"Is it a single Ascension?" - Cobalt
"It's the entirity of Mictlan. I've been in what he's building behind the wall..." - Djehuty
"What IS it? And why does it have to be so phallic?" - CObalt
"In one sense it's a watchtower. Look at it from 90 degrees and it's a bridge" - Djehuty
"Ahhh. Right" - Cobalt
Sef, in the backround, tilts her head and then makes a "oh, yeah!" face
"The far end will span the Abyss and breach into Stygia" - Djehuty
"A plan with NO Drawbacks" - Samael
"Kosciej says... Everything within the Wall will cross the Abyss and..." (tries to remember) "The impression I got
was that he would cast the spell but not cross himself immediately" - Djehuty
"Why send yourself into the firing line?" - Samael
"There might be other reasons" - Cobalt, gently chiding
"I certainly wouldn't say it was altruism. This is a man who has been terrified of death for decades and has only
recently cooked up this scheme" - Samael
"He's had a unique opportunity to study the Underworld. Keeping his faculties and his Arcana, yet a Ghost and
not suffering the revulsion of the locals... So where are we? Invade his realm, blow the gate up and steal the
artifacts. Our backup plan being Sef clubbing herself unconcious and us using the Scythe on her. Do the shards
have an Astral presence?" - Cobalt, musing
"When I was studying the skull, I took it into the Astral by meditating with it" - Djehuty
"But the physical objects must be in the real world?" - Cobalt
"I would think so. Kosciej uses the Ankh in both worlds by having the physical version on his stolen body" Djehuty
"Sef. If a War of the Xolotls were to happen, could we use the element of surprise to capture and hold the
Temenos gate?" - Cobalt
"I don't know how powerful Kosciej's new Kerebos is" - Persephone
"J?" - Cobalt
"It's a being from the lower regions. The creature that's making the Call" - Djehuty
"Powerful?" - Cobalt
"Have you heard the term 'Cthonian'?" - Djehuty
"In a variety of settings" - Cobalt
"They're the inhabitants of the furthest reaches of the Underworld; things that were never alive" - Djehuty
"It may be fearsome at what Kosciej intends it for, but maybe not at a mental battle it's not used to" Persephone
"Mictlan is partly Astral; not the natural territory of a Cthonian" - Samael
"The problem with taking the Temenos gate is that the entirity of Mictlan will ascend, right?" - Cobalt
"ANything within the wall will be able to" - Djehuty
"Here's a thought: it may be worth our while thinking about what Mr Xanatos Roulette *thinks* we're going to
do" - Samael
"Because he knows we have the Scythe" - Magog
"Right. He needs to secure Galatea's body... But even then we have Sef. He can't guarantee she won't do it
herself" - Cobalt
"WE can't guarantee that" - Samael
Chronos looks up at Sef from the gobbledeegook and runic equations drawn in the dirt
-What is it?- - Persephone
-What he's planning. It's brutal. It lacks elegance. But it may be germain to your discussions to know that it will
actually work- - Chronos
-Well, that's sad- - Persephone
-And I know why it's the Realm of Death he's targetting- - Chronos
-Connection to Mictlan?- - Persephone
-Well, yes, but as you know we're connected to many Temenos realms. It's the Realm of Death because.. He's
going to wrap Mictlan in the Human Species' perception of the concept of Death. The Psychopomp won't dare
attack it, for the fear of Death is what He repesents- - Chronos
-Oooooh- - Persephone
-It's a BLUFF. Kosciej is using the living as a human shield, betting that they won't actually die; which, if you
think about it, is much more Jack's style than ultimate genocide- - Chronos
She relays that
"I think 'Jack's Style' has stretched to mass murder recently" - Samael, growling
"So... IS everyone going to die when it triggers?" - Cobalt
-... Yes- -Chronos
-Everyone WILL die?- - Persephone
-If this is correct, then yes. Kosciej's just dumping the Realm of Death onto us - somehow - without any finesse.
Kosciej didn't invent the Gates. He knows enough, obviously, but... What I'm trying to say is that Kosciej's plan
will work with armageddon-level casualties. *I* can make it WORK- - Chronos
-Without the casualties?- - PErsephone
-Unless Jack already has a refinment he hasn't told laughing boy out there about. I think I could do it. I can't
make a portal to Stygia, or even affect teh Astral Realms myself, but...- - Chronos
-Just Mictlan? Mictlan and Ghosts?- - Persephone
-We might still lose thousands. Tens of thousands. But not everyone- - Chronos
She, shaken, relays that.
"This might be heretical of me, but maybe not everyone *should* ascend?" - Samael
"No, I get you. Not everyone deserves Stygia. There's a case to be made that maybe the dead all do have a
place there" - Cobalt
"It might be a really bad idea. It might be a great one" - Samael
"Well, we have a bargaining chip. We have the Scythe. We have Galatea..." - Cobalt
"We have to assume that at any moment he could take it from Vidocq's Aetheneum. And we know he can crack
open any major defensive position" - Samael
"What Chronos is saying is that there are errors in K's plan he can correct?" - Cobalt
She listens
"He says Kosciej probably doesn't think of them as errors, more acceptable losses. Chronos... If everything
*inside* the wall goes, what happens to us?" - Persephone
-Don't know. Want to go ask him?- - Chronos
"How about we don't use me or Galatea. Why don't we grab one of them?" - Persephone
"Who around this table votes for Brianna?" - Cobalt
"I'd much prefer to just Scythe Kosciej" - Samael
"Even if... There is always a weak point in his plan. They can't attack Mictlan, but just as WE are planning to
attack a frail old man in a stolen body holding three rocks and an Ankh, so are the Exarchs. Remember my
Vision? As soon as Kosciej starts this off, an Ochema is going to rock up and start killing it's way across London
to get to him" - Cobalt
"So what does HE expect us to do? What's he planned?" - Samael
"I'm sure he's got some idea. We've been pretty thoroughly played up to now" - Cobalt
"Yes we have. I for one am tired of being manipulated by old men" - Samael
"I'm not going to blow up someone else's Temenos Realm, but taking a bat to the old man's nadgers, that I can
get behind" - Cobalt
"Do we actually know where he is?" - Samael
"No. And that's another thing for the bargaining table" - Cobalt
"What's to say he hasn't already got the Scythe? Or planned a response?" - Samael
"We might not figure into the plan at all from here on in. Wasn't it Tiresias who bargained for your life?" - Cobalt
"...Yes" - Pandora
"If I were expected to be doing something, I'd expect him to actually be returning my calls" - Cobalt
"Come ON, Cobalt. He's shown an interest in you and visited you before. You really think he hasn't got a place
for YOU, of all people, in his scheme? Not. Very. Likely. He doesn't think you're an idiot. Controllable, but not a
non-entity" - Samael
"He thinks Samael is a non entity" (off his look) "Sorry" - Symmetry
"He thinks I'm a timebomb with no way of being defused" - Samael
"There are two ways. Either we bonk you on the head and release the worm into his realm, or you're first
through the gate" - Cobalt
"This may be crazy, but I don't think Humanity belongs in the Supernal. The links were broken and this world
made a prison, but it didn't start as one. Life began *here*. All this bullshit about leaping to the Heavens is
what got us into this in the first place" - Samael
"In the end, will this just make another Exarch?" - Symmetry
"YES. That's my point" - Samael
"Jack the Kin-slayer. If you kill enough people, eventually it will be worth it" - Cobalt
"Ultimately, psycho-boy the Ascension monkey doesn't take me seriously because I'm easy to deal with. You
know what I'm expecting him to do? Try to *recruit* you?" - Samael
"Why do you think Djehuty's here?" - Cobalt
"He expected me to rescue Samael and Pandora?" - Djehuty
"He was happy to let you go. He must have known you'd explain the plan to me" - Cobalt
(nods) "If he wasn't... I'd be dead already" - Djehuty, realising
"Where do you stand in this, Djehuty? We thought you were his man, until Tiresias revealed you were actually
his. But as your own man, where do you stand?" - Cobalt
Djehuty thinks
"Because I don't know where I stand" - Cobalt
"I have.. Seen too much evil and done too much of it myself. I will be crossing the Bridge, one way or another.
Go somewhere there aren't any mages, and try to make peace with myself" - Djehuty
"Whatever you decide to do, do it well" - Ashlar
"If we need you, we'll call. Anything else?" - Cobalt
"If you need an ally in the Nameless, go for Boudicca. But don't rely on grabbing Brianna. She's already outlived
her usefulness" - Djehuty
"What about the rest of the Nameless? Those not in the Parliament?" - Samael
"That's what Kosciej will be doing right now - briefing the rest of them" - Djehuty
"But if they follow their beliefs they won't all follow on" - Samael
"Depends what he tells them" - Ashlar
"Even so, there's no way all those groups will sign up to a plan that might involve their destruction" - Samael
"Have you ever heard of a Mob, Sam?" - Cobalt, weary
"yesss.." - Samael
"History is full of Strong Men who say 'stop thinking and follow me'" - Ashlar
"It's a grand, audacious plan to kick in the doors of those who've been fucking with us our entire lives and take
the fight to them" - Cobalt
"I would like to think some of the Nameless retain enough critical thinking. If it's that bad we may as well start
killing them" - Samael
"I'm not betting the planet on the few who dissent making enough of a counterflow to make a difference" Cobalt
"I wasn't suggesting you do..." - Samael
"He will need to be *careful* in his propoganda. We need to get our message out NOW. Do we tell them the
high detail?" - Cobalt
"I suggest we tell as much of the Truth as we can. If we lie at all we make ourselves vulnerable. Give everyone
the chance to make their choice" - Samael
"How many will say 'that's a great idea'?" - Persephone
"Lots. Many, even" - Cobalt
"Depends how many actually think the world is in danger. Frankly, if I hadn't been led gently up to it this past
two years..." - Pandora
"More people trust Captain Krunch?" - Cobalt
"No, I think most people won't believe *anything* will happen. I live in London - I'd have thought it was just
some LIbertine posting on the internet" - pandora
"Either way, the information goes out there" - Samael
"The main result is going to be 'pull the other one'" - Pandora
"Until people start using Time magic" - Samael
"And what would have been really useful is if your Oracle had brought it up in conversation. They're up there as
well, I'd have thought they'd have an opinion" - Cobalt
"Oracles. Fuck em. Fuck em in the ear" - Samael
"I'm not entirely sure, speaking as a LIbertine, that I'm ready to deal with the Supernal as a real thing" - Cobalt
"Honey, you've *been* there" - Symmetry
"Conceptually. It's an inspiration" - Cobalt
"If history teaches us anything, it's that invading the Supernal is a Bad Idea" - Samael
"The War of the Celestial Ladder" - Cobalt
"I'm willing to bet there's more to break up there" - Samael
Cobalt thinks
"Of course they couldn't warn you. They'd be *meddling*" - Cobalt
"Fuck em" - Samael
"These are the rules, and the Devil cheats. Mind you, with that in mind the Exarchs might *want* him to do it" Cobalt
"So they can meddle some more? Break the world further?" - Samael
"Yeah" - Cobalt
"We already know the Exarchs aren't what we call 'sane' any more.." - Samael
"I've never met one" - Cobalt
"I have" - Samael
"Which one was going batshit crazy about the worm?" - Persephone
"That's the thing. Maybe NONE of them. I think there's a lot of misdirection going on" - Samael
"All I know is that I want you out of the country when you die. What do you think about the Falkland islands?" Cobalt
"Never really liked them" - Samael
"In times of peace, they were binding the worm and not acting, but now it's war. Maybe it's possible to bargain
with them? Offer to take care of the worm ourselves in return for help?" - Persephone
"So.. In order to deal with the well-meaning but insane Libertine, we should summon an Exarch and do a deal
with the Devil?" - Ashlar
"That goes against the grain. There's killing a defenseless old woman in order to detonate a realm filled with
vital knowledge, and there's making a pact with Satan" - Cobalt
"When one turns up, you don't have a lot of choice other than mouthing off. The Exarch will do whatever it feels
like; if that's the plan, then I just have to get close to the Ochema abnd hope it's feeling like taking the Angel
with it, because no amount of pleading or bargaining will change it's mind. It considers itself to be that far
above us" - Samael
"I'm not sure Stygia is the right destination for it" - Cobalt
"I think it's our problem" - Samael
A pause
"So. Get the scythe. Spread the word about his plan" - Samael
"Solarious might be able to help" - Cobalt
"We need to get blogging before bed" - Symmetry
"Put out the word. Send out feelers. Contact our friends. I'll talk to the Council tommorow morning" - Cobalt
"Guess I'm blogging then" - Symmetry
"You're not alone" - Persephone
"I'll send out to the Sphinx network" - Samael
"Guess I'm on the phones, then. I need a hotline button" - Cobalt
"I'll get in touch with teh Pendragon. If we're facing the end of the world, we'd be remiss if we didn't invite Cal
and Rod" - Ashlar
"I'll see who's still alive in London. If I can contact Constantine or Civitas..." - Pandora
"We might be able to make an alliance" - Cobalt
"I'll call Gabi about getting the Scythe back. And you need to tell Logos what happened to Tiresias before she
does something stupid" - Symmetry
Samael nods
"I get that your opinion of Team Oracle is 'fuck em', but did Cxaxa give the impression she was willing to pitch
in?" - Magog
"Cxaxa? I honestly don't know. I have no way of telling what that merry band is planning. Or even who's a
permenant member of it" - Samael
"Plus she may think it's a great idea" - Symmetry
"She IS a Silver Ladder" - Samael
"...Yeah" - Cobalt
"Be careful when you speak to Constantine, whoever gets him - emphasise the downsides, not the mass
Ascension" - Ashlar
The effort to contact their friends and acquaintences begins, in amongst grasped snatches of sleep.
1.
Later, in Mictlan, Chronos has finished changing Hades. The former Guardian is now unconcious, recovering
from the process.
Sef waits for Chronos by Galatea's gate
"What does it mean? Is she dying?" - Persephone
"If she died the gate would shatter" - Chronos
"But slowly dying?" - Persephone
"Cousin, among us we have died by means both extremely fast and long drawn-out. I've never seen anything
like this. Our gates were unchanged until we..." - Chronos
"...Snuffed it" - Baal
"I was shot. Baal died of disease" - Chronos
"And I couldn't wait to get it over with. I blocked off my physical senses and went on a two-month bender
around the Astral while I could still get there" - Baal
"I've come to some conclusions" - Chronos
"Go on" - Persephone
"technically, if we could get access to the Temenos gate, I could open it and allow people that had already
beenhere - like your friends - in. But we would need to get inside Kosciej's wall, and we'd have to get access to
the gate" - Chronos
"I think I have a way" - Persephone
"If this is plan Daimon, it would fail in a second" - Chronos
"Yeah, alright" - Persephone
"I'm going to go to the Wall now. What threats and offers am I making? I can offer my assistance, fixing his
math" - Chronos
"How are you going to get outside once you get in?" - Persephone
"I don't think I'm going to" - Chronos
"So how are you going to give us any information if you can't come back?" - Persephone
"Let me put it like this - I *could* turn up, say 'Hi jack, all is forgiven, I want onto your team', but he wouldn't
believe I would abandon you guys" - Chronos
"So we'd all have to go over? He'd never believe *I'd* sign up" - Persephone
"We could give him a long list of demands then haggle down from them: give Hades' body back, relinquish the
artefacts, declare Thursday, abolish Christmas, put your face on the £1 coin and ban Guy Fawkes masks" Chronos
"And for that we'll help him?" - Persephone
"We haggle him down to letting us all in, and improvise wildly from there" - Chronos
"Sounds like a *great* plan" - Persephone
"It's a crazy plan, one I would never have considered when I was alive or even until I met you" - Chronos
Ag: I wonder what this says about Sef...
"The only thing he can't plan for is something unplanned. How do we convince him to let me in? That I'm on his
side?" - Persephone
"We don't - we stay open about the fact that you'd like to kill him, but our demand for me helping him is that he
let you in as well" - Chronos
"How about we wait on this until we actually et the Scythe?" - Persephone
"His first demand will be to neutralise our ability to use it" - Chronos
"Hmm" - Persephone
"We can see what his demands are, and you can talk about it with your guys on the outside" - Chronos
"Take Baal and the others with you. Getting kidnapped would be silly" - Persephone
...
Cobalt has arranged a meeting of his Consilium Council, and spent the rest of his breakfast ringing a lkist of
numbers Pandora wrote down the night before. After the last, he feels someone Scry on him.
Civitas still has a sympathetic connection sample of Cobalt, all the way back from Children of the Revolution
The phone rings
"Gloating?" - Civitas
"Not in the least" - Cobalt
"Offering your support?" - Civitas
"Asking for yours. I take it things did not go well?" - Cobalt
"Cadacaeus is dead. The Censorium has fallen" - Civitas
"Tiresias with it" - Cobalt
"And Constantine... Constantine has joined the Enemy" - Civitas
"Renoucing the Ladder?" - Cobalt
"No. They have brokered a seperate peace and defected. I have my Guardians and the remains of the
Admantine Arrow. We've fallen back to Reading" - Civitas
"I assume Boudicca has declared herself Heirarch?" - Cobalt
"It was Constantine's first announcement; he is the first member of the upstart's so-called council" - Civitas,
bitter
"I have a problem. The destruction of the Censorium was the price of Typhon for granting Kosciej the power to
end the world. And WE have accidentally given him the components he needs..." - Cobalt
He explains further, as much as the Cabal know about the Plan
"One of the things stolen from the Cambridge Consilium by his thugs was a Temenotic Obelisk" - Civitas
Now we're referencing obscure stuff - Ashlar explained Temenotic Obelisks, which made it into print after they were
mentioned in Soul Cage when I wrote them up in Seers of the Throne. They're Atlantean Astral Terraforming engines,
that link concepts together in the human subconcious by merging the two Temenos realms involved together.
"...Which would be *how* he's going to pull the Realm of Death over Mictlan. And potentially cross the Abyss
safely, but I think we can discount him as the Heiromagus" - Cobalt
"What have you heard?" - Civitas, suspicious
"Nothing. Well, apart from this batshit plan..." - Cobalt
"This is a time of chaos. There are at least three people claiming... It doesn't matter" - Civitas
"Okay. Apologies" - Cobalt
"If the Northern cities have decided to DO something, then please let those of us who are left know about it" Civitas
"How are your people holding up?" - Cobalt
"Badly. We have not so much withdrawn as routed" - Civitas
"Do you need any supplies?" - Cobalt
"Material needs are well cared for" - Civitas
"We'll come back to you with a plan" - Cobalt
"I very much look forward to it. I haven't been on the recieving end of one of your schemes" - Civitas
"We've mostly played across your forecourt. We'll do what we can" - Cobalt.
He hangs up.
"Next, the Heirarch of London" - Cobalt, to himself.
...
The Mysterium, slow to muster, is waking up to the news of the Library's destruction. Samael and Logos have
been sending message after message through the Sphinx network, trying to rouse the Wings of the Dragon. So
far, responses have been "what can we *do* about it?" from lower members of the order. And, from a few fellow
Heirophants, the question of if it's time to break out the superweapons.
When the Mysterium says "Superweapons" they don't mean laser guns. They mean God's Womb, the
Metachronal Clock, a few Soul Stones suspected of belonging to Exarchs, the Eye of Ahriman and the Casket of
Souls. Over the years, the order has collected a lot of strange, barely understood and unnaturally powerful
artifacts.
The group reconvene.
"The Pendragon are up for it" - Ashlar
"Strangely enough, so is Civitas. When we have a plan, we should call him. He's fallen back to Reading" - Cobalt
"How ironic. That's where I went when they exiled me" - Ashlar
"The Mysterium are warming up the Orbital Strike option; breaking out all the things we barely understand to
try to stop him" - Samael
"Breaching the Vault under Cardiff Bay?" - Ashlar
Presided over by Heirophant Harkness...
"Orbital Strikes?" - Cobalt
"Not neccessarily. Things that might be able to fight off an Ochema" - Samael
Symmetry enters, with laptop
"Guys. Kosciej gave his speech" - Symmetry
"Put it on" - Cobalt
...
It's a good speech. A Stirring speech. A magically-enhanced speech. Kosciej doesn't so much dwell on the "kill
everyone" part, but it gets the heart pumping like the Nuremberg Rally. "Jailbreak" is mentioned. He puts the
call out to everyone interested to help.
"The comments are predictable" - Symmetry
"Never read the Comments" - Cobalt
"About 200 comments in it's a bunch of American Libertines saying that noone British could end the world" Symmetry
Cobalt facepalms.
"So. Next on the List. I'm going to try Boudicca" - Cobalt
She doesn't answer
"Benedict Arnold, then. Or Constantine as we know him" - Cobalt
Again, no answer
"Nimue wants to know where you want the Pendragon" - Ashlar
"Physical shit is going to be going down in London, but we need the Backup Plan retrieved from Paris - we could
use our best men on it" - Cobalt
"Tell Gawain that Gabrielle *must* get through unmolested with the Scythe? I can see that working" - Pandora
"It's a shame I know how to play him" - Cobalt
Dawn breaks. Pandora recasts the spell keeping Samael alive.
Results begin to come back in.
Chronos has returned
-Is there any way to let me speak directly to the people outside?- - Chronos
-Galatea did it once. Group Telepathy with a twist- - Persephone
"Guys. Gather round" - Persephone
She casts the spell, and the assembled group hear Chronos' voice in their heads.
"I was able to gain audience with the man himself, or an image of him, at the edge. We stayed on our
respective sides. Facts: They have captured some kind of artifact that will merge Mictlan with the Realm of
Death" - Chronos
"The Temenotic Obelisk" - Cobalt
"I explained I could achieve his aims with less loss of life, and he agreed that would be a good thing..." Chronos
"I'm confused about the less loss of life. I thought he wanted everyone dead to provide him with an army?" Samael
"His army's plenty big enough. The living minds are a defense against the Psychopomp. I can make that
happen without that Temenos realm connecting to the Supernal..." - Chronos
"...And killing everyone" - Cobalt
"There will still be effects" - Chronos
"Deaths?" - Samael
"Terrible nightmares, triggering of low-level psychic phenomena. Maybe a few Awakenings. But unless the
Psychopomp calls Kosciej's bluff they'll live - and if it does, I don't know how many people will be in the way" Chronos
"It may well be able to stop him without destroying the realm" - Samael
"There's still going to be a battle in the material world. He has a body, still, and they'll want to get to it" - Cobalt
"He asked me what I wanted. I gave him the list; the artifacts back, Hades' body back, the Ankh back... More
facts. The transition only applies to New Mictlan. Rather, *all* of Mictlan will begin to cross the Abyss, but as we
control the ruins thanks to Hades and Kosciej can only alter his part..." - Chronos
"What happens to old Mictlan?" - Samael
"We boil off into the Abyss and die" - Chronos
"Can you enter his area?" - Cobalt
"That's what I switched to negotiating for. He wants us to turn Hades off, put him into suspended animation so
that there's only one Kerberos" - Chronos
"What is his pet monster planning once the flit hits the shan?" - Cobalt
"So we went onto demands. If we do that to Hades, he's happy for any of old Mictlan to ride out on the Good
Ship Kosciej while I work in his engine room... Except for Persephone. He's happy for her to cross the wall, but
says he can't have anyone active inside and out there with you in the physical world" - Chronos
"So.. What? She has to be turned over in the flesh as well?" - Cobalt
"Yes. This is the deal on the table: If Sef goes to London and turns up in person while we cross the wall, we're
in. After it's all over, Sef walks away with the Artifacts *and* Hades' body. By then Kosciej will want to Ascend
and won't need it any more" - Chronos
"Why not give up the body now?" - Samael
"No dice: All goods will be returned *after* he's sent up the balloon. For some reason, I think he thinks we're up
to something" - Chronos
"Who? Us?" - Persephone
"If I were you, I'd worry about the people retrieving that artifact from France" - Chronos
"We have our best men on it" - Cobalt
"That would get us inside and able to... I believe the term is Monkeywrench? We can open the portal to the
Temenos from inside" - Chronos
"And it puts Sef completely in Kosciej's hands" - Samael
"Along with the rest of us. The alternative, though, is that he launches Mictlan, kills untold masses with his
brute-force astral shield and we die horribly in the Abyss" - Chronos
"I'd rather not commit you guys to the Abyss" - Cobalt
(To Sef) "We're going to have to vote on it, Cousin. The alternative for any of *us* is to pass over and join the
queue. If you people can get to the Temenos realm of death, then I can open the Portal and we can hand the
artifacts to you. But that makes no guaruntees about guards, or even if I go at all. That depends on the vote" Chronos
"At some point we're going to have to decide if we're going to let this happen" - Cobalt
"Which is the other thing for us to vote on" - Chronos
The spell ends
Cobalt muses, tapping a finger on his chin.
"Djehuty?" - Cobalt
"Long gone. He left late last night" - Magog
Cobalt nods, soberly.
The unhappy end of Doghooter.
Djehuty is never seen again in the Chronicle. The implication is that he went off to kill himself, or to hermitage himself
at the very least.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Djehuty3 for being such a good sport on the thread about
his name being appropriated. I know he volunteered for it and even changed his username to have one better suited to
use as a storyteller character's name, but he can't have known the ups and downs that would be involved. So - kudos
to you, Doghooter!
Isator: It's your turn next.
"I could do it" - Persephone
"We may have enough of a bargaining position that you don't have to do it alone. Myself - Ashlar?" - Cobalt
"What? We all hand ourselves over?" - Persephone
"Fundamentally" - Cobalt
Ashlar shakes his head.
"Someone needs to handle the counterinvasion" - Ashlar
"...Get everyone moving, pointing in the right direction. And that's you, Rex. I'm not just saying that" -
Symmetry
"There's the potential for it backfiring if word of you going in leaks" - Samael
Cobalt looks around the table, then gives in and nods.
"...Okay" - Cobalt
He closes his eyes.
"She's the man on the inside. You, Samael, are the rescue squad. I'm pained about sending her in alone
physically because... I don't think Kosciej will believe it. For a start, she can't carry Hades' body very far" Cobalt
"I don't think that's a point. I don't think Jack cares if I can carry it" - Persephone
"If he gives you the Ankh you won't have to carry it anywhere. Hades is either too far gone to be resurrected or
he isn't" - Symmetry
"Team 'Rescue'... We need a Demesne and people who have been to Mictlan before. That's me, Symm, you and
Sam" - Magog
"Djehuty too, if he comes back" - Cobalt
"Faith in human nature, eh?" - Ashlar
"He's been dicked about by old men for so long he doesn't know who he is any more. He needs to figure that
out before he joins a side" - Cobalt
"Once you get in, Sef, if you can kill the Cthonian and wake Hades up he'd be in control of the realm's Laws.
That would fuck shit up" - Magog
"Yeah..." - Persephone
"...That makes Chronos' priority opening the gate rather than stealing the artifacts. If the three of you" (to
Samael, Magog and Symmetry) "can invade..." - Cobalt
"What were you going to say, Sef?" - Samael
"...IF I can kill the Cthonian" - Persephone
"It wouldn't just be you" - Samael
"That's my point. The whack squad..." - Cobalt
"Team Ninja. Though I should point out we're not well-suited to fighting in the Astral" - Samael
"We did alright" - Magog
"What did we actually fight? We mostly ran away" - Cobalt
"So... A Well-fortified Demesne you can get out of and rejoin the main fight" - Ashlar
"Like... Tiresias'" - Cobalt
"Tiresias' secret Demesne! Right in London" - Ashlar
"He gave you the passwords to that, remember?" - Cobalt
"If we take the Artifacts in the Astral they won't reappear in the physical next to us when we leave. We still
need to get to where they are" - Samael
"So... We need to get the survivors of the London Diamond, give them something to make their morale come
up. We need an attack force primed to go in on the Nameless' base, and we need to know what to do when the
Ochema shows up.. whichever side it's on" - Cobalt
"My money's on both" - Magog
"I thought neither" - Cobalt
"Oh! Sorry - thought that was evident. I meant Astral or Physical. Cobalt foresaw fighting one in this world...
Anyone want to lay odds on Them only sending *one*?" - Magog
"Of course. There's likely to be at least one in the Astral as well. The Psychopomp after Kosciej and the General
after Samael?" - Cobalt
"The General's after Kosciej, too. It told me I was a pawn" - Samael
"So... Ochemata Research, marshall our forces" - Cobalt
"Backup plan is the Scythe" - Symmetry
"Backup Backup Plan is the Superweapons" - Ashlar
"Yep" - Cobalt
"So... For the Backup plan to work we need to secure Galatea's body, if we're giving up Sef's, and secure the
goddamn Scythe" - Magog
"Best Men. On it. Do we want to colocate it with our other plan? Only have one place to protect? The Furthest
Legion could guard Galatea..." - Cobalt
"...To be honest, we might need them for the fight" - Magog
"Yeah. So we protect her with secrecy. There is Tiresias' Demesne..." - Cobalt
His watch beeps. Time to go see the Consilium's Council
"We'll get the last few people on the horn. See if Solarious will come through" - Symmetry
"By the way: I prefer to take my cues from Wellington. When we reestablish order in London, it will be on Our
terms" - Cobalt
"By the way - a warning. The Library of St John was one of the greatest Censoria in the world. It's destruction
will see Guardians and Mystagogues from all over Europe looking for revenge" - Samael
"Then it's your job to make sure they link up with the rest of the effort... You'r going to be in the Astral... It's
*Ashlar's* job to make sure they link up with the rest of the effort" - Cobalt
"What? You think I'm a Heirophant?" - Ashlar
Not explicitly stated before, but Samael actually outranks Ashlar in the order now. He's never made an issue of it
because Ashlar is still a Master, but he's not a Heirophant.
"Thing is, Ashlar, at some point he's going to have to go unconcious" - Cobalt
"I know you guys don't get this, but that LIbrary was *Magic* itself. And Kosciej destroyed it. When word gets
out, death squads will start to arrive" - Samael
"Make sure they don't mess up our plan" - Cobalt
"Vidocq. He has far greater connections than me, much more Guanxi" - Samael
"Get on it. The Nameless are now in the same bracket as the Seers, Banishers and Nefandi. They do not play
well with others, so we're going to take their toys away" - Cobalt
"I'll put the word out" - Samael
"Now... We need a pretentious name for this alliance of forces" - Cobalt
"I.. Think it's called 'The Pentacle'" - Samael
1.
Later, in Mictlan, the remaining Cousins have gathered. Persephone, Chronos, Baal, Mot, Anubis, Morrigan,
Nergal, Haruspex (no relation), Jodrell and Azrael.
"Never mind everyone who's alive out there. Never mind mass Ascension. If I can get this to work without mass
casualties... Are we still going to sabotage it?" - Chronos
"What do you think the chances of it working as planned are?" - Persephone
"Honestly? I think we'll lose thousands if not tens of thousands of people... But we won't lose Billions" - Chronos
"But will it *work*?" - Persephone
"Oh, it'll work. The portal to Stygia will open. We just don't know what the fallout will be" - Chronos
"I... Don't think we should let him" (looks around) "I understand the opportunity this represents for you, but I
don't believe our concerns are worth destroying the balance of the world" - Persephone
"Anything achieved through so evil a means must be tainted" - Jodrell
The Cousins raise hands. Mictlan has spoken, and the Cousins will sabotage Kosciej's plan.
Next agenda item. Who's going in?
"I think we should get something out of it immediately" - Persephone
"Other than not dying in the abyss? And Kosciej taking a risk on plan 'don't kill everyone in the world'?" Chronos
"Forget I said that. Okay. Let's all go" - Persephone
"Not all of us. I refuse to bow to the traitor. I will Pass On instead, and start spreading the news" - Baal
"What news?" - Chronos
"Of what's actually happening. I'll join the crowd and try to convince the other dead it's a trick. And frankly, I'm
not sure how the rest of you can stomach the idea of going into his tower" - Baal
Haruspex (no relation), Nergal and Mot agree, nodding.
"And Cousin? If you get your hands on the Ankh, for even a second, you take your own Daimon back and *run*"
- Nergal
"We... Should have a funeral" - Persephone
"For the True Mictlan" - Chronos, nodding
...
Down in Durham, Cobalt is meeting an emergency Council. The news from Newcastle is worrying - someone
has stolen the Soul Stone from the Legion's Demesne. In fact, reports are coming in that someone has stolen
the Stones from *every* Demesne the Pentacle know of, as far as York.
"How the hell did they do *that*?" - Cobalt
"Preparation, I suspect" - Key
Cobalt 's brow furrows. Kosciej is shutting down the backup plan, before they've even finished forming it.
The Mysterium is on fire, metaphorically speaking, as news of the London attack breaks. Even Bede has called
to pledge support should he be of any use.
"As Samael's Councillor, I've been up all night fielding inquiries from other Caucuses trying to confirm Samael's
claims" - Key
"What other Consilii do we know the reactions of?" - Cobalt
"York is smaller than us, a Mystagogue-held Consilium, but they have pledged support" - Abbot
"Canarvon is the largest Consilium in the UK. They say they'll take in any refugees. Cambridge has signed up
with Kosiej, Manchester remains undecided. Edinburgh was on the fence until Vidocq in Paris started agitating
for a response, and have now joined us" - Key
"And what of our own Consilium?" - Cobalt
"We're with you, boss" - Quark
"This is now a Wizard's War. There will be actve magical combat - who feels capable of that, who will perform
guard duty and who is willing to volunteer in other capacities?" - Cobalt
"We have our own Assets to defend" - Gaunt
"Yes. With the Seers on the back burner here we have a short window we can be out of position. Staging Points:
What do we know about Reading?" - Cobalt
"Almost empty; it's too close to London to have a Consilium of it's own" - Gaunt
"I'm beginning to wonder if the best staging point... Is Cambridge" - Cobalt
"You want to invade Cambridge as a *staging point*? Well, sir, it has balls. And Isator will be sending his best
fighters South to help Kosciej" - Abbot
"We show everyone what was done to that Consilium. It's a morale boost, and may have help convince others
to join the cause once Isator's abuses are made public" - Cobalt
"I'll contact Eddington in Canarvon, get locations of key Sancta" - Abbot
"Ultimately, we either oppose this or be conscripted into one man's suicide charge to Heaven. Time to draw a
line, and show the world we've drawn it. Then we just have to fix everything afterwards" - Cobalt
Dave2: Sorry, Isator!
...
Mictlan.
The Cousins are sat in a circle, around their campfire in the heart of the ruins. Stories are being swapped and
goodbyes said - a self-performed funeral, a wake for the Parliament of the Needle.
"We have a request" - Chronos
"Anything" - Persephone
"The team that goes into the Astral. If it's a choice between who comes and who stays outside ready with the
Scythe? We must be sure that whoever has the coin must be ready and willing to do it without flinching, at a
moment's notice if people begin to die" - Chronos
"Okay" - Persephone
"Cobalt is a good man. We'd have followed him if he were our contemporary, most likely to a better end tham
Jack led us to. But we do not believe him capable of this. We don't think he's capable of killing Galatea... And
you" - Anubis
She nods
"We know who is capable of doing it" - Chronos
"Magog?" - Persephone
"No... Not Magog" - Nergal
"...It's not Symmetry, is it?" - Persephone, sadly
"Frankly, Persephone, we think Samael is our best choice. Or Pandora in a push" - Chronos
"She's unstable" - Persephone
"Put simply. Samael has the balls to do it" - Chronos
"He might be busy" - Persephone
"That's up to Cobalt, but if I were to express a preference for someone to kill us all and save the world doing
it..." - Chronos
Chris: He *does* have an awfully Cool Coat!
...
Cobalt has had a brainwave. To guard Galatea, a Thyrsus is required to keep her alive once unhooked from the
hospital's machines.
A Thyrsus like Choke.
A group of rambunctious mages is then needed to keep her safe.
Like the Smoke Eaters.
Shortly after communicating the plan to the Middlesborough cabal, He visits Cobra and his friends to find them
putting on white coats. By the time Cobalt gets back to the LIghthouse, the Smoke Eaters report that they are
ready.
Cobalt gets back to find everyone packing for battle.
"Plan 'Cheese it' is ready to go" - Cobalt
"We're setting up Symapthetic markers for Portal homing, coordinate people arriving in Cambridge's outskirts" Samael
"Okay. Team Astral is you, Magog and Symmetry. Command team is me, Pandora and Ashlar" - Cobalt
"I need to stick with Samael" - Pandora, shaking her head
"Alright. You guard their bodies while they're in the Demesne. Old man, you still with me?" - Cobalt
"Remind me. Who did you see fighting that Ochema?" - Ashlar
"Me... And you" - Cobalt, realising
"Time works in mysterious ways" - Ashlar
"Speaking of which - instruct any Acanthus to use divination spells on as short-term a basis as possible;
assessing immediate decisions, that sort of thing. Make so much change to the timestream that long-term
Prophecies about our battle plans are useless" - Samael
...
Cobalt calls Solarious. It goes well - Solarious doesn't want to be *first* in, but will join the struggle once the
ball is rolling.
Sadly, we didn't have time to roleplay this conversation. It was done as a Persuasion roll.
He then calls Civitas and updates him, while Samael contacts the Mystagogues gathering in York, marshalling
them to get ready to take Cambridge back.
Sef casts Divination; when will the critical moment at which she has to act to save Samael arrive?
Mmm. Specific!
She sees herself in the Lighthouse kitchen, which appears to have been completely refurnished. The clock on
the wall claims it is 23:55. The wall calendar, however, is for August 2017.
She checks her watch (noticing that she is wearing a wedding band), and heads upstairs to what her current
self regards as Samael's room. Magog is on guard - he is slightly thinner as well as seven years older, with bits
of grey in his hair. In the room, sat on the bed, is Brianna. Brianna seems furious.
'He's coming' - Magog
She hears footsteps on the stairs.
She blinks and comes round. And then immediately summons the memory back to examine it closer.
Sure enough, there, on Future!Magog's finger, is an identical wedding ring.
...
One by one, the Cousins fade as they Pass On. Only Chronos, Anubis, Jodrell, Morrigan and Azrael remain.
Anubis looks like the stereotyped onyx jackal-man, Morrigan is an old witch with iron teeth and Azrael looks like a
medieval knight with a skull for a face.
They assemble - Hades and Galatea's gate floating in front of them - before the gates of Nu!Mictlan.
...
The lighthouse is a hub of activity, as Cobalt finds Magog in the basement.
"Got a second, man?" - Cobalt
"Sure" - Magog
"It occurs... In all of this crazy shit, I'd forgotten you were on probation" - Cobalt
"S'alright, man. I hadn't, and I've already had this talk" - Magog
"Then have this version of it. Pete. You've proven yourself. Long before the stated objective. I'd rather we did
this as friends" - Cobalt
"Thank you, Heirarch" - Magog, wryly
"Hey! Cock" - Cobalt
"We'll see the job done" - Magog
Cobalt gives him a manly punch in the arm, and heads upstairs. Symmetry is waiting for him on the steps.
"We're all doomed" - Symmetry
"Any chance of last night on earth sex later?" - Cobalt
...
It's raining in the afternoon as a Portal opens on the lawn outside the lighthouse.
Symmetry hugs Persephone
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" - Symmetry
Magog hugs her for a fraction of a second longer. She flinches for a second, considers telling him what she saw
and decides not to. Too complicated, and she hasn't decided how she feels about it.
"We'll come get you, I promise. Even if we have to kill our way to you" - Magog
Ashlar touches her on the nose, smiles sadly and goes back inside with Symmetry and Magog.
Just the three of them left.
The world is *definately* doomed
"It's been a long time since it was just the three of us" - Cobalt
"I've seen the future. There IS a chance" - Persephone
"And when I talked to myself in the future I was pretty old. I have no plans for this to be my death... Good luck,
kid" - Cobalt
"In case I *don't* get out of this... It was great, being in a Cabal with you guys. And although we've had many
freaky experiences, I wouldn't trade it for anything" - Persephone
"We'll see you on the other side" - Samael
Cobalt's salute degenerates into a three-way hug.
Breaking off after a long, long time, Sef walks up to the Portal and pauses at the edge.
"Samael? if you die, I'll come into the Underworld and kick your ass" - Persephone
"I'd rather not. But it seems to be fashionable" - Samael
She steps through, and the Portal closes.
Ag: She really should have kissed him then.
She appears in a field. Figures in Guy Fawkes masks are approaching.
Daimon!Kosciej appears by her side.
-Are you ready for this?- - Persephone
-As I'll ever be, chief- - D!Kosciej
-Are you on my side?- - Persephone
-I am and always have been on OUR side. Summon me to Mictlan once you get in- - D!Kosciej
He vanishes.
The Nameless approach, and Sef banishes any tears. She fixes them with her most imperious expression.
"Take me to your leader" - Persephone
TO
BE
CONTINUED!
And now, I have a nine-hour finale to recap. Best get started...
1.
So, while I prepare for my epic battle with the 9 1/2 hour recording that is the finale (for size
comparison, Sympathy For The Devil was 3 hours 50 minutes), I am reminded that I promised to
take time out at this juncture to talk about the soundtrack, and to give you your playlists for
listening to while you read the finale.
The behind the scenes story of Soul Cage is one of my intended narrative being pulled this way
and that by musical influences, so this will turn into a "what CDs Dave has bought for the last
three years" list.
There are four categories of music here:
1) Those picked in the standard soundtracking style; once the plot had been decided, I went
looking for something that thematically represented it. The session and "interlude" short story
names were done like this; basically, anything that shows up in an "episode guide" of the
chronicle. These are always "proper" songs, with lyrics that often contain hints as to the flow of
the chronicle - I was taught to overanalyse song lyrics as a schoolboy, and the habit has stayed
with me as I grew older and uglier. Soul Cage has allowed me to geek out in hiding meaning and
hooking references up.
2) The Never-Used; songs that would be on the "inspired by" CD of a double-release; the ones
that would have probably become episode titles if the chronicle had been longer, if maninblue
hadn't moved away changing how frequently we played or if there had simply been a good fit
with a session.
Together, these make up the "Gross" playlist.
3) The Inspiration songs; I greatly enjoy film and computer game soundtracks, and have an
extensive collection of them. I get most of my ideas for rpgs while walking around the local forest
of a lunchtime, driving to and from work, taking public transport, that sort of thing, and these are
the tracks I listen to while I'm doing it. I plot chronicles by imagining scenes in future games,
defining them as milestones and working to steer the chronicle toward them, hitting the gates as
I go while allowing the players to jink this way and that. Because I'm listening to music that was
explicitly designed as soundtrack music for whatever source it's from while imagining these
future-scenes, they end up such that the music would be a good soundtrack for them. If that
makes sense. It's kind of a chicken-and-egg thing.
4) The Backdrop. The film and computer game soundtracks we actually have playing in the
background while we play the game. Not always the same as the above; although I do sometimes
cue the Inspiration track for a scene up when we get to it, it's rare. (Usually because when I'm
running the game, it's too fiddly to do so).
These make up the "Subtle" playlist.
The Gross Playlist
We may as well start with the obvious...
The Soul Cages (Sting, the Soul Cages)
The King of the Sea in the chronicle was a red herring - the Boy here is Kosciej, while his demonic
opponent is the Psychopomp. The boy tricks the demon into a contest for the imprisioned souls,
but does he succeed?
The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning (Smashing Pumpkins, Rarities and B-Sides)
This is a statement of Kosciej's "starting position", where he's still trapped in Mictlan, hatching his
plans, and Persephone is about to make contact. I'll reproduce the whole thing;
Send a heartbeat to
The void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
For now we stand alone
The world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate
With no more to hate
Is it bright where you are
And have the people changed
Does it make you happy you're so strange
And in your darkest hour
My old secrets laid
We can watch the world devoured in its pain
Delivered from the blast
The last of a line of lasts
The pale princess of a palace cracked
And now the kingdom comes
Crashing down undone
And I am a master of a nothing place
Of recoil and grace
I hold secrets flame
We can watch the world devoured in its pain
Time has stopped before us
The sky cannot ignore us
No one can separate us
For we are all that is left
The echo bounces off me
The shadow lost beside me
There's no more need to pretend
Cause now I can begin again
my old secrets laid
We can watch the world devoured in its hate
Oh, yeah, I plan ahead.
Touched (VAST, Visual Auditory Sensory Theater)
Dominic's madness, broken by losing the only person he ever loved, despite how much he hated
her.
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction)
The Cabal leaving Newcastle and going out into the world described by a song about moving to
the big city, with the song's metaphor made literal in the setting.
The Hounds of Winter (Stong, Mercury Falling)
Loss, melancholy and great big scary dogs.
When You Were Young (The Killers, Sam's Town)
Well, it's about Sef, but is the subject of the song Hades or Samael? Life was a lot simpler until
you grew up.
Monster (The Automatic, Not Accepted Anywhere)
Agression bubbling under the surface, anger flashing as tempers fray. Oh, and a Monster.
Butterflies and Hurricanes (Muse, Absolution)
Persephone and Kosciej's Nimbuses, a major change on the way and a chance to prove oneself.
Children of the Revolution (T-Rex, Jackie Party)
Both yet another pun about the story's setting (ie, France), and Kosciej pretending after the
beliefs of the Nameless in order to achieve his own ends.
Island of Souls (Sting, Soul Cages)
The counterpart song to the Soul Cages? (fitting for the counterpart "B-side" story) Used as a
metaphor for the Supernal Realms? Linked to the Chronicle-Song's name as being Kosciej's goal?
What I've Done (Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight)
...Is accidentally tip the Seers off to the location of Querephas' Labyrinth, is what you've done,
Cxaxa. Unless you're Samael or Pandora, who also both commit acts here that will come to define
them.
Uprising (Muse, The Resistance)
The hymn of the Nameless. They're sick of being kicked around by the Guardians and Seers. And
"We should never be afraid to die". Also, Sef fighting back.
Deeper Underground (Jamiroquai, Synkronized)
There's too much panic in this town. Or Confusion, as "Watchtower" would have it. Poor Lambton
Worm, so misunderstood. Everyone's trying to kill it.
Where Does It Go? (Planet P Project, 1931)
As the mystery of what's going on deepens, and our various characters ponder their jigsaw
pieces of the whole puzzle and ask themselves this question, the answer's right there at the
start: Things that happened back in the dark recesses of history can't happen again. Can they? If
Kosciej gets his way it will, but power through overwhelming numbers never helped anyone. He
doesn't have an answer for the last line; How many will burn?
Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who, Who's Next)
Both the Pendragon, who have had their fill of too-good-to-be-true picturebox towns, and the
Guardians of the Veil as a whole have grown distrustful. Probably for good reason.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day, American Idiot)
On the journey between stories, evryone's taking stock of the chronicle so far and reflecting on
how much they've lost. Hurts, doesn't it?
Time to Burn (The Rasmus, Dead Letters)
Sen-An Su and his wife have run out of time. Hades has run out of time. Tiresias has run out of
time. Samael has *really* run out of time. Cobalt, though, still has time to burn - he doesn't have
to do this yet.
Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones, Beggar's Banquet)
Kosciej is proud of his achievements. He was completely justified. Why can't you see that, pesky
people with more than one dot of Wisdom?
All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding, though you can use the Battlestar
Galactica version if you like)
You can probably guess who the Joker and the Thief are, and the bare-foot servants have been in
the chronicle for some time now. Reference to a Wind would seem to indicate Kosciej's Nimbus
again.
There must be some way out of here.
Go Out Dancing (Planet P Project, Levitown)
Face the end of the world with a smile, why don't you?
And the Never-Used
Jack's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack)
This track from a stop-motion animation is the reason "Jack" is Kosciej's real name. He's tired of
being the Guardian's boogeyman. If only he could change things.
No Son of Mine (Genesis, We Can't Dance)
I intended this to be the title of a story where Samael went home and encountered his family,
who'd disowned him in absentia after presuming him on the run for burning that church down.
But then Chris told me Samael got on quite well with his parents, and I was foiled.
Jesus He Loves Me (Genesis, We Can't Dance)
My second attempt to get a Genesis track into the list, this would have been about Uriel the Echo
Walker, who'd set himself up as an evangelical priest in rural America. But then the Cabal didn't
go Echo Walker hunting. Foiled again!
You Know My Name (Chris Cornell, Carry On)
If Samael ever did go Echo-Walker hunting, this would be the title. I've seen angels fall from
blinding heights
But you yourself are nothing so divine
Just next in line
Foiled... Oh, you get the idea.
Breaking the Habit (Linkin Park, Meteora)
Two of the guys who play the Pendragon can't make it to GenCon 2011. This was one of two
possible titles for the third (and putatively final) story for those characters, which would have
dealt with the dire fate Haruspex has been picking up on.
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan, Highway 61)
And this was an another possible title for that 2011 Special.
No More Heroes (The Stranglers, No More Heroes)
An early title for what became Time To Burn.
I Predict A Riot (Kaiser Chiefs, Employment)
A deleted story, squeezed out by the time pressures Dave2's move put on us, which would have
seen the Praetorian ministry attack the Consilum by using Myrmidons to spread civil unrest. It
would have gone before "Deeper Underground", the Echo Walkers being stapled into that story as
an alternative reason for the worm reawakening (the wave of hate over the town the Myrmidons
would cause would have done it originally)
Next post, the Subtle Playlists!
1.
The Subtle Playlist*
The Soul Cage was concieved and played to the following sounds;
Battlestar
Battlestar
Battlestar
Battlestar
Battlestar
Doctor
Doctor
Doctor
Doctor
Doctor
Doctor
Galactica
Galactica Season Two
Galactica Season Three
Galactica Season Four
Galactica: The Plan / Razor
Who
Who Season Three
Who Season Four
Who Season Four - The Specials
Who Season Five
Who: A Christmas Carol
Farscape: Classics Volume 2
Farscape: Classics Volume 3
Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars
Assassin's Creed 2
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Tron Legacy
The Last Samurai
Iron Man
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Inception
All Along the Watchtower was played to Tron Legacy and Mass Effect 2. Go Out Dancing was
played to Inception.
*
Here are your specific track ./ scene combos*
Battlestar
The BSG tracks are almost - but not quite - those that contain bits of the Final Five signal. They
mark the significant (usually Mictlan-focused) events leading up to All Along the Watchtower.
*
A Distant Sadness - During "Welcome to the Jungle", when Sef blacks out in the riverboat
explosion and d!K makes his appearance.
Gaeta's Lament - This is pretty much Hades' theme tune. But wish no more, my life you can
take, to have her please just one day wake
Princes of the Universe – Kosciej meeting Sef and Cobalt in “Hounds of Winter”
The Passage of Time - The Six Months Gone between "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and
"Children of the Revolution".
Heeding the Call - Djehuty explains the Plan
Kara Remembers - o!Mictlan vote to stop Kosciej, at the cost of their own destuction.
*
And in the finale...
Kara's Coordinates - A character meets their Destiny when all hope is lost.
*
Farscape*
Farscape is a more fundamental influence on the Chronicle than BSG is - Kosciej is much more
Scorpius than Cavill, after all.
Aeryn's Flashbacks - Mictlan background music, revisited in Sef / Hades scenes
Aeryn's Funeral - The Self-funeral of the Cousins in "Sympathy for the Devil"
Scorpius In Control - Tiresias zaps Samael in "Time to Burn"
Shielded Message - Kosciej in the Library in "Time to Burn"*
And in the finale...
Last threats - An outragous bluff
Things You Need To Hear - Complications
The Last Stand - Two enemies facing off for the last time.
Life Choices - Not every couple has a happy ending
Doctor Who*
Who has a grand range of adventuresome music, designed to be played loud. The Eleventh
Doctor's theme represents the Cabal's madcap "don't plan, just DO" attack in the finale, and pops
up here and there. Kosciej gets the Master's themes, while Gallifrey is Mictlan.
All the Strange, Strange Creatures - The very first session was planned to this. I don't know
why, it just made me think of an out of control train. This became the Ankh’s theme, and tracks
where excerpts from it are used are linked to the Ankh and Sophia.
The Greatest Story Never Told – Tiresias tells Samael about Sophia in “When You Were
Young”.
The Futurekind & YANA (Excerpt) - Kosciej's escape in "Butterflies and Hurricanes", set to the
music of the Master's return.
This is Gallifrey - The history of Mictlan, as told by Kosciej in "Butterflies and Hurricanes".
A Pressing Need to Save The World – The motorway fight in “Deeper Underground”, as the
Seers impede the characters from reaching the Echo Walkers.
And from the finale...
Come Along Pond – Opening violence, and an initial victory
The End Draws Near – A tender moment, final journeys begun… and an enemy waiting for the
door to be opened.
Final Days – This will be… spectacular.
The Council of Time Lords – New Mictlan. A tool for teaching turned into a weapon.
The Ruined Childhood – Nostalgia between two old friends.
Vale Decem – “I don’t want to go”.
I am the Doctor – Wild improvisation can beat a careful plan any day.
Words Win Wars - An impressive speech.
The Other Half’s Inside The Shark – Other half of what?
This Planet Is Ours – Determination in the face of defeat, and a beloved npc’s big damn hero
moment.
Everything Has To End Sometime – Amen
And then two console games I played while plotting the finale out, which imposed themselves on
the narrative something rotten.
Assassin’s Creed 2
Earth – A conversation in a car
Ezio’s Family – A lot changes in seven years
Mass Effect
The End Run & Suicide Mission – They’d like you to think you’ve achieved nothing
And that’s yer lot. I shall cease teasing you all now and try to finish the next recap. Preferably
before I start running Eclipse Phase on Monday.
*
No, I don’t think it’s very likely either.
1.
All Along The Watchtower
Session 15.1
And at long last, Welcome Back, Faithful Readers! Watchtower was a special event for us: Dave2 was moving to
Portugal, and so in late January we gathered at his house one Friday Evening, with one singular mission in mind: we
were going to play Mage, and by God we weren't going to stop until we were *done*. "Go Out Dancing", our Epilogue,
was Saturday night after a break for dinner and watching Labyrinth (we learned that Ag hadn't seen it, and took
immediate corrective action).
I'm going to natter along in blue text more often in these recaps than I usually do. After all, it's my last chance to do so.
------We open with a bit of a juxtaposition...
Originally Posted by Bristol, England. 1895
Halfway up the hill from the quayside, he realises he's being followed. Three of them, dark figures in the rain.
He resists the urge to bolt or to look around, instead reaching for Pandemonium. The spell grants vision in all
directions at once, distorted like the view from a camera obscura, but sufficient for the task.
Masks. They're wearing masks.
He increases his pace, long legs propelling him up the cobbled street.
He's nearly at the Downs. Once there, he'll be able to vanish into the night.
Someone steps out in front of him. He instinctively ducks, not meeting their eyes, and mutters an apology
"Stop there, stranger"
He looks at the interposed man closer, sees the Mana in his pattern and knows.
"Please. I have to..."
"You're in our territory. Have been for a mile. Want to explain yourself?"
They're catching up. He glances back. The man sees him, sees the three masked figures hurrying up.
"Friends of yours?"
"Please..."
They reach them. Five mages, standing in the rain.
The local straightens slightly, emphasising his impressive height and flexes his fingers, fixing the three masked
men with a steely glare.
"We have no quarrel with you" says one of the masks, hollow voice ringing from metal
"We demand the Right of Nemesis" says another
The local narrows his eyes, comes to a decision
"No"
The third mask speaks; "He is apostate"
"I don't care. This is my town. My Cabal are surrounding you as we speak. We have no interest in your "rights""
"You do not understand, Nameless. This is the Business of the Guardians..."
"...We have no truck with your antiquated clubs, either. Your Atlantean superstition doesn't impress or scare
me"
"We have other means" Says the first mask
A knife is produced. There is a flash of magic, and the blade clatters to the floor, the Guardian clutching his
wrist.
"Still not scared. Get out of here while you can"
The masks look at one another, and withdraw
"You have not heard..."
"...The last of this"
The local laughs, gives them the archer's salute, and turns to the thin young man shivering in the rain.
"What's your name, lad?"
"Jack"
"I'm Chronos. Pleased to meet you"
Originally Posted by France, present day
"This is a bad idea"
Hastur glances at Gabrielle, sitting in the passenger seat. She's looking behind them. He returns to driving,
concentrating on maintaining the Darksight that's letting them go without headlights. The road is illuminated in
his vision as a broad, blue line.
The engine dies with the sound of tearing metal. Hastur swears, pounding the steering wheel.
"Bail out!"
Out into the night. The sound of people running.
Sudden light, blinding them. Squinting into the incandescence, they make out three masked figures.
"Get ready to..." starts Hastur, tattoos glowing.
One Nameless lets out a yell as something the colour of Mercury darts across the floor and strikes his leg. The
other two look at the commotion, and then jerk as their masks explode in shards of metal and sprays of blood.
The twin gunshot rings out a fraction of a second later.
Figures emerge out of the darkness. A tall black man, touching his staff to the floor to reabsorb the metal
snake that killed the first of Kosciej's minions. A blond man, sheathing a sword he didn't have to use. And...
"Gawain!" Yells Gabrielle.
The Mexican nods, grinning, as Excalibur pulls out a phone and speed dials
"Doctor Teeth to Kermit. We have Secured the Chicken"
Yes, in Cobalt's Muppet codename scheme the Pendragon are the Electric Mayhem. Gawain is Animal. I think that
makes Nimue Janice, Haruspex Floyd Pepper and Adder Zoot.
This is because Cobalt had to assign Samael and the Astral Strike squad either "Gonzo" or "Animal", and as he said to
Chris on the night "there's no way you're cool enough to be Animal".
Samael sits in the lighthouse, late at night. Cobalt and Symmetry have gone to bed, leaving him to man the
phone and watch confirmations roll in from allies spread across the world.
Pieces arranging themselves on the chessboard.
--Persephone is in a dark, concrete room, lit by a single lightbulb suspended by its wire. There is only a rusting
metal chair.
"You can leave your body here" - Nameless
"Uhhuh. Thank you" - Persephone
"You'll be guarded, to make sure of your personal safety" - Nameless
"If anyone touches me, they'll lose their fingers" - Persephone, matter of fact
...
In Mictlan, Persephone and her Cousins stand surrounding the floating forms of Galatea and Hades, waiting at
the gates of Kosciej's fortress. The walls peel back as the entrance opens, allowing them to march in. Galatea's
gate has formed into a rough copy of her old Astral form, made of the black gate-material, while Hades has had
his Corpus rendered into a small ball.
Behind them, o!Mictlan begins to fade as their presences leave it, melting away into greyness as n!Mictlan
swallows it up.
She is suddenly aware of many more presences - dozens and dozens of new Cousins surrounding them,
accompanied by the robed, barefoot forms of their copied Daimons. At the front is the man himself.
"Cousins! Welcome! I am so very glad that you have finally seen reason" - Kosciej
"Of course" - Persephone
Dave2: Death to Ming!
"You are all welcome guests here, as we enter the final days. I hope we can put our differences behind us.
Chronos?" - Kosciej
"I'm here, Jack" - Chronos
"We have a lot to discuss" - Kosciej
Chronos hovers forward to join him and the entire assemblage begin moving deeper into Mictlan - Kosciej's
recruits surrounding him and Chronos at a respectful distance, with Persephone and the old Cousins following
on. Sef can just about overhear Chronos and Kosciej's discussion, but she doesn't really understand it - heavy
metaphysics and reality equations. Instead, she trails along, nodding pleasantly at all of the copies of her
Daimon, who all look disapprovingly at her.
Allandro - the Well-spoken Nameless she hit in Newcastle - falls into step with her.
"Good to see you again, cousin" - Allandro
The procession enters a large space, furnished as some kind of recreational area, and the old and new cousins
begin to mingle and introduce themselves. Sef, though, is more concerned with keeping an eye on Kosciej,
following him around the room. After a few minutes, she realises that he is following *her*, resulting in them
circling one another around the crowd.
They finally meet, both on their guard.
"Nice place you've built here" - Persephone
"I know what you're doing, Catherine, just not how you're planning on doing it. I can assure you that it will not
work" - Kosciej, smiling and nodding at his followers
"What are you talking about?" - Persephone, innocent
"You may be so far gone as to be planning to sacrifice your own life, but there are other means of gaining
security" - Kosciej
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you can enlighten me?" - Persephone
He growls and stalks away, with her following at his heels
"No, tell me! I'm *really* curious! What's the harm? It'll never work!" - Persephone
Kosciej hurries away down a corridor, Persephone continuing to follow him. As they cross some kind of internal
courtyard, though, she suddenly feels terribly cold, unable to move. There is a presence in the room, something
which seems to absorb energy around it. With difficulty, she turns to see it clinging to the wall like an obscene
spider - a collection of parts straight from a medieval bestiary, the lean body of a hairless cat with long insectlike legs, a scorpion's tail and a far too large head with leathery, stretched features like a mummified human
face.
The creature makes a noise like a man drowning in sand as it moves, foot-over-foot down the wall and towards
her, inspecting her with it's eyeless, leathery eye sockets. Kosciej, not even looking around, exits the courtyard
on the far side, the door sealing and vanishing behind him.
The creature makes a sound as though sniffing and backs off, climbing back up the wall. Sef feels sensation
returning to her limbs.
"...Okay" - Persephone
With Kosciej gone, she returns to the rec hall, finding Anubis and Jodrell drinking with Allandro
"I see you've met" - Persephone
"We don't seem to fit in here, Cousin, with our appearances. This New Mictlan is a grey place" - Anubis
"Yeah. Kind of boring here" (to Allandro) "What do you do for fun?" - Persephone
Allandro signals his Daimon - which keeps avoiding eye-contact with Persephone - to bring them another set of
drinks.
"Fun?" - Allandro
"We had competitions. Who can make the biggest pile of marshmallows" - Persephone
"Sort of childish isn't it?" - Allandro
"Oh, I see. You're doing *serious* stuff for fun" - Persephone
"Have you ever had a shaping duel?" - Allandro
Jodrell and Anubis look at one another.
"Depends what that is" - PErsephone
"Take two blocks of steel, have their shapes released to your command by Mekhet. Take turns to alter it's form
and match what your opponent did, earning points for how long it takes. Not so much dressing yourself up in a
Halloween costume - no offence - but a test of precision, speed and skill" - Allandro
His Daimon has returned, curtseying slightly as it deposits their refreshments on the table. Sef stares at her coopted image for a second, irritation building.
"In copying" - Persephone
"But also in the imagination of coming up with the form to be duplicated" - Allandro
"Sounds boring" - Persephone
"Alas, but we have not had time to come up with amusing diversions. We are a Legacy with a purpose" Allandro
"And soon it'll be fulfilled. Good times for you" - Persephone
"Yes, actually" - Allandro
"Good thing you won't have to come up with entertainments afterwards" - Persephone
She gets up and leaves, Anubis nodding to the other two before getting up and following her. Choosing an exit
at random, they find themselves walking around a ring corridor that has transparent material making up one
wall, looking out onto stars.
"Their lives seem very regimented" - Anubis
"I think Jack didn't like the ever-changing ways" - Persephone
"He's taken an artists' community and turned it into... Concrete" - Anubis
"Brain Soviets. Actual Brain Soviets" - Persephone
"Terrible. Are they treating you well physically?" - Anubis
"They cuffed me to a chair, locked me in a room and turned the light off" - Persephone
"Petty" - Anubis
"'For my safety'" - Persephone, air-quoting
She considers
"I saw their Xolotl. It looks... Odd" - Persephone
She describes the monster she encountered in the courtyard.
"Yes. Cthonians don't tend to win beauty contests. It only has a very basic concept of what a being should look
like, and it's from the deepest reaches of the Underworld" - Anubis
"Where does it get its shape?" - Persephone
"Hmm?" - Anubis
She repeats herself, and Anubis considers.
"The Underworld is shaped according to funerary concerns at the best of times. It's assembled from a spiritual
reflection of death-like, subterranean, imprisoning and decay-related imagery" - Anubis
"Does it tell us anything?" - Persephone
"Sadly not. I've seen Cthonians that look like mile-long slugs with the faces of Spiders... Others that, now that I
come to think of it, looked rather like Cousin Chronos" - Anubis
The Cthonian in "Summoners" is a dead ringer for him. Well, the face is, anyway.
"Generally, they're on the wrong side of horrific. They either deliberately or have a native talent for appearing
upsetting. The only other source of creatures with such standards is the Abyss" - Anubis
"At least they didn't get their control spirit from there" - Persephone
"That *would* have been insane. Jack is many things, Persephone, but he's not a Scelesti" - Anubis
They continue.
"Did you manage to speak to our lord and master?" - Anubis
"Yeah. He said it wouldn't work" - Persephone
"Ah, then they're on to us" - Anubis, completely unsurprised
"I tried to ask what it was that wouldn't work, but he wasn't telling. Then he sicced his Cthonian on me and ran
away" - Persephone
"Perhaps Chronos will have better luck. He's the one who's meant to be working with them" - Anubis
"Let's give Jack some time to stew" - Persephone
She gestures, trying to summon something into being as a test. Nothing.
Clearly, in Kosciej's new Mictlan, one must have permission to alter the environment.
...
Hours later, long after they've returned to the main chamber, there is come kind of commotion. Sef grabs a
new Cousin.
"What's going on?" - Persephone
The Parliamentarian appears to look right past her, then briefly has a shocked expression before he vanishes.
...
The Masked form of the Nameless collides with a desk and crumples, unconscious.
"Clear" - Samael
1.
The Cabal have been busy. By dawn, a disparate group of allies have gathered in York at the permission of the
Mystagogue Heirarch there; Solarious has brought several Cabals of Free Councillors from Manchester, and
although they are supported by Durham and advised by Eddington (up from Canarvon) the allies are at pains to
point out that this first battle is a mostly Libertine operation; the Free Council, not the Diamond, are attacking
the Nameless.
The attacking Cabals, officially declared a Column under Solarious and Cobalt's leadership, have Portalled into
Cambridge to sites noted by Eddington. The invasion is going well - it's still morning, and the first Sanctums
have fallen.
Cobalt surveys the map of Cambridge in the common room of what was once the Silver Ladder Sanctum before
being taken as a dormitory by Isator's Nameless. This isn't what he thought war would feel like - he's got a
sinking feeling in his stomach, as though he's jumped off a cliff and is still in free-fall.
He banishes his nerves with an old quote. The avalanche has started, and it is too late for the pebbles to vote.
"When you move in on Isator, remember to try to take any Mictlaners alive" - Cobalt
"I've already told my guys" - Solarious
"But don't take casualties to save them. If they insist on going down fighting, oblige them" - Cobalt
He looks up, to see Eddington escorted in by Magog.
"The route to my Sanctum is open, now. With your permission, I'm going to take my house back" - Eddington
"Good luck, man" - Samael
Cobalt shakes his hand, holding it for a second.
"Thank you. For everything" - Cobalt
Eddington nods, sadly, and leaves
Only a brief cameo appearance by Eddington, but it was important to me to do so, to close off that plot thread left
hanging after Children of the Revolution.
"We've had word back from Gaunt at Solemn's mansion. Isator is holed up inside" - Magog
"Yes, of course he is. Nothing tags a revolutionary quite the same as squatting in the palaces of the man he
overthrew" - Cobalt, disgusted
Solarious consults the map.
"We've got him surrounded, then. My Cabals are only a few miles away" - Solarious
"Gentlemen. Shall we have a word with Syndic Isator?" - Cobalt
"I think we shall" - Magog, grim
"A note of caution. He might be hoarding magical resources. He's probably got a Hallow there. Let's go shut it
down" - Samael
...
Cobalt's sense of trepidation returns as the Cabal and Solarious arrive at Solemn's house. A section of wall has
caved in, used as an entrance by the attacking cabals, and as they pick their way through the wreckage and
survey the surrendered Nameless being guarded by the Furthest Legion, Cobalt feels like an arriving General.
Once he ducks through a shattered door into a main corridor and receives a salute from Aegis, he feels like
Darth Vadar.
"You okay?" - Symmetry, quietly
"Kinda got the Imperial March earwormed" - Cobalt
Are we the baddies?
Chris: Samael puts down the skull he's knitting
"Aegis" - Samael
"We've mostly cleaned the place out. He's Banned himself into Solemn's study, at the far end. Quark's Banned
and Warded around it so he's going nowhere. This way" - Aegis
"Alright. Symm - see if any of these guys are wounded. Sam, Gog, with me" - Cobalt
Somewhere in the background there's a concussive blast, raining plaster dust down on their heads. Samael
flinches slightly.
"Anyone in there with him?" - Samael
"Two more Blankers, we think" - Aegis
"All right. Watch your Paradoxes. Remember what they do" - Cobalt
I must have mentioned before that Isator is a Blank Badge - his powers mean he's far more prone to Havok
They reach the dark wood door to Solemn's private area, marked with High Speech denoting privacy and
trespass.
Cobalt casts Steel Windows on the door. Inside, the room is kitted out as a personal library-office, lined with
bookshelves (which have large gaps in them after months of Isator selling the spoils) and centred on a large
desk. Isator is stood behind the desk, aiming a revolver at the door one-handed. Another mage is off to his
right, holding an Assault Rifle. The final occupant is crouched down and casting a ritual spell that seems
vaguely summoning-based, though without Mage Sight the guys can't tell which Arcanum he's using.
Cobalt, though, only has eyes for the Revolver. He recognises it.
Originally Posted by Time to Burn
Cobalt turns, to come face to face with himself. The older Cobalt is fuller-bearded and longer-haired. He is,
however, better dressed.
"You should remember being here" - Cobalt
"Yes. And you don't have to do this yet" - Future!Cobalt
The apparition reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun - a long-barrelled revolver, marked with sigils along
the length. Cobalt recoils slightly at the sight of it, and doesn't know why.
"You don't have to do this yet, Rex. Samael needs you" - Future!Cobalt
The apparition walks towards the door
"What are we doing?" - Cobalt
"We're about to die" - Future!Cobalt
"Say when you're ready, and I'll open the door" - Magog
Cobalt blinks, then processes what Magog said. The other Moros is producing fridge magnets Jury-Rigged to be
explosive from his coat pockets.
Where's the Magnetism, you ask? That's what Forces is for
Isator stares at Cobalt
"Hello. I'd make jokes about bunkers in Berlin, but you don't rate Hitler. You're Mussolini at best, and that begs
the question; how's this going to go down? You can answer for what you've done. You're not as bad a man as
the one we're after, but you've done wrong and you can pay for it. Or you can drag this out to the bitter end" Cobalt
A Scrying channel opens within the room, with the familiar cold-wind resonance of Kosciej.
"Master watching over his pets?" - Samael
"Isator. I call on you and your allies to surrender and answer for your crimes. Which are considerably less than
they would be if we were Sleepers, because the lex magica seems awfully casual about killing these days" Cobalt
It IS awfully casual about some things.
Isator looks up at the Scry
"Well? DO SOMETHING!" - Isator
The Scrying channel closes. Isator looks momentarily betrayed, and Cobalt takes the chance while he's off
guard.
"Now" - Cobalt
Magog triggers his magical limpet mines, blasting the door in. The Blank Badge who was summoning gestures,
and half-ephemeral snakes coil across the floor towards the cabal while the mage himself is trying (and failing)
to open the window.
Cobalt casts Shape Air, pushing the 'snakes' back, while Samael casts Supernal Dispellation at them in the
hope that they're magically generated. It doesn't work.
"Snakes it is" - Samael
"At least we're not on a plane" - Cobalt
Isator levels the gun at Cobalt and pulls the trigger.
Nothing happens.
Isator doesn't seem to have been expecting that. He drops the gun and dives behind the desk while his
remaining servant aims with his assault rifle.
Magog, though, is faster, and casts an improvised Forces and Life spell to magnetise the Blank Badge. When he
tries to fire his rifle, he gets the bullets *and* the hot ejected casings in the face.
Ouch!
"You damned Atlanteans won't get me! Unwitting servants of a mass fiction! Scared of your own shadows!" Isator, from under the desk
I kid, once again, because I love.
"For someone who doesn't believe in Atlantis you're awfully willing to fuck over the only world you *know* is
real" - Samael
"I give the speech a B" - Cobalt, concentrating on holding the snakes back.
"Minus" - Samael
"These won't hold us for long, Isator" - Cobalt
The other Badge attempts to cast something at Samael that fails. Samael casts Dispellation again, this time
succeeding - the snakes vanish.
"Take him alive" - Cobalt
The allies rush in, Samael wrestling the snake-summoner and Isator's chin meeting Magog's staff. Within
minutes Isator and his two bodyguards have joined the rest of the prisoners, and the allies are picking over the
scene of the last stand.
Cobalt picks the revolver up from the floor. Feels the weight of it.
"Is this even loaded?" - Cobalt
He checks. It is.
"How many ROFL-Death enchantments are on it?" - Samael
Samael casts supernal Vision and stops grinning.
"It's hugely powerful in Death, Fate and Space magics. With a small Mind component" - Samael
Solarious coughs from the doorway
"We're wrapping up now. Do you want me to stay here or join you in London?" - Solarious
Cobalt shakes his head, briefly distracted from the mysterious gun.
"We're here to... I sound like the Americans... We're here to rebuild. Yadda yadda. We can't just burn and move
on. Are you happy to stick around and can you spare us anyone?" - Cobalt
"I have the least personal grudge with Kosciej. I'll stay as interim Syndic, but I'll want to go back to my own
assembly eventually. I'll see if anyone is still restless and work out how many people I can send with you" Solarious
"Let's face it. When this is all settled, we're going to need a UK Convocation" - Cobalt
Eddington comes in as well, fresh from securing his home.
"I wanted to thank you again. And please extend those thanks to the young lady" - Eddington
"Can you work with Solarious? Sort this place out?" - Cobalt
"I certainly can..." - Eddington
Eddington sees the gun in Cobalt's hand
"...Huh" - Eddington
Cobalt glances down
"Yeah. Isator tried to use it, and just got a click" - Cobalt
"Well, it would tend to do that" - Eddington
"What IS it?" - Cobalt
"It's the Wand of Mordred. A cursed Artefact of Arcadia from Solemn's collection. It's changed form a few times
over history but always appears as a slightly old and outmoded weapon; when used, it's instantly fatal to the
victim, but only works against someone the wielder loves. Registers your Sympathetic connection to the person
you use it on" - Eddington
Originally Posted by Time to Burn
"You don't have to do this yet, Rex" - Future!Cobalt
"Mordred is a dick" - Cobalt
"You see? You should never just use strange Artefacts you find lying around. Isator mustn't have known it's
history, just read that it was a deadly weapon" - Eddington
"I... We'll keep this from getting out again. And thanks for the reassurance, I was thinking it might have a
Temporal component" - Cobalt
"I think you're safe. For now; I fear this has been the easy part" - Eddington
Cobalt looks down at the gun again.
Against someone the wielder loves.
"...I fear you're right" - Cobalt
...
In Mictlan, Kosciej has emerged as news of Cambridge falling has spread among the Cousins. He's in full-on
rant mode, berating those cousins who were there but fled back to London when Cobalt and Company attacked
for incompetence. His worst anger is reserved for those Cousins who were captured - he tells them to head to a
certain room in Mictlan where their idiocy can't do any further harm and await his displeasure. The half-dozen
sad, sorry Cousins file out, cowed.
"Yeah! You tell them!" - Persephone, loudly
Persephone has summoned D!K into Mictlan. Because nothing - nothing - annoys Kosciej like his former
Daimon.
"...and FIND ME THOSE PEOPLE!" - Kosciej
Nu!Mictlaners scurry away
"You'd BETTER run!" - D!Kosciej, cheerful
"YES, Catherine. What IS it?" - Kosciej, growling
"I was a bit bored, and wondering..." (twirls her hair through her fingers) "...Is this part of what wouldn't work?"
- Persephone
Kosciej stiffens, bristling.
"It is often said that those doomed to mediocrity stand by the sidelines and complain of being bored" - Kosciej
Persephone considers
"...Meh" - Persephone
Perfection in comic timing, there!
Even if he wasn't trying to cause the Apocalypse, I think Kosciej and Persephone would never really get on - he finds
the things she's interested in pathetic, and she resolutely refuses to be impressed when he thinks she should be.
"Will Rex stop with Cambridge?" - Kosciej
"How should I know?" - Persephone
"Was he planning on attacking Cambridge when you were up North?" - Kosciej
"Why should I tell you? Come on Jack. Something for something. Of course, you *could* try to rip it from my
head, but I've been learning. From the best" - Persephone, gesturing at D!K
D!K looks around as though to say "who?", then realises she actually complimented him and preens.
Kosciej narrows his eyes at his old Daimon
"If Rex is going to be satisfied with Cambridge, then I won't need to take steps" - Kosciej
"Sounds reasonable" - Persephone, non-committal
"Fine. Have it your way" - Kosciej
He strides to the door and into a main hall, Sef trailing at his heels
"Cobalt. Last seen at Isator's Sanctum. He's probably on his way to London - if ANYONE sees him... Kill him.
Without warning. Without fuss. Bullets and foreheads, people" - Kosciej
He turns, then thinks of something else
"...And blow up that fucking lighthouse" - Kosciej
! They do, too.
"Just remember to be careful! Cobalt's killed enough of you already" - Persephone
Everyone looks at her.
"What?" (to Kosciej) "I'm just looking out for their safety. They're my Cousins, after all" - Persephone
Kosciej stares, trying to figure out what her plan is, calculating his strategy. She smiles blankly back at him,
fully aware that she doesn't have one.
He breaks eye contact with a growl.
"CHRONOS. How far are you?" - Kosciej
Chronos' disembodied voice emanates from all around.
"Something wrong, Cousin?" - Chronos, mild
"I'm coming down there. I expect progress" - Kosciej
He storms out.
"Well..." (considering) "Operation annoy the shit out of him seems to be working" - D!Kosciej
Sef shrugs and, seeing that she's managed to unsettle some of the other Cousins, starts emphasising how
dangerous the rest of the Cabal and the Pendragon are.
"Remember the Echo Walkers?" - Persephone
"What about the Echo Walkers?" - Unnamed Cousin
D!Kosciej shakes his head sadly
"Wasn't pretty" - D!Kosciej
"...So much blood" - Persephone
Hee!
...
The Cabal walk through a Portal to Reading, the Cambridge sunshine changing to the grey drizzle of the South.
Getting clear of the area of abandoned factory they've chosen as a Portal hub to allow Quark to bring the next
Cabal in, Cobalt nods approvingly as Excalibur finds him in the crowd.
"Present for you" - Excalibur
The Obrimos gently throws a small drawstring bag over, and Cobalt catches it. Whatever's inside is hard,
round... And coin-shaped.
Cobalt suppresses a shiver.
"I thought I was rid of this thing" - Cobalt
"Am I taking this?" - Samael
"Yeah" - Cobalt
"Thought I would" - Samael
Samael takes it and, walking off to leave Cobalt and Cal to talk, casts a Shielding spell of Prime, masking the
Scythe's magical signature
"You made it then. Everyone okay?" - Cobalt, starting to walk
"We found Gabrielle and Hastur just before they were attacked by... They were definitely mages. I don't know
whose side they were on, but we made short work of them and got out of there" - Excalibur, falling in step
"If we're lucky, they won't know we have it" - Cobalt
They pause on a catwalk, looking over the mages gathering below. Another Portal opens, disgorging more
combatants. A Mystagogue Cabal manoeuvres a large, locked steel box shaped like a casket. Pandora has
arrived from Canarvon and is introducing Samael to Harkness, the Welsh Aethenum-keeper who has brought a
collection of dangerous items.
"How've you been, man?" - Excalibur
Cobalt grunts non-committally
"Honeymoon good? Japan nice? I hear Japan's nice" - Excalibur
"Japan was good. We got distracted. Did you hear about Sam?" - Cobalt
"It has been mentioned" - Excalibur
"I've got a bad feeling about this one, Brian. The Exarchs. Ochema" - Cobalt
Excalibur pats his sword
"I don't know if this will hurt one, but..." - Excalibur
"It's an off chance. Better than nothing" - Cobalt
...
Samael and Pandora are catching up - she recasts the spell holding his soul together - and meeting Vidoq, who
has just arrived.
"Is Cobalt here?" - Vidocq
"I'll show you" - Samael
They find Cobalt and Excalibur still ruminating. Cobalt momentarily cheers at the French Heirarch's presence.
"I trust the item you asked for got through?" - Vidocq
"It did" - Cobalt
"I brought something else" - Vidocq
He takes out a short velvet-wrapped bundle and carefully unwraps it, revealing a pitted metal spear-tip with a
wire-wound handle
"Is that what I think it is?" - Pandora
"The Spear of Destiny. There are a few thousand vampire monks that would do anything to get their hands on
this, but given what we're facing... It is a God-killing weapon" - Vidocq
"If it works, let's not speculate on what it means for the nature of Jesus" - Cobalt
Let's not go there...
"Vampire monks?" - samael
"Scholarly Christian monks or kung-fu monks?" - Cobalt
"Scholarly" - Vidocq, smiling wryly
"Thank heavens. If they were kung-fu vampire monks it would push things too far... Time to make a speech" Cobalt
He bangs on a pipe, and the hall falls silent
"Okay! We're all here. The plan is simple - we head into London, splitting into your primary teams to take out
the easy targets while we locate Destination Alpha. We are expecting both the Nameless *and* the Seers to
resist. Now, both sets of bad guys have a habit of using Time magic to predict our moves, so we've come up
with a strategy: there is NO strategy. Use lots of short-range divinations, basic Practice stuff; adjust what you do
on a half hourly basis and they won't be able to get a solid fix on the future. Let's do this thing" - Cobalt
He climbs down, to meet Symmetry, Samael, Pandora, Ashlar and the Pendragon
"Good speech. Short" - Symmetry
"I'm saving my best material for when the Psychopomp turns up" - Cobalt
He looks over the gang of close friends, and feels a shiver down his spine. He can't quite ditch the feeling that
he's not going to see all these people together again.
"... You good to go?" - Cobalt, to his wife
"We're heading straight for Tiresias' Demesne" - Symmetry
"You know what you're doing?" - Cobalt
She nods, trying to be reassuring.
"We've all been to Mictlan already, and we know their gateway to the Temenos is pointing at the realm of
Death. We meditate our way in, rustle up some transportation, head to the outskirts of Death and wait for that
guy in Sef's head to open the door for us" - Symmetry
"Take the Compass, just in case" - Cobalt
"Cal's already got it, and I'll make sure he gives it to Magog before we go in. Don't worry. We'll be fine. Watch
out for yourself, okay?" - Symmetry
He smiles, tired
"I've got Ashlar with me. What can possibly go wrong?" - Cobalt
"I heard that" - Ashlar
"You were meant to" - Cobalt
"And what of us? Where are we to make the stand?" - Gawain
"You guys are my Plan B. Kosciej's got to know that we've got the Scythe by now, and he'll be looking for it and
us. I need people I trust to guard Samael, Magog and Symmetry" - Cobalt
"Thank you" - Pandora, quietly
"My pleasure. I wasn't going to have you do it by yourself, 'Dora" - Cobalt
Gawain frowns
"I know you want in on the fight, man, but there'll be plenty of Nameless, Seers and Gods left once they're back
out of the Astral. I'm trusting you with my best friends and my wife" - Cobalt
That seems to work. Gawain nods, determined.
"Understood" - Gawain
"We won't let you down" - Nimue
He smiles again
"My friends. My dear friends. We're nearly done - and this is *not* goodbye. There are twelve of us standing
here. When this is over, there will be thirteen. We're going to win. We're going to fix Samael. We're going to
stop Kosciej, and we're going to get Sef back. I'll see you soon" - Cobalt
"That we will" - Excalibur
"Got your speed-dial handy?" - Cobalt
"Yup. Save some Seers for us" - Excalibur
"There are two people trying to break the rules today. Just because we don't want one to succeed doesn't mean
we feel the same about the other" - Cobalt
"Amen to that" - Samael
The team heading to the Demesne pick up their gear and head out.
Ashlar and Cobalt stand, suddenly feeling very alone even in the hubbub of the factory.
"Another good speech" - Ashlar
"I just wish I believed it" - Cobalt
...
Deep in the foundations of Mictlan Persephone is searching for Chronos, following a low bass vibration that's
almost beyond human hearing. The chamber she finds is separated from the rest of the citadel by a gap, a
spherical room suspended among the lower reaches of the towers, connected to by three tube-like bridges.
Inside, the Gate of Life has been placed horizontally, inlaid into the floor as a ring. Suspended in mid-air above
is is an ancient, black, pitted obelisk marked with faintly-glowing High Speech. The rest of the chamber's
surface is marked with Thaumium (or the thought of Thaumium at least) runes and equations in criss-crossing
pentacles, some still fresh from where Chronos has updated Kosciej's design.
Chronos has no use for the metal grill-work installed as a temporary flat floor - the tiny shade is suspended
from the ceiling by rigging, carefully finishing a rune. Galatea's gate is propped up against the wall. He sees Sef
enter and grunts.
"How's it going?" - Persephone
"Just about done. Did you find the Cthonian?" - Chronos
"I've seen it" - Persephone
"Big?" - Chronos
"Ugly" - Persephone
Chronos finishes the rune, and carefully puts his tools down.
"What does Anubis think?" - Chronos
"Umm... That it's a Cthonian. The Cousins call it Mekhet - they say that they have competitions where it gives
them control over an object or something. Do you think it would be worth taking part so we can have a look at
it?" - Persephone
"Maybe... Hmmm... Yes. Definitely, in fact..." - Chronos
He is cut off by one of the doors opening. A group of six Cousins enter.
"Chronos. Kosciej... Would like a word" - N!Cousin
"I am speaking to my Cousin" - Chronos
"Yeah. We know. Kosciej would like to debrief you on the changes you've made" - N!Cousin, with definite
undertones of "you're under arrest"
"If Kosciej needs me to hold his hand through the equations again, fine. There's no need to send his heavies
down here. Persephone - get my notes, and think about what we just spoke about" - Chronos
Chronos is unclipped from his rigging and carried out. One of the Cousins picks up Chronos' notes, looks
through them and - finding nothing incriminating - shoves them at her.
Once they're gone, she looks down them. Chronos wouldn't use a code when surrounded by mages skilled in
the Mind Arcanum. He'd be more likely to hide something in plain sight...
His notes complain, at length, about how little trust Kosciej is showing in him, to the point that Kosciej has had
Mekhet remove a key component of the gate room - a thaumium dodecahedron marked with certain runes and
channel-lines. Without it, the gate won't work.
He has provided sketches.
"Subtle" - D!Kosciej, appearing
"It worked" - Persephone
1.
Cobalt and Ashlar have arrived in London via Portal to Ashlar's apartment, to the news that Civitas has led his
cabals straight for Constantine. Constantine and the former Heirarch are seeking one another out, intent on a
final duel. On the enemy front, Boudicca is issuing orders to the Nameless Columns but those with Mictlan
Cousins in don't seem to always be listening. And at the fighting by the old Adamantine Arrow sanctum in
Chelsea there are the first sightings of Myrmidons. The Seers have sent their minions in.
Cobalt's phone beeps
"At T's. Team Gonzo going in. Cal." and then a string of numbers
We'll find out what the numbers mean in a bit. It's part of Cobalt's cunning plan.
There is a slight flicker, and Kosciej is in the room.
"Don't do this, Rex" - Kosciej
Cobalt straightens, looking the liche in the projected eye.
"That's your argument is it? Or a plea? Can you at least cackle and promise to unmake me? Tell me how your
master plan is the only hope for humanity? Tell me you at least believe that" - Cobalt
"I do believe that. You've seen enough to know that the Exarchs are THE threat to us all. If someone can fight
them, then that person NEEDS to. This goes beyond our petty mortal politics. This is... This struggle is worth
more than our individual lives" - Kosciej
"Worth every life? A scheme based on a hypothesis you have no way of testing? You're betting the life of every
human being, the soul of everyone who's ever died and the future of everyone who will ever be. On a chance" Cobalt
"It WILL work. And the dead outnumber the living" - Kosciej
"But future generations may outnumber us all" - Cobalt
"A future of Slavery. Versus the opportunity to end it?" - Kosciej
"You're one to speak of endings, being so afraid of them. It's not enough that you're free, is it? In the end, this is
the only way to convince yourself that you're special" - Cobalt
"I'll be blunt. Seers are heading in my direction. You may well get somewhere close to us if you follow on their
coattails, but it won't do you any good. You've done a good job rabble-rousing, and were this any other age I
wish there would have been some way to work together on this" - Kosciej
"Maybe in your day it would have worked. But this is OUR day, and it's about time the ghosts of the past went
back there" - Cobalt
"This is OUR day, Rex. Our ASCENSION. I'm sorry for you - that you think you can undo this with a half-day's
thought and some trinkets" - Kosciej
"Look at it from my perspective. You're going to destroy the world. There might be something good afterwards that's your hope. But I will throw half a day, half an hour or half a minute - any time I have - to try to make sure
this stupid world continues" - Cobalt
"This world is a prison" - Kosciej, growling
"It is the shape it is because of the Exarchs, but it was here BEFORE them. They lived here like you and I. It's
not something to be thrown away... But we've always been civil between the two of us, Jack. You have a means
of communicating quickly with your forces. Tell them that when the Seers turn up they're target one. The
Pyramid-Builders go down first. I'll tell my people the same - whoever wins, let's not make it *them*" - Cobalt
"Accepted" - Kosciej
"I'll count personal exceptions for thee and me should we meet, if you don't mind" - Cobalt
"I very much doubt that" - Kosciej
"So do I, or I wouldn't be proposing giving you open season on me" - Cobalt
"I barely need it. Those of my people who you captured are dead" - Kosciej
"No they're not" - Cobalt
Kosciej smiles, entirely without humour
"I believe I'm more up to date on this than you" - Kosciej
Cobalt stares at him, fury rising.
"Your lighthouse is destroyed. Every Demesne you could use has been cleared of soul stones. Do you remember
how you knew my people were in the North?" - Kosciej
"Do tell" - Cobalt
"I believe you had told a young Libertine named Cobra to work his way into my organisation. He built up a
friendship - you might almost say a connection - with one of my men named Allandro and then told you that
Allandro was in Newcastle watching you. Hence the conversation by the bakery" - Kosciej
"Yes. He agreed his purpose was completed. I take it he has a new one" - Cobalt
"Allandro? Well.. He's been quite busy" - Kosciej
"We people can get about when we try" - Cobalt
"'The Chicken', Rex? What kind of Codename is 'the Chicken'?" - Kosciej
Kosciej vanishes
Cobalt stares at the carpet, then howls a swearword and smashes the nearest thing that comes to hand Ashlar's globe of impossible countries.
"COBALT" - Ashlar
"I'm..." (forcing himself calm) "That just makes it more important we succeed" - Cobalt
He swears again.
"Get the order out. Seers are priority one, as long as the other side abide by it" - Cobalt
"Any Parliamentarians we capture are going to die?" - Ashlar
"See if you can catch what's doing it, but killing yourself is pretty easy with even a little knowledge of Death.
Civitas and Constantine... Let them fight, and subdue whichever one survives. Boudicca, bring her in if you can.
Frankly, she was in the right at the start, and I've been able to negotiate with her. Her trial will be significant,
and we see where we go from there" - Cobalt
...
Sef climbs back up to the common room, entering at the same time as Allandro. The well-spoken Cousin
ignores everyone around him, avoiding her gaze.
I should probably stop describing him as that. It's getting a bit Illiad.
Allandro was added right at the last minute to the Chronicle when I realised I needed a Nameless that wasn't Djehuty,
Boudicca or Brianna. Someone to act as a lieutenant to Kosciej that didn't have the baggage Djehuty brought, and by
whose presence I could maintain Djehuty's moral ambiguity ahead of the reveal the Djehuty was a double agent.
He is named for the Lady Gaga song.
No, really.
"Should we prod?" - Persephone
"Don't see why not" - D!Kosciej
She approaches from behind, putting a friendly arm around his shoulder. Allandro flinches.
"Allandro my dear, what's the matter?" - Persephone
"We didn't start this" - Allandro
"Start what? The fire?" - Persephone, glib
"I'm sorry. I... Know that they were friends of yours" - Allandro
He looks at her, torn up by guilt
"...We have Galatea's body" - Allandro
She takes her arm away
"I..." - Persephone
She plasters a sympathetic smile on her face
"I didn't really like them" - Persephone, lying through her teeth.
The door slides open, and Kosciej enters, seeming very pleased with himself.
"Cousin Persephone! I have news!" - Kosciej
He sees Allandro
"Oh? Has someone been giving out spoilers?" - Kosciej
Allandro shoots Kosciej a mutinous look of disgust and stalks off.
And now that Djehuty has gone, I can have Allandro start to have second thoughts.
Too late, though. Far too late.
"Your friends are dead. We have Chronos and your pet ghost under lock and key. The Scythe will not work. We
know where Rex is right now, and you have enough explosives packed around your body to... well..." - Kosciej
He shrugs.
"Your half-witted plan to destroy this construct has failed" - Kosciej, smug
"Oh - you thought we were going to use the SCYTHE? Oh well, fair cop - you got us! Whatever shall I do now?" Persephone, mocking
"Sit. And watch Glory. BRIANNA. Come with me" - Kosciej
Brianna, confused, rises from her chair at the far end of the room and walks to him.
"Jack? What happened to the other Cousins? The captured ones? I haven't seen them for a while..." Persephone
He exits, Brianna trailing after him.
"NICE KNOWING YOU, BRIANNA!" - Sef, angrily shouting after them
At this point, the players twigged. Kosciej is executing any of his own people who get captured, because he's analysed
the Cabal's actions and believes them to be taking Parliamentarians to use the Scythe on.
Dave2: That's a really good idea! Why didn't *we* think of that?
Chris: We're too nice.
The N!Cousins start to mutter among themselves. The old Cousins cheerfully fan the flames.
"Cousins. Let's not be mourning. Show us this game you've been playing" (off their look) "I'm sure they're all
fine" - Persephone
That one went down like a lead balloon. By this point, they've started to just assume that Sef is insane and prone to
making inappropriate comments.
I did love "Nice knowing you, Brianna!", though. That was awesome, and I don't tell Ag how awesome she can be often
enough.
There is a loud and sudden noise, like a giant bell being struck.
...
In the physical world, Sef is aware of frost on her skin. She's emanating Kosciej's nimbus.
We haven't seen this since Welcome to the Jungle, wrapping the story of Persephone and Kosciej back on itself. It has
to do with her name, and the Persephone myth.
...
The Cousins have switched attention from Sef to the ceiling, excitedly talking among themselves.
"I don't think that was lift-off... But it was a test of the engines" - D!Kosciej, worried.
"Find out where Chronos and Hades are" - Persephone, businesslike.
The Daimon nods and heads for the door.
...
Cobalt and Ashlar hurry out of Cobalt's apartment, heading down the stairs of the building. At the bottom,
though, they stop.
There, discarded at the base of the stairwell, is Cobra's body.
Poor Cobra
Killed in order to reinforce Kosciej's dastardliness, and to bring the stakes home to Cobalt and by
extension Dave. This is a Finale. People die in Finales, and they don't always deserve it.
And with that, we finished playing for the Friday night. By the miracle of recaps, however, we pick right up where we
left off, some fifteen real-world hours later...
1.
Samael walks his Astral Path, which seems at once alien and familiar. The sky is churning with time-lapsed
clouds and the countryside scenery is smashed and torn up in places as though something large had forced its
way through. His Oneiros, as he passes it, feels as though it contains some kind of presence, dormant but
waiting for him.
The Worm.
He doesn't know if it (or his astral reflection of it) would be hostile or not, and daren't look at the damage it's
already done to the inside of his soulscape. Instead, he hurries to the Reversal as soon as he can. It takes the
form of a coastline at the end of the lane he imagines himself walking. Descending from his Path to the
Temenos, he finds himself in the bleak concrete surroundings of "The Seaside during the off-season".
Part of me regrets that Samael never went into his Oneiros and had an experience communing with the worm, maybe
getting some understanding with it. But he had other priorities and it made no sense to go in there. Such is the reality
of how plots shake out in the play.
Fortunately, the Compass has transferred with him.
Remember the Compass? That points to whoever you want?
"Okay... Magog" - Samael
The dial on the Compass spins and then steadies. Following it, Samael feels the streets grow darker and more
imposing. The dream-creatures of humanity around him grow faceless and threatening, as the buildings change
into skyscrapers and unintelligible neon lighting marks sources of deep bass rhythms. A police-car-thing
screams past, siren blazing, and Samael's attainment tells him that he has reached "the city at night".
A night-bus pulls up, the needle of the Compass tracking it, and Magog gets off.
"It worked, then" - Magog
"Yeah. Now for Symmetry" - Samael
...
Cobalt and Ashlar are back up in Ashlar's apartment, after having carried Cobra's body. The corpse is now
crumbling to dust under Ashlar's magic, while Cobalt tries to keep working. Word from the Duel is that
Constantine has defeated Civitas, and then surrendered to Abbott. Just as in Cambridge, the first stage targets
have been achieved, and the Pentacle's forces are replenishing spells and getting ready to strike deeper into
the heart of enemy territory.
Cobalt finishes sending a message on his phone, gets the brass telescope Cognos gave the Cabal out of his
jacket and extends it.
"What now?" - Ashlar
"Now we go to chop off the snake's head. Back at the factory, Cal used the compass to look for Sef and wrote
down the heading. He did it again a few seconds later once they'd Portalled to the Demesne" - Cobalt
He throws Ashlar the phone, showing Cal's message from earlier.
"These numbers? Headings and GPS coordinates for where he was when he took them?" - Ashlar
"Plot the lines on a map, see where they meet. That's where Sef is. Constantine has confirmed it - the old
power station at Battersea" - Cobalt
"The Nameless' base. And your scrying scope?" - Ashlar
Cobalt gets out the other present from that Christmas - the bracelet Sef gave him with her hair in.
"This is to let her know we're coming" - Cobalt
I consider the way that the Cabal use Cognos' gifts from way on back in Welcome To The Jungle to pin together their
plan to be ample compensation for not being able to find room for Cognos himself in this finale. The triangulation really
is clever.
...
Sef feels something, and concentrates on the real world, pushing Mictlan away for a moment. She's numb with
cold - the metal chair she's cuffed to is now coated in frost from Kosciej's nimbus, and the lightbulb has frosted
over.
Directly ahead of her is a scrying window. She recognises the resonance.
"You'd better hurry" - Persephone, croaking
...
In the Temenos, Samael and Magog have followed the Compass' needle down increasingly threatening streets.
The background noise of sirens and angry mobs is now constant, and the skyline glows red with flames. The
Realm of Riots features Astral beings twisted with fury hurling bricks, jagged words and hateful flames at
threateningly impassive, skull-faced riot policemen in heavy, blood-rusted armour.
A shop front explodes, long-limbed looters carrying away mundane items made of gold from the wreckage. The
compass' time hand winds down, and Symmetry calls out to the other two from an alleyway.
"How are we for time?" - Samael
"I've got a Knowing Practice of Time running. We've been nearly five hours so far" - Symmetry
"That long?" - Samael, worried
She shrugs
Samael didn't do very well on the meditation rolls to get into Astral Space this time around.
"Where to now?" - Magog
"From here the route's easy to find but dangerous. Riots to Violence, Violence to Death. No problem" Symmetry
"Cheerful" - Samael
"We could use transportation - vehicles don't always translate to new realms, but they do speed up the
transitions" - Symmetry
A pair of police motorbikes - improbably heavier and more threatening than in the real world - pull up and their
occupants get off, club-like batons extending as they corner a "rioter".
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" - Magog
Samael cracks his imaginary knuckles, and they prepare to even the odds.
...
Cobalt gets into Ashlar's car.
"I couldn't see many details. They've got her pretty well isolated. But the scope got through their warding" Cobalt
Ashlar starts driving, casting Flip of the Coin every few streets, routing their journey around the Seer Pylons and
Nameless Cabals still hunting for them.
The old man's knuckles are pale against the steering wheel, in defiance of his skin colour.
"You okay?" - Cobalt
"A little tense" - Ashlar
"Yeah. Music might help" - Cobalt
He presses the CD player button. The device blinks, and then the track display shows a most unusual message;
DRWILLIAMSKI
LLJACKANDWES
HALLSAYNOMOR
EOFIT.......
"Yeah, because that worked so well for Civitas" - Cobalt
He stares at it, and turns the player off again.
"Music won't help" - Cobalt
He is referring to Civitas' policy of non-aggression and appeasement with the Seers, tolerating their presence and
curbing the Pentacle as long as they didn't directly attack.
...
In the common room of Mictlan, Sef paces back and forth.
The Realm is shifting and changing, growing into the shape Kosciej has planned for it. The New Cousins are
clustering by the windows, looking out at the darkness, waiting for the off. Their Daimons busy themselves in
the background, coming and going, preparing the realm for what's to come.
Finally, the doors open and her Daimon returns.
"Did you find them?" - Persephone, quietly
"No. And the clones of my predecessor aren't talking, except to say that they're busy. Getting the Cousin's souls
ready for 'transfer'" - D!Kosciej
There is another wave of Resonance. D!K winces.
"Any clue at all?" - Persephone
"I've got a good grasp of the new internal layout they're shifting to. I'll put it in your memory, but... There are
still too many possibilities, and they'll know once you start moving to one" - D!Kosciej
"Go back to my Oneiros and do that" - Persephone
He vanishes. She walks over to the Cousins of Old Mictlan, passing a group of New Cousins who are talking
about retreating from the Battle of London and returning to base.
"Persephone. I don't think we've got long" - Anubis, worried
"Cobalt scried on me. He's on his way - we just need a little more time. We need to figure out where they're
holding Chronos and Hades" - Persephone
"Even if we could wake Hades up, it would be you and him in a direct clash of wills with Kosciej and his
Cthonian pet. Like arm-wrestling a grizzly bear" - Morrigan
"What about all of us? All concentrating on it?" - Persephone
"We'd have to all be thinking exactly the same thing" - Jodrell
"... There's a spell for that" - Persephone
They check no one's watching, and then group-cast the spell. She feels her thoughts synchronising... And her
mind being enhanced.
The gestalt of old Mictlan reviews the facts at hand.
Jodrell believes the reshaping of Mictlan, into a central core surrounded by concentric ring-structures, to be one
of defence against external forces while being able to stretch along the axis.
More importantly, they assess the possible locations of Hades. He's probably up close to where Kosciej is
casting the Archspell.
Sef nods, and starts striding to the lift.
...
Samael, Magog and Symmetry are riding through the outskirts of the Realm of Violence, heading to Death Samael and Magog on their pilfered motorbikes, Symmetry shape-changed into a tiger.
For dramatic effect, I have cut the fight against the Cop-Thoughts. It wasn't very interesting. Except that as it was a
horribly distorted, over-the-top cop, it used the policeman stats from the corebook.
Didn't save it from Optimise Kinetic Attack, though
Kosciej's Resonance is everywhere - they're riding and running head-on into a freezing gale.
"Let's hope Sef can open the gate!" - Magog, shouting
...
Cobalt is getting reports from the field - the Parliamentarians are leaving the Nameless Columns and retreating,
allowing isolated pockets of ceasefires to start. Unfortunately, the Seers are now becoming aggressive.
"Okay! We'd rather fight them than our own! Offer alliances with Nameless to take on Pylons... Oh - and what
happened to Civitas?" - Cobalt, into his phone
"Alive, but humiliated" - Abbott
"Excellent. Hope someone was taping it for me" - Cobalt
"Rex" - Ashlar
They've reached the river bank. In the distance, Battersea Power Station looms.
"I'm arriving now" - Cobalt
He hangs up, and gets ready to Counter anything cast at the car.
...
Level after Level of Mictlan's rings flash by as Sef rides the lift up - none of the inhabitants are watching instead getting to where they'll have a good view of the proceedings, while their Daimons work at the realm.
She passes the Gateway ring, and notes that the Gates to New Cousins' Oneiros are vanishing one by one as
the cousins kill themselves.
There is another bell-like sound from above, and another crashing wave of Kosciej's Resonance bursts out.
"Cmon... Cmon..." - Persephone
...All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot Servants Too...
...
Samael, Magog and symmetry have made it through to the Realm of Death - an empty, blasted desert. Glowing
silver on the horizon is Mictlan, the impossible tower seeming far too small.
Symmetry roars and picks up the pace. Samael and Magog gun their engines, ploughing up dust behind their
wheels.
...Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl...
Yes, Symmetry is only called Symmetry so as to make this scene work
1.
Cobalt and his forces are at the power station's railyard, hunkered down as they pick off the snipers that are
trying to pick them off.
"Glad you could join us!" - Vidocq
"Wouldn't miss it!" - Cobalt
...
The lift stops, and the doors slide open.
Sef has reached Kosciej's lair.
The room is spherical, and adapted from his old Region - the windows onto the Underworld wrap around the
back wall, showing the millions of ghosts waiting outside the Gate of Death.
She steps in.
Kosciej is sat, cross-legged with his eyes closed. His Nimbus wavers and flares around him. The shards float,
encircling him inside the runic circle he's sat in. On the desk, next to Kosciej's chessboard, is a small globe of
Ectoplasm that she recognises as Hades' transformed Corpus.
The doors snap shut, and there's a hissing sound as Mekhet wall-walks behind her.
"Yes Catherine, what is it?" - Kosciej, calm
"I just came to pick something up. Don't trouble yourself" - Persephone
She casts Acceleration.
Kosciej got Initiative 27 and the Cthonian 25. Even with Acceleration up, Sef acts on 14. Fortunately, Kosciej needs to
stop casting before he does anything else.
All the glowing lines in the air turn red as Kosciej locks what he's already done and opens his eyes. The
Cthonian dives at Sef, sharp forelimbs jutting out.
Good thing she cast Acceleration. An attempted grapple from a rank 4 spirit? Good thing she's using Astral stats,
adding her Time and has Fate armour up. A Defence of 14 is pretty good.
Mekhet collides with Sef, knocking her to the floor.
Not high enough, though
Sef desperately casts Temporal Stutter. The Cthonian vanishes in a burst of blue light.
Ha! And because the realm is suddenly without a Kerberos...
Mictlan's transformation stops, sending a juddering quake through the entire structure. Kosciej casts
something, swearing, that almost breaks through Sef's mental shielding. She grabs Hades and runs.
"Ciao!" - Persephone
She dives into the lift and wills it to drop, just as Kosciej is getting to his feet.
There's a flash of red light, far above, as the lift reaches one of the rings. As the lift gets to the bottom she
burns Mana up, feeding her Acceleration and running to the Old Cousins.
She's got a big head start and is about twice as fast as the Cthonian right now
"Azraaaaaaael!" - Persephone
She's running around a ring, encircling the central tower, while Azrael is running in the opposite direction.
The ring explodes, as the Cthonian shrieks. Sef, the Cthonian and the Cousins plummet through null-space,
landing hard on the next ring down. Winded, Sef can see New Cousins looking up, pointing, through the semitransparent material as she rolls to avoid being where the Cthonian lands.
"Catch!" - Persephone, throwing Hades to Azrael
Azrael jumps to catch it, landing awkwardly and sliding right to the edge. His legs dangle over infinity as he
scrambles for purchase.
Sef runs past the Cthonian, hoping to draw it away.
"Open him!" - Persephone
Anubis is pulled back up onto solid footing by Morrigan, and casts a Death Spell to reanimate Hades, whose
body expands and forms. It hurts - he screams as he comes back to "life".
Down below, there's a flash of brilliant light from the Gate chamber. The entirety of Mictlan erupts in Kosciej's
Resonance, stronger than ever before. High above the Tower, an impossible distance away, there is a light.
...
At the power station, Cobalt and his people all feel a wave of Kosciej's resonance emanating from the building.
"We're too late" - Cobalt
...
Samael, Magog and Symmetry see the light open high above Mictlan.
"...Damn" - Samael
...
Kosciej has cast the Archspell. They're on their way.
1.
The Cthonian attempts to close the distance between it and Sef by jumping across the gap, clipping the central
core of Mictlan as it does so and sending shards of broken dream-stuff raining down. Sef doubles back, dodging
past it, takes a run up and leaps teh gap, landing inside amid a rapidly-scattering group of New Cousins.
She runs for the Gate Chamber, trying to will the missing component into existence as she goes. She can feel
the Cthonian resisting.
Kosciej's voice rings out
"Cousins! The way is open! We have begun our journey across the Abyss. The Gate of Death is now open, and
we are being joined by our passengers..." - Kosciej
She reaches the Gate Chamber, where the Temenotic Obelisk is glowing. The Cthonian enters from the far side.
"...Our world has changed. The battle is joined. To arms, Cousins!" - Kosciej
The Cthonian advances on Sef, pincering its way around the grated floor. She cocks her head and casts
Temporal Stutter.
The Cthonian howls as it vanishes in a flash of red light.
Well, if it worked the first time...
Without a rival Kerberos, Hades is able to control the realm. The gate component forms, shining, out of the
floor. Sef grabs it and slams it into position.
...
Samael, Magog and Symmetry feel themselves leave the ground - less travelling under their own volition now
as being drawn in. The bleak scenery of Death stretches and vanishes, as Mictlan suddenly rushes toward
them. They burst up out of the gate, motorbikes squealing as they ride up the curved wall before righting
themselves and driving in circles.
"SEF!" - Magog
"Magog!" - Persephone
The remaining Cousins of Old Mictlan enter, supporting Hades who seems exhausted.
There's a flash of Blue light, and the Cthonian is back.
Samael draws his sword, noting that it - like the motorbikes - has transformed into the semi-transparent metal
of the rest of Mictlan.
The Portal to the Temenos is now fully open - the ring on the floor contains a shining surface, like water, which
appears to be being attracted upward slightly toward the Obelisk which hangs over it.
The Cthonian roars and scatters the Cousins like bowling pins. It stabs down, impaling Morrigan on a forelimb,
and tears her Corpus apart. Sef and Symmetry throw Fraying practices at it, while Magog drives past and
swings at it with his staff, clipping it on a wing.
Samael Thunderbolts it, the electricity singing the Cthonian badly.
The runes on the Obelisk ignite, and they feel Kosciej's Resonance again.
"Jeremiah! Gemma! Peter! Welcome aboard! One thing you might like to know. Where you're standing is about
to be filled by the souls of the living..." - Kosciej's voice
The Cthonian shatters it's own form into a thousand razor-sharp tiny versions of itself, swarming around.
Symmetry and Sef keep at the Fraying, while Magog wheels around for another pass. Sef's spell, though, bites
true.
The Cthonian dies. Explosively - Mictlan shatters around it like a shot mirror, leaving a gaping hole out into the
void. Everyone hits the deck.
"Hades! Take over from it!" - Persephone
"What's the plan!?" - Samael
"He's got the Shards up in his tower. We need to get up there..." - Persephone
"I'll fix the Gravity. Go... GO!" - Hades, waving at the ragged edge.
Symmetry shifts back into human form and jumps onto the back of Samael's bike, while Sef climbs onto
Magog's. They gun the engines and ride out, the bikes turning 90 degrees as they clear the edge. They're now
riding up the outside of Mictlan - or *along* it, from their point of view.
...
Cobalt's forces are now pushing in, through the rail yard and into the loading area of the power station. They
aren't the only ones; the Seers of the Throne are also coming in from another direction, and the Pentacle are
having to fight them to get to the Nameless.
The Seer mages are accompanied by Myrmidons, Grigori and a slew of humanoid creatures that Cobalt can't
identify.
"This can't be just Britain's resources" - Cobalt
He and Ashlar clear the entrance, walking through a blasted-open loading door into a rail sleeper that once
unloaded coal for the generators. Nameless run around, and he picks out cries asking where the
Parliamentarians are.
Deciding it must be worth a shot, Cobalt starts shouting orders to the Nameless.
"Seal those doors! You! Get up into that window and keep an eye out for more Seers! MOVE!" - Cobalt
He feels a spell cast on him - Abbott, left in charge of the outer perimeter, is trying to Telepathically contact
him.
-Abbott?- - Cobalt
-Heirarch! We're un...- - Abbott
There is a flash of agony, and Abbott is gone. Cobalt looks to Ashlar.
"I think it's here. We've got a breach" - Cobalt
He addresses the crowd.
"Keep the flanks held! We can't hurt it, but don't let it bring any friends in!" - Cobalt
The air seems thick, somehow. Reality condensing around the Ochema's presence. It's not in the room, but it's
close by - less than a mile.
Cobalt and Ashlar run through the halls, feeling as though they have the devil on their back. They round a
corner to find Boudicca heading the opposite way, shoving Allandro in front of her.
"You got one!" - Cobalt
Boudicca frowns, questioningly, at that, but Allandro catches his breath and starts talking before she can.
"We just have to hold them off for a little while. The Plan is... It's about to start" - Allandro
"Yeah. We GET that. That's why we're here to stop it" - Cobalt
"You're too late; the button has been pushed. You're in time to see the missile launch" - Allandro
(dubious) "Yeah... About that. Are you anywhere near Kosciej on the other side?" - Cobalt
Allandro concentrates.
"I.. Can't see him where I am" - Allandro
"Do you think he realises this is just a distraction?" - Cobalt
"What's a distraction?" - Allandro
There is an explosion in the distance.
"I admire the dedication... And I'll have words with YOU, boy, about how he shut down the back up plan. But he
didn't realise it was the backup plan" - Cobalt
"THIS is your main plan?" - Allandro, disbelieving
Actually, no. This is the actual distraction. Kosciej is working backward through the Cabal's plans
"I'm not explaining myself to you. One question, Allandro - what were you guys planning on doing about the
Ochema?" - Cobalt
Allandro pales
"Can't you *feel* it? The Psychopomp Walks the Earth, in through your North Perimeter. I. Need. The. Ankh" Cobalt
"I... Have to go hold it off" - Allandro
Chris: Very brave
Ag: Very stupid
"The Ankh?" - Ashlar
"I don't know where it is - Kosciej had it" - Allandro
"I know where the rat's nest is. I'll take you there" - Boudicca
"Allandro?" - Cobalt
"I have a demon to fight" - Allandro
He runs off. To his credit, he runs off towards the breach.
Cobalt and Ashlar set off again, along with Boudicca, who appears to have forgotten they're meant to be on
opposite sides.
"Where did all these Seers COME from? I thought Kosciej got rid of them all" - Boudicca, grim
"Yeah. They have Mastigos too, you know. What he's doing has... I think they're acting under Direct Orders. You
shut down their bases in THIS part of THIS country" - Cobalt
"And lulled ourselves into a false sense of security. Last time I saw Kosciej he was making crazy talk about
Ascension" - Boudicca
"Fuelled by the slaughter of sleepers on a global scale. That's what we're here to stop. We can talk about who's
in control later - right now we have a fanatic who believes he can trigger the Ascension of everyone by using
them as a shield" - Cobalt
They approach a Nameless position - they've barricaded themselves in.
"OUT OF MY WAY" - Boudicca
The barricade opens.
Cobalt barks orders into his phone.
"DON'T engage it unless you have a Supernal weapon - I've got the Spear. The Mystagogues have their casketthing..." - Cobalt
The corridors are now empty, devoid of defences.
"These areas were meant to be GUARDED. By Kosciej's followers" - Boudicca
"I swear we've been taking living prisoners. He's been killing them from the other side somehow" - Cobalt
"Uh..." - Ashlar
Ashlar is looking through the window set into a door they're passing.
Bodies. Dozens of bodies.
Cobalt swears.
"Shit... They've been drinking the kool-aid... We need to find the spider" - Cobalt
"Here" - Boudicca, quietly
The door she leads them to is extremely heavily warded and Banned.
"We need several Warlocks" - Ashlar
"Call them in and get them started - I'm going to try to scry for Sef again" - Cobalt
He casts his spell
"She's below us somewhere" - Cobalt
...
Samael, Symmetry, Persephone and Magog drive up the outside surface of the glass tower of Mictlan, spiralling
around to avoid obstructions.
Fireworks are being set off, and the Cousins inside are celebrating. The halls of Mictlan are packed to standing
room, as the dead file in through the Gate of Death somewhere in the Tower's heart.
Sef closes her eyes, and concentrates on what the other Old Cousins - still mind-linked to her - are doing. Down
in the chamber, the skin of Astral space is distorting, pulling up toward the Obelisk which is radiating energies.
-Can Hades slow it down?- - Persephone
Hades looks like he wishes he could throw up.
"They're fighting me..." - Hades
"WHO is? The Cthonian's dead" - Azrael
"Yes, but Hades is a Kerberos because we made him so with magic. Anything we can do..." - Anubis
"...Kosciej can do, too. And he has a lot of Ghosts to hand" - Hades
...
The riders reach the tip of Mictlan, and stop just below Kosciej's window.
"I have no idea what this is made out of" - Samael
"If it's not made of .anything real, we can definitely smash it, can't we?" - Magog
It takes several swings, but the window breaks. The four of them climb in, gravity swinging as their feet hit the
floor.
Kosciej is nowhere to be seen - the Shards lie, discarded, on the floor.
"No Ankh. Search for it" - Symmetry
Samael grabs the shards, throws Symmetry the skull and puts the heart and hand in his coat pockets.
They turn the place over - Kosciej lived a quite Spartan existence - but find no Ankh.
"Where is he?" - Samael
"Down Below, probably, somewhere in the crowd" - Persephone.
She is aware of the Cousins yelling at her at the edge of her conciousness; the Obelisk looks like it's ready to
trigger, and mere finger-widths separate it from the Astral.
Kosciej's voice rings out
"Catherine. Your guests may wish to put up their Amnion. If they don't want to become part of the shield, that
is" - Kosciej, cheerful
-SEF! IT'S...- - Anubis
"This should be quite impressive. The Obelisk will trigger in three... two..." - Kosciej
"AMNION! NOW!" - Persephone
Magog, Symmetry and Samael snap their Amnions up, blazing with their Nimbuses.
"One... Aaaaaaaaand... ZERO!" - Kosciej
...
The skin of the Astral lurches up and rushes like a tidal wave, a flowing ribbon of oil-like sheen that is drawn up
by the Obelisk and pushed out. It expands, flowing out to surround the Tower as the Obelisk glows white-hot.
And it screams. With thousands of voices.
1.
"What do we do NOW!?" - Samael
"We've got the Shards! We can take the Ankh from his cold dead fingers back in London - one of us can bring it
back in and hand it to you - the Shards won't vanish as long as YOU stay with them in the Temenos" - Magog
"What do we do now about THAT?" - Samael, pointing out of the window
"There's nothing we CAN do" - Symmetry
Mictlan lurches, as Kosciej's hive-ghost-Kereberos wrests control back from Hades. The realm begins to expand
along it's length, reaching forward, the tip breaking up into smaller towers that expand toward the Light like
grasping fingers.
The Quartet get back outside, the Astral Shield howling above them, and start to ride back down.
"Look! It's Chronos!" - Persephone, pointing
Inside the tower, near to where they're passing, the tiny Cousin is engaged in a fist fight with a Ghost.
"Get off him!" - Persephone
Chronos leaps on the Ghosts' back, smashing his fist into its head. He jumps off the ruined ghost and presses
his hand to the transparent material.
"It's Started!" - Chronos
"We'd noticed!" - Samael, gesturing at the Shield
"Time for Plan Zulu!" - Chronos
"The only people we've got are US" - Samael
"And Galatea!" - Chronos
"Kosciej took her back!" - Persephone
Chronos' face falls.
"Stand back, I'm coming out!" - Chronos
He focuses his Ghost Arcana, remembering what being a Moros was like, and a neat hole shatters in front of
him. Magog reaches in and picks the little man up.
"To the Engine room!" - Chronos, pointing
...
Cobalt casts Steel Windows on the warded door. Inside, Hades' body is sat meditating in front of a chessboard.
"Unfortunately, I can't just kill him..." - Cobalt
Boudicca produces a gun, but he waves her off.
"No need for that. I could turn the air into Deadly Neurotoxin if it would do any good" - Cobalt
"Do you still have people inside their cozy retirement home?" - Boudicca
"I don't know. I was expecting a phone call as soon as they were out" - Cobalt
...
The Cabal and the Old Cousins have reconvened in the Obelisk room - Kosciej's Kerberoi have been hard at
work repairing the damage done to the structure, so the bikes had to be abandoned outside. The Obelisk glows
white, shaking slightly as the fragile reality of the realm strains.
"We have Galatea's gate here. If you use the coin on her, it will go up like a nuke" - Chronos
"We don't have her physical form, though" - Samael
"Is there no way to find it?" - Chronos
"We don't know. Once we Jack out, we'll not be able to get back in again" - Samael
He, Symmetry and Magog are beginning to blur around the edges.
"If you stay, you'll be ripped apart and used for armour" - Chronos
"So we trash the place while we're still here" - Magog
"The problem is THAT thing" (points at the Obelisk) "And it merging us with the Realm of Death. It's of
Atlantean construction; I can't even scratch it, and it isn't under the control of the Kerberoi even if we could get
Hades abck in charge" - Chronos
"Where did he get it?" - Samael, bitterly
[/color]It doesn't seem very fair[/color]
"He stole it from the Seers" - Persephone
"We can't eject it while it's activated. I could smash the Gate of Life, but it wouldn't do any good any more" Chronos
"Okay! Executive decision - you guys go back through to the Astral. Magog, take the Shards and hide out
somewhere safe while Samael finds Galatea's body" - Persephone
Magog nods.
"The only backup plan is to steal Sef's gate from up on the gate ring and move it into position instead" Chronos
"The other idea is to find where the entrance to the Underworld is and flatten it from that side" - Samael
"Should be easy enough, if you can get a Moros powerful enough. Follow the Ghosts" - Chronos
"Guys. Get Going" - Persephone
"Are you leaving, too?" - Symmetry, quietly
"No. Not yet - there are still things I can do that the Cousins can't" - Persephone
"As soon as we're out, we'll find you" - Magog
"I know" - Persephone
They duck beneath the Obelisk, and jump one by one into the Astral Portal, seeking to transition.
Sef stares at where they jumped in.
There, lying on the floor, are the shards.
Because as it turns out, they *weren't* Astral versions of the Shards. Kosciej took them into Mictlan via the Underworld,
specifically so that Astral travellers couldn't steal them and run off to where he couldn't follow.
Which means Samael is in deep, deep trouble. Because they're about to blow Mictlan up with his only hope of
banishing the worm still inside.
...
Samael wakes up, gasping, on the floor of Tiresias' Demesne.
"Well?" - Excalibur
"Too late. He's set it off" - Samael, croaking and reaching for a water bottle.
Cal doesn't even bother dialling. He uses a Forces spell to call Cobalt.
"Cal. Tell me... Tell me they stopped something?" - Cobalt
"Zulu. Zulu. Zulu" - Excalibur
Samael looks around. There, behind him, Magog has woken up. He shakes his head, looking as though he's
delivering Samael a death sentence.
Which, in a way, he is.
...
Cobalt screws his eyes shut as Cal gives him the bad news. He opens them again, and sees. The body in the
room. No Ankh. No Shards.
"It's a decoy" - Cobalt, hollowly
He casts Grim Sight and scrutinises the aura of the person in the room
"I don't know who that is. It's a Parliamentarian... But it's not HIM. FUCK" - Cobalt
He slaps the door.
"Boudicca? Have you seen Brianna?" - Cobalt
"Kosciej's pet? No" - Boudicca
"Because I think He's body hopped" - Cobalt
"Into who? The mysteriously still-alive... Allandro... Who ran off" - Boudicca
They stare at one another for a split second, then set off at a sprint.
"Talk to me, Cal!" - Cobalt, into his phone
"The guys are all out, but the shards didn't come with them. We need to find Galatea or Sef, but Symm says Sef
is the worse option. Galatea's aready in position on the other side" - Excalibur
"Sef's close by. Try for Galatea" - Cobalt
"Have you met her?" - Excalibur
"Yes!" - Cobalt, running around a corner
A long, long time ago, in a motorway service station
"Okay - use the Spyglass. Quark will be able to do the rest once you let us know what we're looking for. Where's
Kosciej?" - Excalibur
"I think he just headed straight for the Ochema" - Cobalt
"Oh, well that's very noble of him" - Excalibur
Cobalt jumps over a barricade
"I don't think so. He didn't have the artefacts - I think he took them into Mictlan through the Underworld" Cobalt
"...I'll tell them" - Excalibur
"I'll get you that location" - Cobal
He fumbles for the spyglass.
...
In Mictlan, Chronos considers Galatea's form and the Obelisk
"You guys had better get some distance. If I were you, I'd Pass On and hope" - Chronos
"Cousin..." - Azrael
"Go, Azzie" (smiles) "Go on. This is my stop" - Chronos
"Goodbye, my friend" - Jodrell
They nod, and head for the exit. Sef lingers, then kneels down and kisses Chronos on the forehead.
"Now you get going, too. Find that Ankh" - Chronos
She nods and leaves.
Chronos regards Galatea
"Just you and me, kid" - Chronos
...
At the Demesne, Cal has updated his Cabal and the Auric Horizon. Pandora sits with Samael, who feels
strangely calm.
The absence of false hope, he supposes.
"You okay?" - Nimue
"Yeah" (blinks) "Yeah. I think I always knew, you know?" - Samael
She smiles, sadly.
"We'll think of something" - Gawain
In the background, Cal lifts his phone back to his ear.
"Cal. She's in a flat - somewhere in Birmingham, I think. There are three dead Nameless around her... I can see
a factory out of the window... I think I can read the sign" - Cobalt
Cal relays the details.
"Rex. If we don't do this soon we'll be taking apocalyptic casualties. Even if we do, there's the Ochema" Excalibur
"Long odds, old man. Long odds" - Cobalt
"I'm coming to get you, Cobalt" - Excalibur
He calls Quark.
"Quark. I need two point to point teleports - one for two and one for seven. Read a location from my mind, cast
New Threads and then use your attainments - we need Samael and Pandora to go there, while the rest of us
need to get to Cobalt. He's going to need us... Yes, Quark... Yes, Quark, I'm sure they'll under... Yeah, I would run
after doing that as well... Just be... Samael will be in touch once he's done, okay?" - Excalibur
...
Cobalt enters a main hall, teeming with Nameless and Pentacle mages, working together to set up defences.
He remembers this place. It's where he will face the Ochema.
Allandro turns around.
"YOU" - Cobalt
"Er... Hello?" - Allandro
Cobalt scrutinises Allandro's resonance.
"... You're not Kosciej" - Cobalt
"Should I be?" - Allandro, confused
"Where's the ankh?" - Cobalt
"With Kosciej" - Allandro
"Where's Kosciej?" - Cobalt, with more patience than it deserves.
"Down there - in a warded room" - Allandro
"No. That's his... That's Hades' body. Kosciej isn't in it. I assumed he'd swapped with you and was feeling
exceptionally annoyed you'd gotten past me" - Cobalt
He thinks.
"Would you know Brianna if you saw her?" - Cobalt
Boudicca reproduces the resonance she and Cobalt saw.
"Yeah! That's Brianna!" - Allandro
It was indeed nice to know her.
protecting "him" as a diversion.
Not only has Kosciej taken Brianna's body and legged it, but he's left Allandro to die
"When did you last see her?" - Cobalt
"She was *here*. I saw her only this morning. And she was in Mictlan, before Kosciej cast the spell... He told her
to go with him" - Allandro, realising
"Ashlar. Get on the horn to the perimeter. We're looking for a blond girl in her late teens. She might be using a
Guy Fawkes mask, though" - Cobalt
Ashlar nods and starts to raise the troops
"And shoot her on sight" - Cobalt
Boudicca raises an eyebrow
"Truces only go so far" - Cobalt, grim
...
The doors from the lift hiss open. Sef steps out onto the floor.
It's dark here, the lights turned down to give a better view of the show outside. There aren't multitudes of
ghosts or ghost-cousins. There is only Kosciej.
The liche is stood, watching the Astral Shield with an expression of rapture.
"Truce, Cousin. Truce" - Kosciej
"You won. You won't be needing that any more" - Persephone, pointing at the Ankh around his neck.
"Quite. I have, as agreed, vacated Hades' body. I'm afraid I had to leave it at ground zero, though; if there's
anything left of him then I'm sure you can make him last as a zombie for at least a month" - Kosciej
"How gracious of you. What now?" - Persephone
"We have set sail. The voyage has begun. When Mictlan breaches Stygia, and all these poor souls Ascend, then
you can have the Ankh. Just as we said" - Kosciej
"What if I don't want to go to Stygia with you?" - Persephone
"You're not going. Neither of us are - we're still alive. Did you learn nothing from hanging around with the
Mysterium for all this time? You can't Ascend while still being corporeal. That's what the Ancients built their
Ladder to do" - Kosciej
"We won't be when the Realm of Death gets toasted" - Persephone
"Chronos made the modifications! We're quite safe" - Kosciej
"We *might* be" - Persephone
"Payment on success. Really - there isn't anything more to do other than to enjoy the ride, wave at the Abyssal
creatures and wait for enlightenment" - Kosciej, taking the Ankh off.
The Portal to Stygia seems larger.
"LOOK at it, Persephone! Look at it! It's... Wonderful!" - Kosciej, rapt
He continues, not paying attention to her.
"We've won! We've... Ah" - Kosciej
Squinting against the light, he leans forward, almost pressing his nose against the not-glass.
Sef doesn't have time to see what he's looking at, though. While he's distracted, she lunges at him, grabbing
for the Ankh. She gets hold of it, and he lets it go. She back-pedals, wary, expecting a fight.
No fight is forthcoming, though. Kosciej chuckles.
"Now what?" - Kosciej, amused
"I leave" - Persephone
She opens the door.
"Where are you planning to go, Catherine? Into the Underworld? You'll get lost; you're not capable of opening
an Avernan Portal. Not strong enough" - Kosciej
"Cobalt will find me" - Persephone
"Don't you want to SEE this!?" - Kosciej, gesturing at the light with a flash of irritation.
"No" - Persephone
And that, right there, is their relationship - deep down, Kosciej can't fathom why she isn't impressed with him like
everyone else is. He can't stand the rejection - not her agreeing; Cobalt doesn't agree either, but doesn't push Kosciej's
buttons like Persephone does. But then Cobalt does acknowledge Kosciej's genius while being opposed to him. Jack
thrives on that.
Thousands of tiny specks are distinguishable against the light. Something is coming out of Stygia, into the
corridor through the Abyss that Mictlan is in.
"YOU fight them" - Persephone
"They're not fighting - look!" - Kosciej
Murky and distorted by the intervening film of Astral space, Shades fly back and forth. Great, winged, terrible
things, singing a mournful requiem as they probe the edges of Mictlan's defences with long, bone weapons.
Kosciej laughs, giddy
"You're here Astrally, anyway! You won't be able to get OUT through the Underworld. You'll just be a wandering
projection, unable to find your way" - Kosciej
"There's the other exit" - Persephone
"Sure. Join the party - Hope your Amnion lasts long enough once you leave. Oh - speaking of that, I need to
make an address" - Kosciej
He spreads his arms, and his voice booms out from Mictlan
"BEINGS OF STYGIA! I WILL ACCEPT YOUR SURRENDER NOW!" - Kosciej
The lift opens, revealing Hades and the other Old Cousins.
"You got it?" - Hades
"Any idea on how to get it out?" - Persephone
"No" - Hades
"Is there anything I can do to get through the Underworld?" - Persephone
Anubis shakes his head
"So... What? Take my chances here?" - Persephone
"Are you still here, Catherine?" - Kosciej, mocking
The portal to Stygia is now very large. Ghosts are leaping from the top of Mictlan, floating toward the light and
being consumed by it. And then something *else* comes out - something so large it briefly blots out the light of
the Supernal.
The Psychopomp spreads his wings and draw her firey sword.
Technically, it's not actually the Psychopomp, it's just an Ochema so powerful it wouldn't be possible in the Fallen World
even under the loose standards the Exarchs apply to the Pax Arcana. But it looks like the classical image the Seers
have of Him/Her - a great deathly angel, blocking the way to the Afterlife.
"My gate. MY gate - to my Oneiros. Can I get the artefacts through there?" - Persephone
"Maybe - worth a shot" - Anubis
She looks back. Kosciej is oblivious to what they're doing behind him, staring out at the Exarch.
The doors close, and the lift descends.
"What are you going to do, eh? Destroy the source of your control or let us past? Either way, you've lost" Kosciej, whispering
The Thing outside rears back and then rushes at Mictlan, swinging it's burning sword. The Astral shield ruptures
where it slices in, souls shrieking.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?" - Kosciej
He gestures, increasing the power of the Obelisk
...
There's a wrenching disconnect, and then Samael and Pandora are stood in a dingy bedroom somewhere in
Birmingham. Samael wheels around, and sees Galatea lying on the thin bed. Peaceful, breathing on her own
without machines, the old lady looks like she's just having a quick nap.
"Oh my god" - Pandora
The TV is on, and turned to the news.
The news is not good.
Thousands of people are lying dead in the streets. Reports are coming in from all over the world of people
spontaneously stroking and dying. Three planes have crashed at Heathrow. Trains have derailed. Motorways
and Freeways blocked by crashes.
Samael opens the bag Excalibur gave him, and takes out the coin. He looks at it, weighing it in his hand as he
walks over to Galatea.
Carefully, Samael places the Scythe on Galatea's forehead.
"I'm sorry" - Samael
Galatea opens her eyes, a tiny fraction.
He casts Activate Magic Item.
This is where Samael has been heading for the second half of the Chronicle - certainly ever since Butterflies and
Hurricanes. I tested him when I put him in the position of having to kill Cxaxa, reaffirmed it when he thought he'd had
to kill Aurora, and then last session, when Chronos said the Cousins trusted him to be the one to euthanize them? That
was running the flag up the pole.
Samael was running into echoes of this scene, reflecting in his Destiny. It goes back to his link to the Echo Walkers - I
knew right back at the beginning that Samael would have to murder someone for the greater good.
Also - remember Cxaxa in Japan, saying that she hoped his third sacrifice would be easier? There's a maiden-mothercrone thing going on with his victims.
Despite all this he still doesn't drop Wisdom. He passed his check here, which means he feels guilty.
...
Sef reaches the gateway ring, now almost empty - the Cousins are all dying, the doorways to their Oneireoi
crumbling as they do so. She finds her own Gateway and steps through.
...
The Obelisk can barely be seen now, a faint outline against the wine-dark black of Astral energies filling the
place. Chronos floats, perched on the stiff form of Galatea's gate/body like a surfer paddling out to meet a
wave. They drift, together, toward the Atlantean Artefact.
"Jack" - Chronos
Up in his vantage point, Kosciej hears him.
Originally Posted by Bristol, England. 1895
"What's your name, lad?"
"Jack"
"I'm Chronos. Pleased to meet you"
...
Hours later, He finds himself sat in a comfortable parlor, sipping from a mug of rum-laced tea. The big,
handsome man who rescued him is humming to himself as he makes himself another.
"What brings you to Bristol?"
"I was looking for you. I heard... I need to know about the Underworld. And I heard you were an expert"
Chronos sits down opposite him
"The most important thing to know about the Universe, Jack, is that it's a machine. The parts interact according
to a design, and a purpose. Like a watch. There are processes everywhere - rules. Ghosts fade when they lose
their Anchors - why? They drift deeper and deeper once in the Underworld - why? Learn the parts of the
machine, and you can predict it"
"Or break it"
"What is it, old friend?" - Kosciej
"Look to your defences" - Chronos, viciously
Galatea arches, light pouring out of her as Chronos embraces her.
The Obelisk, the gate chamber, and the bottom third of Mictlan all vanish in a blinding flash. The Astral shield
roars back, falling back through the wound, as the Realms reassert their natural place.
"...Oh" - Kosciej
Mictlan shatters, the structure splintering as it falls. Great jagged cracks appear, spilling Ghosts out into the
Abyss.
The Pyschopomp gestures, and the legion of Shades descend upon what's left.
Chronos riding on Galatea is from an old painting of death sitting on someone, which was itself inspired by the Night
Hag phenomena. Chronos was, naturally, big and handsome when he was alive.
And his final insult to Kosciej is throwing Djehuty's taunt from Children of the Revolution at him - it's not a callback,
though, rather that was a call *forward*, as this was one of the earliest planned scenes for the Chronicle, from before
we started playing.
"Talyn - Starburst"
...
Sef emerges from her gate into her Onerios. The Ankh has vanished from around her neck.
"GO BACK!" - D!Kosciej, waving madly
She turns, to see her Gate cracking. Worse, a spiderweb of cracks has emanated from it into the fabric of her
Oneiros; she's still in the Legacy, Mictlan is still partially made of her soulscape... And that soulscape is now
being torn apart by the Exarch's forces and thrown into the Abyss.
"Goodbye, my friends" - Persephone
...
Allandro screams, doubling over in agony.
"They've done it. It's going down" - Cobalt, sadly
...
"GO! BACK!" - D!Kosciej
"What for?" - Persephone
"We could.. We could eject our Gate into the Underworld! No - No that won't work. We could make a deal with
them! We could..." - D!Kosciej
"It's over, Deek. They've Scythed Galatea" - Persephone
"But... I don't want to die!" - D!Kosciej
"You won't. You're here" - Persephone
"We're still in the Legacy! We're about to get a hole to the Abyss in the middle of your soul" - D!Kosciej
"...Oh" - Persephone
She closes her eyes, sadly, sat against the gate.
"It's too late. Besides, there's the Abyss in every soul" - Persephone
"Not quite *this* much" - D!Kosciej
"Do you actually have a plan?" - Persephone
"... No" - D!Kosciej
He sits down on the grass next to her.
"I suppose... We just wait for death. I want to tell you, Cath... Persephone. It's been a pleasure" - D!Kosciej
He produces a deck of cards.
"Whist?" - D!Kosciej
He finally stopped calling her by her real name. A shining moment of understanding. It won't last.
She thinks back, over all the crazy times they've shared, ever since Hades swapped Daimons with her, allowing
Kosciej's third Attainment to make the gate in her mind.
Ever since Hades swapped Daimons with her.
Using the Ankh.
She opens her eyes and looks at D!Kosciej.
He realises what she's thinking.
"Oh. No. No no no no no. No. Catherine, please..." - D!Kosciej
...And the moment's broken
"Do you remember, Deek, how many times I said - one day I'd make you suffer?" - Persephone, sweetly
"Wait. Wait a minute" - D!Kosciej, pleading
"This is that day" - Persephone, grinning
She rolls backward, through to Mictlan.
Lols. Took Ag long enough to figure that out, but worth it in the end
1.
And now for the Most Important Scene in the Chronicle. The one the entirity of the Soul Cage has been building to,
every setback and stumble Sef has suffered. Since before D!K first appeared in the Jungle. THIS is it.
Sef emerges into what was once the gateway ring. The only gates left are her own, Kosciej's and Allandro's and Allandro's has come loose and is floating in the void. About fifty meters away, Kosciej is stood, holding the
Ankh.
She gets to her feet, and starts to carefully make her way toward him. There's the sound of tearing metal as
part of the floor gives way, making her pause, but she gets there.
The two of them stare at one another, separated by a gaping hole in the floor.
"I wondered when you would realise" - Kosciej, cold
There's a flicker, and his Daimon - HER old Daimon - appears next to him.
"Twenty Thousand at most" - Kosciej
"People who escaped. Billions... The already dead and all future generations. You have doomed Humanity to
Imprisonment, along with yourself. Well done, thou good and faithful servant of the Exarchs" - Kosciej
"Those twenty thousand? Do you think that *thing* let them alone after they made it through? Why would he
want anyone to enter his realm?" - Persephone
"We could have won" - Kosciej
"Please" - Persephone, dismissive
"We had the numbers" - Kosciej
"It's a pity you didn't see yourself earlier, standing, yelling threats at the heavens? You would have made a
good Exarch" - Persephone
"I no longer wish to have you in my mind" - Kosciej
"Give me my Daimon" - Persephone
"Gladly" - Kosciej, cold
"Now just wait a minute" - D!Kosciej
The Daimon has appeared, interposing himself
"Catherine. Think our our alliance! Haven't I been helpful? Haven't I saved your life?" - D!Kosciej
"I thought you would want to go back to your old master" - Persephone, arching an eyebrow
"Not if it means... Please, Persephone - I beg of you!" - D!Kosciej
He gestures at the Daimon with her face.
"You don't want HER. Look at her! She doesn't LIKE you like I do! She doesn't know you!" - D!Kosciej
She shoves him.
"So what? You'd let us both die?" - Persephone
He considers, and punches her in the face, knocking her back.
"YES!" - D!Kosciej
The Daimon's face contorts in fury
"IF I'M GOING DOWN, BITCH, YOU'RE GOING DOWN WITH ME..." - D!Kosciej
Kosciej, in the background, casts the spell the third Parliament of the Needle attainment is based on.
D!Kosciej howls, pulled back towards Kosciej by an invisible force that yanks him across the gap. Sef's Daimon now Sef's Daimon again, closes her eyes and vanishes.
"That gate" (points at the black gate to her Oneiros) "Is now held open only by my will. You have until they kill
me to get out of here" - Kosciej
She turns and runs.
"Goodbye, Catherine" - Kosciej, sadly
She reaches the gateway, but it's not as easy as it was when it was hers. She has to shove, to force herself into
it.
In the background, D!Kosciej is demanding to know what the plan is.
There's a noise from beside her, and Hades emerges from around a shattered doorway. He's leaking Plasm from
a gaping wound, and is partially transparent.
Kosciej has sat down, calm and resigned to his fate.
"Be still. There is nothing else" - Kosciej
There's a tearing sound as the ceiling is torn up. Shades - wicked insectoid things - begin to swarm around
Kosciej.
"You HAVE to have a plan!" - D!Kosciej, kicking at his host
The Shades swarm faster and faster, their mournful song hurting Sef's soul
"There must be SOME way out of here!" - D!Kosciej
Said the Joker to the Thief
Sef forces herself to look away, as Hades puts his hand over hers.
"I loved you" - Hades
He pushes, and she falls through, landing on the grass.
There is no sign of her Daimon.
...
In Birmingham, Samael is knelt at the side of the bed. Galatea's corpse is serene. She didn't suffer.
"That's it... Done. No fireworks" (barely holds back tears) "Nothing special" - Samael
The news is now reporting that almost everyone who was asleep at the time of the mysterious event woke,
panicking after a nightmare of a glass tower breaking. Some people can remember more - there's a man being
interviewed who says he fell into a blue light, and landed on a grey plain in front of a lead tower.
Well done, Kosciej. You broke the Universe.
Pandora puts her hand on his shoulder, and recasts the spell holding the worm in.
"Thanks" - Samael, hollow
He gets his phone out, and starts dialling Quark. Pandora gently takes the phone from him and stands him up,
facing her.
"The things you need are in Mictlan. There's no way through the Astral" - Pandora
"Only the Underworld" - Samael
"You and I have seen it - the gates of Mictlan, remember?" - Pandora
He nods. She casts Avernan Gate. A hole in space appears behind them, the edges grasping at them both.
Pandora kisses him, then pulls back, her hands on his shoulders.
"Run" - Pandora
Samael jumps.
Dave2: I just thought of that!
...
Samael lands on a chunk of Mictlan, feeling the impact jar his bones. He's here - he's really here, physically.
He looks over the wreckage, stretched out in front of him. The shattered remains of Mictlan are starting to drift
apart, the furthest-flung dissolving into the Abyss.
Right ahead, between Mictlan and the Light of Stygia, is the Shadow of the Psychopomp.
He starts walking, and then stops.
There's a police motorbike lying discarded a few paces from him.
"You have GOT to be kidding" - Samael
He squints, focusing on the very furthest edge of the wreckage, near to the Supernal.
"Bet it's there" - Samael
Chris: Of course, heading up there where the Psychopomp is is a crazy plan
Dave2: Just as well you're on a bike with a cool coat, then
...
Cobalt and his people huddle, listening to the Seers on the other side of their barricades and wards.
"Allandro's... I don't know what's happened. It's like he's not in his body any more - like his Soul's been
consumed by something" - Ashlar
Cobalt nods, trying not to think about what must have happened to Persephone.
His phone rings. He doesn't have to check the ID; he knows who's calling.
"Pandora" - Cobalt
"Samael's gone inside to get the artefacts. If they kill Kosciej, what's left of Mictlan will vanish - you HAVE to
keep them away from Kosciej's body!" - Pandora
He feels a chill go down his spine.
"Rex! They're coming for you NOW!" - Pandora
It's not *quite* what his Divination spell revealed. A few changes have occurred.
At least, he muses, Symmetry isn't here.
The door bursts open, and Symmetry runs in, trailing Excalibur and the gang behind her.
Cobalt quietly curses fate.
Magog looks around and - not seeing Persephone - takes off again.
"I'm.. Not meant to be here yet, am I?" - Symmetry
"Time is complicated" - Cobalt, sadly
He raises his voice.
"We need to protect Brianna! Samael's in the realm - if they kill Kosciej, it will... DON'T shoot Brianna! We have
to speed-bump the Ochema, buy him time..." - Cobalt
He turns to Boudicca
"Boudicca. As opponents go, you were the rational one. Thank you" - Cobalt
"The feeling's mutual" - Boudicca
The barricade explodes, and the air grows thick. Everyone's Unseen Senses go into overdrive.
The Ochema has arrived.
1.
The Ochema stalks in, followed by Seers. It doesn't look quite like Cobalt's vision - because, he realises, he's
turned off his Mage Sight due to being prewarned of it's arrival. Instead of the being within the body, then, he
sees the shell it's walking in.
Lankin's body.
Black blood oozing from where he was repeatedly stabbed, grave dirt caking the bare feet, the Ochema raises a
thin, frost-coated sword.
Where is he? - The Shadow of the Psychopomp
"His body's in a warded room. That way" - Cobalt
Stand aside - The Shadow of the Psychopomp
Cobalt grips the handle of the Spear of Destiny, hidden in his jacket pocket.
Outside, the Seers are singing.
"Stairs are over there" - Cobalt, pointing with the Spear.
It turns away, towards the stairs.
Cobalt throws a spell - the stairway fills with rubble falling from the disintegrating ceiling.
"What? Don't they have sarcasm in Stygia?" - Cobalt, contemptuous.
The Ochema hisses, and Cobalt feels his pattern tearing.
That's good enough for Gawain, who opens fire with both guns. The Pentacle and Seers rush at one another,
and general melee is joined.
Cobalt forces his legs to move, charging at the Ochema. Subtle Trowel in one hand, Spear of Destiny in the
other, a wordless battle-cry howling from his throat, he punts a Seer out of the way. Another Seer explodes into
a shower of dust to his left as Ashlar grabs him. Vidocq is stabbed by a Myrmidon to his right. Symmetry in
Tiger form tears into two Seers, while Boudicca sends a blast of fire at the enemy. Adder sweeps around himself
with the Snakestaff. Aegis, metal-bodied, rugby-tackles a Seer that was heading for Nimue.
The Psychopomp, grinning too wide, raises it's blade and meets him. He lunges with the Spear.
The Ochema parries his blow easily, and runs him through with a fluid motion.
Cobalt looks down at the Psychopomp's sword, impaling him through the gut. He looks up, to see the Ochema
cock Lankin's head as though studying a dying insect, before lifting the hilt to allow him to slide off and
collapse on the floor like a puppet with cut strings.
Cobalt looks at the ceiling. There's a lot of shouting going on nearby.
It doesn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Not really.
He is, in fact, now bleeding out
He realises that he's been dying for an awfully long time.
Slowly, painfully, he lifts his head. There, lying beside him, one eye sealed shut and purple, is Ashlar.
Ashlar has his hand around Cobalt's ankle, and is concentrating on a spell.
"I've got you, son. I've got you" - Ashlar, determined
Hooray for Ashlar! I figure with Death 4 and Time 5 he can stop people from dying. It's a concentration-duration spell,
though. Better hope Symm gets there quickly
...
With effort, Persephone forces her attention back to her real body. She tries to stand up, but realises she's still
handcuffed. With a burst of her Nimbus - the frost all around her erupting into butterfly-like forms - she breaks
them with a Fraying spell, and gets to her feet. She wrenches the door open and runs through the corridors.
Somewhere above her, there are the sound of explosions.
She stops, putting her hand against a wall for balance. Something's different.
She feels different.
"...He's gone" - Persephone, realising
With the return of her rightful Daimon, she is now finally within her right mind again. For the first time since she
Awakened, she doesn't have that mocking spectre of someone else's superego. D!K evolved to try to keep limits on
Kosciej's ambition by making him realise he wasn't all that - in Sef, who lost her sense of ambition and drive to *gain*
him, that was toxic.
A door slides open, and two bodies fall out. Followed by Magog.
"Magog!" - Persephone, running to him.
He catches her in a hug... And then they're kissing.
After a long time, they break off.
"What just happened?" - Persephone
"... .. We should go" - Magog
Awwwwwww
"Where are the others?" - Persephone
"Fighting the Ochema!" - Magog
...
Pandora paces in front of the Avernan portal
"Come on, Samael..." - Pandora
There is a noise like a bloodhound catching a scent, and cries go up from the other side.
The natives of the Abyss have noticed the doorway to Earth that's just opened.
"HURRY! Please!" - Pandora
...
Samael has passed what used to be the gateway ring (only Kosciej's Onerios gate now remains), and reached a
wide - and ever-widening - gap in Mictlan. On some of the chunks of the realm that are floating by, isolated
groups of ghosts are being destroyed by Shades.
He revvs the engine, gets a good run up and puts as much acceleration as the bike can manage, sailing over
the gap to land, hard, on the far side. Mictlan cracks under the impact, and the wheels squeal as he rights
himself and continues the journey.
Eventually, though, he can't continue - the terrain is too broken to use the bike. He abandons it, climbing by
hand up what was once a chunk of ring-corridor. He looks back at the portal to Earth, flickering far behind him...
And sees the Abyss about to swallow it.
...
Pandora is knocked off her feet as Something pours out of the Avernan portal, rushing past her, exulting in
freedom. Desperately, she gets up and peers through, looking for a sign - any sign - that Samael is on his way
back. What she sees in there horrifies her - dozens of unnameable things, circling the opening, fighting one
another to be the next one to push through.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" - Pandora
She cancels her spell, the portal vanishing with a crackle of mana.
Pandora, weeping, sinks to the floor.
She left hope inside.
My, but this Session is full of the purpose of various npcs, isn't it?
...
The Portal vanishes, the Abyssal entities barking in disappointment. Samael closes his eyes for a moment.
"Finish it" - Samael
He climbs onwards, heading for the tip.
...
Sef and Magog are running through the halls.
"They were back this way" - Magog
...
In the power station, the Ochema of the Psychopomp in Lankin's corpse reaches the door to "Kosciej's"
chambers. It gestures, and the doors rip themselves open.
The Ochema stares down at Hades' abandoned corpse.
Where IS he? - The Shadow of the Psychopomp
...
Samael has arrived at the front of Mictlan. The Light from Stygia fills the "skyline" ahead of them, piercing
through the darkness like a shaft of pale sunlight burning through fog, back-lighting the giant Ochema of the
Psychopomp which floats in the space between. Broken pieces of Mictlan crunch under Samael's feet as he
picks his way forward.
There, impaled in several places to a torn-up section of the realm like an obscene figurehead, is Kosciej. The
Shards and the Ankh are lying, scattered, on the broken ground around him.
Kosciej turns his head, painfully, at the sound of Samael's approach
"Glad you could make it" - Kosciej, croaking
Samael looks up at the Ochema.
YOU WILL NOT PASS - Psychopomp
"I don't intend to!" - Samael
It ignites its sword, and holds a skeletal hand up in a warding gesture. The piece of Mictlan Samael is on
buckles, like a floating lump of ice that's collided with something but is being driven onward by the current.
Samael, who was picking up the Shards, is knocked back, dropping the skull. He quickly puts the other two in
their correct positions on either side of him and triggers the Ankh.
Nothing seems to happen. Eventually, Kosciej breaks the silence with a wracking cough.
Samael gets to his feet again.
"Well, that wa..." - Samael
Samael explodes.
1.
Samael staggers, wavering on his feet as the glistening corpus of the Worm pours out of him, materialising a
few inches from his skin and flowing toward Stygia. A few meters away from him, it ignites, changing from what
resembles ectoplasm into pure energy, the stuff of starfire.
The Ochema of the Psychopomp is in the way. It has just enough time to look surprised before the Worm's
materialisation blasts a hole right through it. The Ochema screams and shatters, while the Worm - the Angel
that was once the Worm - unfurls what were once tentacles. Now whipcord-lines of energy, they remind Samael
of wings.
The light of Stygia flickers and vanishes as the Worm banks to the right. A new glow on the horizon manifests,
not the pale light that Kosciej's spell was drawing the Realm to, but a golden sunlight.
Across the shattered ruins of Mictlan, the Abyssal creatures and Shades are burnt away by the light of Aether.
The Worm sings, shooting tendrils out from it's "tail". They wrap around the larger pieces of Mictlan, which are
drawn in the Angel's wake as it begins to fly home.
Samael drops the Ankh, feeling his Path return in the light of his chosen Realm.
"Can you move!?" - Samael, loud against the Song of the worm
Kosciej tries to speak, but ends up shaking his head in pain.
What he's trying to say, is 'no' - The Shadow of the General
Samael looks up. Sat perched on the ruined structure Kosciej is bound to is the Ochema he met in Japan.
Why have two Ochemata when you can have three?
YOU are here physically. You will be consumed by the Abyss. Jack, however, has been bound to this
place - he wanted so much to Ascend... - The Shadow of the General
She drops down to them. Samael backs off, wary, as the Ochema looks Kosciej over. She lightly touches one of
the splinters of Mictlan he's been impaled on, then grips it and effortlessly yanks it free to Kosciej's howl of
pain.
...So we will welcome him to our court. For you, Dissolution and Death. For him, eternal torture. The Shadow of the General
"Funny how these things turn out" - Samael
Isn't it? You were warned - The Shadow of the General
She steps off the edge of Mictlan and floats out into the void, unfolding into her - its - true form. Samael averts
his eyes, not able to look at it too hard.
Kosciej gurgles.
...
Cobalt hears his phone ring. Then he hears someone pick it up.
"Who is this? Pandora?" - Excalibur
He hears Excalibur drop the phone, having realised who is lying next to it
"SYMMETRY!" - Excalibur
...
"On three..." - Samael, pulling the last spike out of Kosciej
The Liche drops to the floor, panting. He nods his thanks.
"They've got... Some kind of hook in my soul... I can't... I'm here Astrally. I keep trying to wake up, but I can't" Kosciej
Samael picks the Ankh up again and holds it out, questioningly. Kosciej shakes his head.
That wordless exchange was 'will the Ankh be able to get this 'hook' out?
"Well. We're fucked" - Samael
"Neither one of us is... Well... There IS a way out of here - for you. I can get you back to the Fallen World" Kosciej
"How?" - Samael
Kosciej twitches a grin
"But... They'll never stop hunting you. We've fought them and we've lost, but they CAN be killed, and you've
seen it. They won't forgive that... And if you stay around your friends they'll never stop hounding them, either" Kosciej
"You have a way out, but you're warning me off it?" - Samael, suspicious
Kosciej shakes his head, wincing
"I'm here Astrally, but I can't jack out. My gate is somewhere back there" (nodding back at Mictlan) ".. Oldest
trick I ever learned" - Kosciej
Understanding dawns on Samael.
"What are you suggesting?" - Samael
"I've stolen a lot of bodies in my time..." (trails off) "...I don't know why they haven't killed me yet" - Kosciej
"Maybe they haven't found you" - Samael
"That should give you a head start" - Kosciej
"Jack. You've stolen a lot of bodies. I could take that route and have some time. Or I could wake up to find an
Ochema's sword over my neck. Like you say - you've done this before. I never have, and I don't intend to start"
- Samael
"It's that or the Abyss" - Kosciej
"Maybe I deserve the Abyss" - Samael
"Don't think of it as theft. Think of it as... A donation. And an apology. I'm... Clear for the first time in a long,
long time" - Kosciej
He, after all, has been cured as well.
No reason to get excited
The Thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late
"if you can get a message to Catherine... If it's safe. Tell her - tell her not to exchange Daimons" - Kosciej
"She's a smart girl, she'll figure it out" - Samael
He looks out at the wreckage.
"Maybe there'll be a new Parliament, and another Mictlan. One day" - Samael
He feels Kosciej touch him, and cast something.
"What the..." - Samael
Information unfolds in his mind, memories upon memories compressed and downloaded. Lists. Names. Backup
plans. Blackmail. Weapons and Artefact stashes. Command cyphers for the Nameless. Free Council rote
Mudras. Guardian of the Veil rote Mudras. The locations of Seer Transport Nexii.
The means to wage a war.
"Jack..." (shakes his head, trying to clear it) "Jack. I'm not going to be your Redemption or your apology! I'm
NOT going to pick up where you left off - if you wanted to, you should have done it while you had the chance either time around" - Samael
"Do what you want with it! Don't make my mistakes..." - Kosciej
"...JACK. I've dealt with too many crazy old men imposing their will on the world. It comes in many forms; from
the Apocalyptic Plan" (takes in Mictlan with a sweep of his arm) "to pushing the weight onto someone else's
shoulders. I started my career as a mage as one man's attempt to apologise for what he'd done. Better that
people shoulder their responsibilities themselves" - Samael
Kosciej is shaking his head
"No expectations are laid. I go to face my punishment. YOU don't deserve this fate" - Kosciej
Samael stares at him, remembering everything he's done.
"I don't? Me? I killed Galatea. I've doomed how many souls to the Abyss?" - Samael, pained
And yeah, I think he really does feel that
"Then redeem yourself" - Kosciej
"By taking another person's body?" - Samael
"It was freely given to me. And I have no use for it any more" - Kosciej
The Light from Aether is growing brighter and brighter - it now hurts to look in the direction they're travelling.
The General's Ochema floats next to the gap in the abyss.
Samael raises his hand to shield his eyes, squinting.
Kosciej casts Steal Body.
In Reverse.
1.
There's a wrenching feeling, as though Samael were being torn in two, ripped from his material form, and then
both Kosciej and Samael are repelled from one another. The structure they're on breaks up even more, a chunk
narrowly missing Samael as it spirals off towards the portal to Aether.
Samael realises that he's no longer there. No physically, at least. He's Astrally projecting.
"You.. You UTTER.." - Samael
The Shadow of the General has become a thing of razored metal and fire.
You think THAT will work? - The Shadow of the General
Kosciej brandishes the Ankh, like a priest warding off a vampire
"SAMAEL! RUN!" - Kosciej
"OLD. MEN..." - Samael
He scrambles to his feet, and starts running. The Shadow of the General makes a sweeping motion with a
bladed extremity, and the forward tip of Mictlan is severed, floating off toward the Aether with Kosciej still
defiantly stood on it. Samael, though, is near enough to the cut to make the jump without breaking stride.
This was the *last* scene to be added to the Finale.
After I finished Mass Effect 2
THIS IS NOT OVER, JEREMIAH MORRISON - The Shadow of the General
Samael leaps over another gap, rolling as he lands. He ducks as an archway collapses behind him, and hops to
one side as the section he's on cracks with the impact.
I AM LEGION. MY SOULS WILL NEVER STOP HUNTING YOU - The Shadow of the General
Samael tries to remember where he saw Kosciej's gateway.
YOU HAVE KILLED THOUSANDS, WOUNDED MORE, AND YOU HAVE ACHIEVED NOTHING - The Shadow
of the General
Samael skids to a halt. He's at the gap he only managed to jump with the motorbike.
But the bike's gone, the gap is wider... And the Ochema is close behind.
...
Cobalt sits up, wincing, as Symmetry finishes healing him.
There is a crash as the Ochema of the Psychopomp returns, still flanked by it's attendant Seers.
WHERE IS HE? - The Shadow of the Psychopomp
"Hey. Fuckwit" - Excalibur
Excalibur draws his sword
"Didn't we already kill you?" - Excalibur
The Ochema flies toward him, thrusting at him with it's cold sword. Cal feints, sidestepping to the left, and
brings the Sword of Britain down on the Ochema's blade. Hard.
There is a flash of sparks and an acrid smell, and the blade of the Ochema's sword clatters to the ground. Cal's
sword cut right through it.
...
The Shadow of the General is advancing on Samael, tearing what's left of Mictlan up as it comes.
"Abyss take me, then. Because you won't" - Samael
He jumps.
About halfway across he realises he's not going to make it.
...
Excalibur looks at his sword
"Holy shit!" - Excalibur
The Ochema's back bulges, and wings of bone and sinew erupt from its rotting flesh. The fingerbones burst
from the fingertips, growing into talons, and the eyeballs burst, Lankin's cheeks running with gore.
Excalibur plants his feet squarely on the ground, standing between the monster and Cobalt. Symmetry
supports Cobalt as he half-sits, ready to defend him. Adder hefts his staff, Gawain keeps the Seers covered with
his guns. Ashlar and Vidocq stare down more of the Ochema's servants.
Nimue gets to her feet at the back of the huddle, and stares at the Ochema
"You shouldn't be here. Get out" - Nimue, threatening
And yes, she did say it in "Supernal Being" font.
It spreads its wings, and draws a rattling breath
You were all too late - The Shadow of the Psychopomp
The Seers scream, smoke curling from their mouths, as they die agonising deaths one by one. The Ochema
takes a half-step toward the huddled group of friends, and Cal waves his sword warningly.
"Go back to Stygia" - Nimue
The Ochema growls, and then seems to collapse in on itself, crumpling to the floor and dissolving in a too-fast
display of corruption and rot.
Gawain holsters his guns. Nimue shakes slightly.
"Remind me to never do that again" - Nimue
"We made it! We actually made it!" - Haruspex
Excalibur shakes his head, sadly
"...Not all of us" - Excalibur
...
Samael falls through the void, screaming. He misses the edge he was aiming for, plummeting past layers of
Mictlan.
There's a blur of movement, and someone reaches out as he falls past, grabbing his arm and - after holding
firm - pulling him up onto solid ground.
It's Chayot.
You didn't think I would let Samael do this *without* getting to meet Chayot's Ghost, did you? Especially after what he
just said to Kosciej about his apprenticeship?
This was, incidentally, the only twist in the tale that left the players speechless. I finally managed to surprise Chris.
Samael catches his breath, and looks around the group. Chayot. Duma. Arc. Vahista. Venus... All of the Echo
Walkers are here.
There is a crash from above and behind. The General is still coming.
"...I..." - Samael
"Brothers. Sisters. This is what we always wanted" - Chayot, looking up at the Ochema
Samael understands
"Thank you" - Samael
"And we you" - Arc
"I hope you find some kind of peace" - Samael
He starts running again
"Let us embrace the Ones Before!" - Chayot
The Echo Walkers rush the Ochema, as Samael runs, slides and jumps the remaining distance to the gateway
ring. As the Echo Walker ghosts are torn apart, the seconds they last buy him precious time. He sees Kosciej's
Oneiros gate ahead, and jumps for it.
He has a sensation of falling, a brief image of washing up on shore at the end/start of his Astral Path, and the
gateway vanishes behind him as Kosciej stops holding it open. Then he wakes up.
...
Samael comes awake with a start, bedsprings creaking beneath her. She's lying on a bare mattress on an old,
rusted bed frame. The coppery smell of blood is everywhere.
She sits up, pressing a hand to her forehead and noting that the hair falling in her face is blonde, then realises
that the room is filled with corpses.
Dozens of bodies litter the floor, dead from terrible stabs and cuts. Several appear to have had their hearts torn
out. The bed has a runic circle drawn around it - and she recognises the High Speech. It's the spell that
Mycroft's friends in India used.
The one that makes the subject invisible to the Exarchs.
And *that* is why they couldn't find him
Samael puts her bare feet on the floor and tries to stand up, but slips in the blood and falls, catching herself on
the edge of the bed.
Someone puts their hands under her armpits, helping her to her feet.
She turns around, and stumbles back. Standing very close - too close for comfort - is Cxaxa. The ancient mage
has the Knife she retrieved from Sen An Su drawn, the tip between Samael's breasts.
"Are you Kosciej?" - Cxaxa
"Am I fuck" - Samael
Cxaxa's stone eyes flicker
"When did we last meet?" - Cxaxa
"In India" - Samael
Cxaxa nods, curt, and sheaths her knife.
"Excellent. Welcome, back" - cxaxa
She steps back, over a body
"As you can see, this location is no longer safe. We must be on our way" - Cxaxa
"Where..." (swallows, feeling the shape of her new mouth) "Where to? Or rather.. Where did you have in mind?"
- Samael
"Wherever you wish" - Cxaxa
"Somewhere it will be hard for them to find me. I need... I need time to think through everything" - Samael
"You have fought them and wounded them. I am your bodyguard for as long as you need me" - Cxaxa
Originally Posted by What I've Done
"Power. The Higher realms. War against the Exarchs" - Cxaxa
"You are my bodyguard?" - Samael
"I pledge myself to your service" - Cxaxa
"great" - Samael
Cxaxa begins to cut a Portal in the air, slashing space with her knife.
"We have a War to plan. The Angel who was the servant of many, cast from Heaven to wage a war against the
Throne?" - Cxaxa
The Portal opens
"After you, Lucifer" - Cxaxa, with - scarily enough - the utmost respect
Lucifer shakes her head, sadly, and steps through.
Ta-DAAAA!
I'm sorry, I think I should be doing some kind of conjurer's flourish
...
Too many people have died. Abbott, Gaunt, Harkness, Cobra, Viper, Rivet, Choke, Breaker, Galatea, Allandro,
Samael. More are wounded - Vidocq, Aegis, Aquila.
The Pentacle are withdrawing, abandoning the factory in something of a chaotic retreat.
"Where are you heading?" - Cobalt, sat with Symmetry on the bonnet of Coba

The Soul Cage (part 2)

Transcription

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