Me: Philip Gray Alayna: Nara Therron: Sebastian Jeremy: Kenji Jamie: Killian
2020-02-16: Starting out with Philip {{{1
Start date: January, PA 102. Place: Lacey. I am the firstborn in my family, and a bit of a hothead, an outlaw on the run. My 14-year-old brother Peter has been missing for some time -- not an unusual thing in itself, but one day Federation soldiers come looking for him, saying that they have evidence that he's been having dealings with demons. As such, there is now a price on his head. My parents are distraught, and I volunteer to go looking for him. He is believed to have headed west. I search his room and discover several things. First, his backpack, containing his journal a tome (written in Dragonese, which I cannot read), and a metal tube inscribed with runes. The tube is closed at both ends, but hollow inside, and I can hear something shifting around inside it. I see no way of opening it at present. The journal indicates that Peter was working on some sort of communication, saying something like, "I saw him again, but he cannot hear me." I also see that the things in his closet have all been torn up. Feeling around, I find an old postcard depicting Reno, NV. The backside is filled with a block of ones and zeroes. As I turn around, I catch sight of an odd, temporary distortion in the mirror's surface. Investigating, I see nothing but some claw marks -- apparently scratched into the surface of the desk headed in the direction of the mirror, but by casting See Invisible discover an invisible parchment written in a constantly-shifting series of languages, some of which seems to indicate the need to conceal said document. I also discover a technowizard (TW) quill, which I take. Questioning Peter's friends in town, I discover that he had placed an expensive order for some unidentified dried leaves (which later turn out to be wolfsbane), but left town before the order came in. He also engaged the aid of his other friend in obtaining the plant moonshade from a nearby swamp. I then set out for Arzno (roughly Arizona), where my uncle Lem (who is a technowizard) lives, and where Peter and I have spent every summer since we were kids. Arriving, I catch up with Lem, who says he's had some customers asking after demon weapons, insinuating that infernal pursuits run in the family. I set out to find my cousin Alex (Alexis), and my friend Randall who is a PSI-gunner and gambler. On the way, I find Maisie a street urchin whom I know, and she tells me Peter had been through town about a week ago before heading south (which is vampire territory). She also informs me that some mercenaries were looking for both me and Alex. In exchange for a TW tent, she agrees to keep us alerted in case of trouble. Lastly, she tells me that Randall is in the Killer Cave, a local watering hole. I find him there playing poker and fleecing his fellow players (with the help of his gigantic lizardman friend, who intimidates any malcontents at the table). We catch up for a while before Alex comes in. She's been off helping a local ranch handle a Worm Wraith. She killed it by trapping it in a pocket dimension, then lobbing grenades into said dimension until it was blown to smithereens. This kind of magic (temporal) is highly difficult to come by -- where did she learn it? She looks over the tome and says it is the "Book of Shadows," and describes the Shadowland, a dimension of shadow creatures bent on domination, and who travel between worlds via mirrors. This explains the claw marks on Peter's desk. These shadow creatures also tend to possess, dominate, and make doppelgangers of those they attack. She identifies the tube and says it is a message scroll, though she doesn't want to open it. Lastly, she suggests visiting Abigail, the local apothecary, to ask about the mystery leaves and also about the uses of moonshade. On the way home that night, a street kid comes out and starts cursing at us in Spanish -- the sign that there was trouble ahead. The street kids show us a safe path back home, and we sleep in safety. The next day, we visit Abigail, who tells us that the leaves are wolfsbane, used to combat werewolves, but also in intentional shapeshifting magic. As for moonshade the leaves, she says, have psychotropic properties, while the roots cause numbness in small doses, paralysis in larger ones. After this, we head out to the Johnsons' ranch, a family who dropped out of radio contact over a week ago and are feared dead in an attack of some kind. Upon arrival, we see the windows and doors barred from the inside, and the root cellar locked. After prying the windows open to let daylight in (in case of vampire presence), we open the front door and discover the entire house destroyed, and bodies everywhere. Strangely, the bodies seem to be of banditos, not the Johnsons. Further investigation reveals some vampire skeletons as well, but all seem to have been savaged by some third party. The only thing in the house NOT broken is a mirror in the bathroom. Remembering Alex's description of the Shadowlands, I break the mirror in order to avoid being ambushed by something coming out of it while our backs are turned. Upstairs, we find the Johnsons hiding in a safe room. Apparently, they were being attacked by banditos when vampires took advantage of the chaos and also attacked. Then, after the family had retreated to the safety of the safe room, some other monstrosity emerged from the bathroom and killed everything else in the house. Luckily it was unable to enter the safe room, but it returned every night since then. Their barn reveals that Peter had spent the night there, renting it for lodging, and had drawn a circle of protection against evil while the attack was going on in the house. We help them set off for the safety of Arzno, then investigate the locked cellar. Down there we find 6 vampires who had barricaded themselves in out of terror of the sun by day, and the mirror-creature by night. We dispatch them all (Alex by conjuring flying wooden stakes), then head back to Arzno.
2020-02-18: Showdown at the Church {{{1
Jan 20 (in-game date): Also found in Peter's protection circle in the Johnsons' barn: a small key, odd-looking (aside: looks like a locker key from like a train station or similar).
Outskirts:
Returned to the house. Asked Lem about Alex's magic skills. Where did she learn all this? And what about her tattoos? A snake or dragon curled up one arm, colored bands up the other. Alex's tattoos move??? Things under the snake & bands. New since last year, he says. She just left the house one morning, returned in the evening, and she suddenly had both sleeves of tattoos. No swelling, either, as if she's already had them a long time.
Lem also says he found a note delivered anonymously to his doorstep: "I have info on your brother. Chapman Church, 1 pm."
In the morning I pick up my armor, join up with Alex and Randall, and head out to the church, which lies some distance outside of town. As holy ground, it gets a lot of usage -- as a cemetery, mostly, in order to prevent people's relatives from being turned into vampires. The authors of the note turn out to be Federation Lord Magus and an elf, who just wanted to lure us out and interrogate us regarding Peter's whereabouts. Things are looking tense, when Alex suddenly does something, time and space twist somehow, and we find ourselves back in the house in town. But not before Randall lobs a plasma grenade at our two friends as a parting gift. Lem is mystified.
Next, we start heading out of town in order to avoid the Federation agents, but are summoned by Sallie Mae, who sends us out to a raider camp. The raiders belong to a faction which has been encroaching on Sallie Mae's territory, and she wants it taken care of. Also, there is a chance that Peter is or was at the camp. We go, overtaking (and avoiding) the local military on the way there. We encounter a tribe of Apaches, who tell us that they've had a run-in with a werewolf who has been killing their people in the night. We agree to help them, and their medicine man makes us a few wolfsbane grenades for our use. Accompanied by a young Apache who has yet to pass his test of manhood, we find the camp the next day, and after a tough fight we manage to defeat them and incapacitate the werewolf. In the camp itself we find a computer tablet and Peter's mirror, which he used to talk into when he was much younger. The medicine man gives us a fetish which marks us as friend of the Apaches. The Apache youth, now named Bravewing, gives us a bone knife as a token of his appreciation. Heading back to Arzno, Sallie Mae hacks into the tablet and discovers that the Occult (AKA the Nocturnal Hand ), hired the banditos, looking for something of Peter's.
2020-02-25: First Meeting with Nara {{{1
I meet with Nara when she enters the Last Stand in the company of some merchants whom she met en route from Montana. She is looking for a family heirloom, a moonstone amulet stolen from her sister. She is looking for Dirk Callan, who happens to be the head of the Nocturnal Hand .
2020-04-14: The Bunker, Pt. 1 {{{1
Feb 1. Starting at the Last Stand . Sallie Mae wants us to do some recon prior to doing a job for her. 60 mi West: the site of a pre-Rift factory. Not sure why it hasn't been sacked yet. She warns us not to go inside yet, just see whether it's occupied or in use. We leave the next morning in Nara's RV, well stocked courtesy of Sallie Mae. Asks us to check out towns along the way, as possible customers. Watch out for Coalition patrols; try to snag their datapads if we can.
Small town ~30 mi out. "Traders Welcome" sign out front. Woodfall, pop. 860. Suggests Mama's Cafe, asks us to leave MD weapons inside the RV. Market: temporary structures & ppl selling out of their vehicles: textiles, produce, clothing, homewares; guns, ammo, armor.
Randall notices that the guns are largely Wilkes (a manufacturer of laser weapons). The back of a Humvee-style vehicle carries a lot of weapons that look brand new. Run by a rough-looking man with a broken nose who does not use Wilkes weapons himself. Also has a wire running to his ear -- and there are others with the same wire, who are accompanying some wealthy soon-to-be-customers. One of them tries to sell us some weapons, but Randall cons him into buying a watch he'd pilfered. Another one tries to break up the deal, but Alex does something to him and he just wanders straight into the desert, vacant-eyed. Joe (the arms dealer) is selling brand-new laser weapons at a ridiculous 300% markup in price. He is evasive as to why he is selling them here, and at such inflated prices.
Market seems to be lacking Bandito Arms; nothing but scavenged arms & armor (except for the gentlemen selling the Wilkes stuff).
Mama's: A respectable restaurant, and very busy. Waitress tells us the town
At the bar: a person holding something in their left hand -- a Federation of Magic symbol. Clean shaven, sipping whiskey. Razors on his arms. Federation armor looks hot, but he's not bothered by it.
10 mi outside of Woodfall, we see smoke in the distance, which turns out to be a battle between people in a ramshackle abode, and some bandits. We decide to intervene and fend of those bandits. Found badge w/ ID card: "Capt. Calvin Johnson." Looks almost brand new. Blood Type, series of numbers, barcode, and chip. Emblem: NEMA, under which a stars-and-bars kind of symbol. Others in similar garb are found in the dirt around. One with a big hole in him, other hit by shrapnel.
Trapdoor leads down to corridor & security door w/ 22A on it. Waving the ID makes it open. Inside we find a locker room, one of which was Capt. Johnson's. Contains an SDC.
Northern Eagle Military Alliance (NEMA).
Capt's Quarters: Journal. Vibrosabre: 2d4 MD. Ceremonial. Laser Pen: Used for rescue or repair. Like a handheld torch. 1 eclip = 18 hours constant use.
2020-04-19: The Bunker, Pt. 2 {{{1
Filing cabinets, full of personnel files containing info on ~40 individuals who never arrived at the facility. Another one holds blank ID/access cards.
Elevators leading to 2 lower floors.
Floor -2: Two Battle armors inform us that only security levels Delta and Epsilon are allowed. We return and adjust our security levels accordingly. Roles: Command (Alayna), Security (Me), Maintenance, Engineering, Medical, Intel (Randall), Para-Arcane (Alex), Volunteer, Pilot, Chromium Guardsmen.
West Door: Maintenance/Repair Bay. East Door: Reactor. South corridor: Basic Facilities, HVAC, Hydroponics (functional, but contains no plants), Water Filtration.
Reactor: Alex not allowed in. Maintenance/Repair Bay: Alex again not allowed in. Filled with robot repair bays.
Floor -1: East Door: Medical. Leads to a surgery and an infirmary. In the infirmary is a pharmacy filled with expired medicine and nanites.
South Door: Four battle robots posted, drop-down cannons. Security door to the south lets me in.
Battle Armor: "Gun Buster"
We spend the night here, before setting out again. Alex marks the spot by touching a nearby stone...
Coalition patrol surrounds us ~1 mile away from the factory. We are at gunpoint and blinded by lights.
2020-04-26: Factory & First Meeting with Sebastian {{{1
After the battle, Sebastian (Therron) appears as a Coalition soldier being attacked by his fellow Coalition soldiers (who are also attacking us). He has no idea why. He says his unit was sent to investigate the Factory as well, as a Fade community which has suddenly reappeared. We set out together to investigate the Factory.
Nara says the Factory smells like sulfur and metal. It is entirely dark and still, yet well-maintained. No heat signatures immediately visible from outside the building. We rest for the night.
During the night I sense an active Rift nearby. It's been open the entire time I was on watch (unusual in that temporary rifts tend to be closed behind the travelers using them). Sebastian notices movement (humanoid) within the building. No heat signature, ratty clothes, tight skin, almost no hair.
We compare notes, then check in with Sallie Mae, who tells us to investigate the condition of the interior of the Factory. Alex flies over the facility and discovers the only entrance is the front door.
Passing the guard shack, Nara and Sebastian notice phantom buildings on either side out of the corner of their eyes, which disappear when they try to look directly at them. Sebastian also notices at least 10 more shambling figures within the buildings up close; all their clothes are not only tattered, but also match -- they're wearing uniforms.
The rift suddenly becomes more active than before. Sebastian reports that he hears something BIG approaching us. A large fire demon materializes behind us, wielding a fiery sword. After we destroy it, Alex picks out a deeply red crystal from its remains. Nara's laptop (from the NEMA bunker) buzzes: "OMNI connection reestablished. Downloading updates."
2020-05-03: Factory, cont'd. {{{1
I switch out my armor (destroyed by the fire demon) and contact Sallie Mae, who says she needs more info. Sebastian asks Nara to surgically remove a device implanted in his lower back that tracks his movements.
The half-seen buildings suddenly fully appear. Everybody's equipment goes crazy. A figure appears in the center of the compound, raises its arms and points at us. The shambling figures start in our direction (~60 of them). He carries beat-up, mismatched armor, amulet, book. Alex says don't touch the book; she will. But she refuses to touch the amulet. Amulet: form of a symbol of the profane dead, connected to demon worship and otherworldly patrons.
In one of the houses, there is a mirror with claw-marks on the dresser. Nara accidentally looks into it, and a demon starts to emerge from it. Sebastian bursts in and upends the dresser/mirror, which lands face-down, preventing the demon from completely entering through it.
Josephine Webber's diary: Schoolgirl ramblings, uncle teaches her to talk to the mirror.
"Foundry 121: Lockdown initiated by NEMA." Message on laptop. After connection to OMNI, we didn't upload our information (personnel info from the bunker's files), so this computer doesn't recognize us as members of NEMA yet. We plan to go back to the bunker, perform the surgery on Sebastian, then enter his personnel info and upload everything to OMNI. We're afraid that if we turn everything on, some automated defense will start attacking him.
Nara performs surgery and updates Sebastian's cyber software, completely replacing the Coalition ones. Then he goes down to the Armory and takes the Gun Buster power armor.
{Chaos Earth sourcebook -- read up through this if you're interested}
We rest up for the night, then plan to return to the Foundry first thing in the morning.
2020-05-10: First Meeting with OMNI {{{1
Josephine Webber has been in contact with my brother via the mirrors. It is his voice that comes to her from the mirrors, and he (if it is indeed him, and not a demon impersonating him), seems to offer her constant reassurances about future events. One one page are some strange charts with arcane symbols. One with superimposed triangles and runes, along with some mathematical symbols. I show these to Nara and Alex in the hopes that they can decipher them. She says these look like calculations to open a rift to a specific location.
Passage in sign language: A summoning for a creature. Reading this out loud would use this up (1-time use).
Nara informs us that some OMNI representatives are en route to our bunker, after having noticed that systems are back up and online. ETA 43 hours.
Proximity alarm goes off: cameras detect a humanoid form with tentacles approaching the bunker before the camera is destroyed. Motion sensors show approaches from 3 sides.
Garbage smelling demon: like a slug with a lamprey mouth and tentacles. Grabs Alex and pulls her into the next room. It is also holding some small black demon-looking fellow who is busy poking it with a pitchfork. A devil, not a demon. And there's a lot of animosity between demons & devils. Name is Fidget.
OMNI crew arrives with 14 flatbed trucks, 6 Humvees, 2 hovertanks. A small army of robots, and 1 human emerge. The man summons the elevator and goes down. Introduces self as Arsenal. Wears goggles, across the surface of which streams a constant stream of data. He explains that he needs to construct some cover buildings on the surface, intentionally dilapidated-looking, to conceal bunker activity while also increasing its security. His talk of freedom and equality convinces us (for the moment) that he's reasonably honest, and we agree to help him and OMNI.
Arsenal shows us a satellite feed of the Foundry, indicating that the zombies are active again. This Foundry, he says, creates pre-rift metal of great strength, which other, less equitable factions (such as the Coalition and the Federation) would very much like for themselves. OMNI cannot let these materials, or similar pre-Rift weapons, fall into their hands. We are to return to the Foundry in the morning.
2020-05-17: Return to the Foundry {{{1
Magically created zombies: immune to physical attacks (like non-silver bullets), turn dead, spells, negation. Fire: full. Energy: 1/2. Firebolt & similar spells do full damage.
The zombie controller from before? His body is missing now, and the zombies are back up and shambling around. Also, differently from last time, the zombies are busy doing something, namely clearing debris from a barracks-looking building. Nara recognizes that the equipment is not of this world, but has been transported to this one via some rift. The rift is also active.
The necromancer appears, looking rather undead: he has become a lich, and has the same invulnerabilities as the zombies.
Technowizard device is keeping portal open. We manage to unplug it, and the portal collapses.
Control Center: We see footage of a giant, betentacled monster within the Foundry.
2020-05-31: Inside the Foundry {{{1
We begin to smell fresh-cut grass, and are affected by phosgene gas present in the office area. We also hear something roaring and moving around in the next room. Heading into the corridor, we are confronted by a group of insectoid alien creatures.
Control Center: screens, biometric pads. Randall is down due to the gas, but Alayna tends to his condition. Footage shows a large rift, through which the giant creature emerged earlier. A smaller rift produced a magic user, who then brought the insectoid creatures in his wake. He tries to access the control center, but fails. He takes a series of hostages, questions them under torture, but kills them without apparently learning anything. He was also wearing a Federation uniform.
Alayna has also suffered some kind of infection from the wounds inflicted by the insectoids. This infection prevents her from regenerating.
In order to escape, we need to get past the enormous betentacled monster in the main room.
Ideas: distraction? Ventilation shafts (Fidgit)?
Level up to lvl 3! Also allowed to pick 1 stat to increase by 1 point from this point on (max 30).
2020-06-07: Inside the Foundry (Cont'd.) {{{1
Arsenal finds a book with my name on it lying in a hallway. I do not recognize the handwriting. Near the book, I get the same feeling as I did when a rift opened nearby about 15 min ago. The book is the same type as the ones my brother Peter used to use. Almost a laboratory notebook. Topic: transportation to the Shadow realm. Another sticky note halfway through the book: "This is where the change occurred."
Peter tried to enlist the aid of other Rifters, none of whom were able to help. He then turned to Shifters (people who make pacts with otherdimensional beings in exchange for power). Initials of said individuals are mentioned: "WT" helps him the most. He says the whispers become more insistent, but he doesn't understand what they say. He approaches others with math equations fed him by the whispers. He is apparently missing a component from his equations. After the "change" page, the penmanship becomes much stronger, puncturing the page in places.
Third sticky note, near the end of the journal: "This is where he was lost." Penmanship changes again to normal, but verbage is now more flowery, less scientific, euphoric in tone. Last page says he goes to work at the Federation the next day, and that he can' wait to show them his results.
With the help of the combat robots in the compound (one of which self-destructs as an attack -- it is very susceptible to fire), we destroy the creature. Upon inspection, we find that it is not a demon, monster, or magical creature. Our best guess is that it's extradimensional or alien.
I notice pages in the journal detailing how to cast certain spells:
I can learn these spells via study, but it will take some time.
We then return to the bunker, where we tend to Randall, and I mod my armor. We also report to Sallie Mae: without giving her all the details, we say we were repelled by combat robots before we could enter the Foundry. She curses, but thanks us for our efforts, and says she has another job for us that she's working on. We schedule another time to radio her in the future.
2020-06-14: Charity Work {{{1
Sallie Mae: Information for Nara regarding moonstone. The Immaterial Hand is trying to make some technowizard link in the town of Charity.
Sheila Morat: 3 jobs for us in the area, as cover for our mission against the Immaterial Hand:
Charity: A bandit's paradise, about 1½ days distant.
We start in Arzno. An aquaintance says Giles "the Gimp" is looking for me, spending an awful lot of money in the process. Giles is the Inquisitor whom we injured in the leg last time at the church.
We go to a caravan camp in order to avoid Giles. We go to a local bar, hear that I am currently fetching 20,000 cr, and Randall 30,000 cr, on a bounty being offered.
Next table: smuggling of goods, which Bandito must not find out about. They say they're leaving in about an hour for the Colorado Baronies, on the same route we would be taking towards Charity. Looking for a few extra hands to help before they do leave. Alex sneakily changes my & Randall's appearances with magic.
We contact Sallie Mae and inform her about the smugglers, then agree to join their party and keep an eye on them, while also gaining cover on the road. We pretend to be looking for work, going from one caravan to the next until we find the smugglers.
As we approach the smugglers, Nara notices several severe injuries among them. Their vehicles are also damaged. They offer to hire us for 5000 cr up front, 15,000 on arrival. When they find out Nara's a doctor, they double her pay in return for treatment.
Fidgit says the trucks are loaded with "bad stuff" -- armor, weapons, chests containing clay bricks (explosives?) and another one filled with a strange liquid. In the last one are 16 large liquid-filled vats containing some type of creatures, alive but dormant. He also mentions that he's never seen some of this stuff before.
2020-07-12: Traveling with the Caravan {{{1
We set out with the caravan. After a few days, we see smoke rising in the distance and are sent out to investigate.
Mystic force nearly knocks us off our horses. Nara senses a strongly evil presence, followed by the sounds of detonations. The 2 guards we're traveling with seem oblivious to the mystic force. We decide to check it out from a distance, creeping up to the top of a nearby hill.
We see a homestead, burned and smoldering, surrounded by riding beasts and about 10 Simvin corpses (raiders who ride dinosaurs), and ~15 "civilian" corpses. The Simvin are smashed, beaten, torn -- but NOT shot. The explosion site is a large hole with twisted metal inside.
Nara goes down to investigate. The wounds on the various bodies around were inflicted by something large that grabbed them, then tore them apart. 2 are still alive, only because of their cyborg components. The tracks all around seems to be a mix of rubber, metal, etc. all twisted together to form a "foot."
I find the body of a small girl, leaning against which is a rag doll, carefully placed. Small, doll-like (?) tracks lead up to the body, but no others do.
The site of the explosion, and the mass of twisted metal at its center seems to be an amalgamation of random machines, mashed together to form some kind of golem or something.
Nara finds a camera mounted on one of the vehicles, still recording. It shows footage of the raiders killing the homesteaders, followed immediately by a howling wind, the sound of rending metal, and a lot of destruction at the hands of the newly-formed mechanical thing.
I also find a journal full of handwritten notes. Astrological notes, similar to those in my brother's notes. Also a lot of stuff in Elvish (which I can't read). Entry right before all this: "Boss told me to record what we found in the cave." They had been instructed to go to the Steppic Hills, to collect some items, deliver them to a certain shaman. Complains that all the shadows in this valley seem to be full of whispers.
Most recent entry: "Boss wants us to attack a certain homestead and kill everybody there."
Also, that doll (which we had buried with the homesteaders) is now hanging onto my backback again.
Nara starts playing with one of the data tablets, which starts glitching and turning to static screen and playing white noise. Fidgit pops out and kicks it out of her hand, saying she really doesn't want to play that out loud.
I eventually can see through the static to make out a circle diagram, summoning spell, to open a path and bring something through.
Alex inspects what we've round and asks, "Why do you want to talk to a balrog?" A greater demon, almost a demon lord. Turns out the tablet is a TechnoWizard device, hacked and reconstructed in order to automatically perform this summoning ritual. Selling this would bring much money, but also give away the ability to mass reproduce such devices (and their accompanying spells).
Looking through journal: Gundy is the main boss. Shep was the leader of the smaller squad that was destroyed at the homestead. Shep was instructed to use the explosives to create a centralized pit into which all the corpses were to be deposited -- including many from other such raiding parties attacking other sites around the area. Shep did not see eye-to-eye with Gundy; Shep wanted money, but Gundy had something else in mind.
Nara repairs the doll, sewing its eye back on. The next morning it has moved from my backpack to the car seat next to Nara. We're told we should reach the Colorado Baronies by evening. Nara wolfs out and smells it; she detects nothing. She tries leaving it behind, but is overwhelmed by a feeling of sorrow and retrieves it again.
By night, we arrive at the city of Charity: a large, lawless slum. Outside the city limits is a caravan camp. Falconer, the captain of the caravan says they'll be in the area for a few days before moving on, and that we're welcome to continue on with them if we like.
Falconer talks with one of his sergeants about moving some stuff. Solomon Felix's name is mentioned in this connection. We go get some grub with them. Falconer excuses himself to go "conduct some business," then walks into the back room. We send Fidgit to spy, and he reports that there's a pointy-eared fellow haggling the time & price of an exchange of goods: noon tomorrow, at a warehouse.
Our contact in Charity: Sheila Morath. Should we try to find her before the meeting tomorrow?
Reading through journal again: yellow sticky catches my eye. On it: "This page is important." The page: penmanship changes, coming after they'd been through the Steppic Hills. "I keep getting a lot of questions asking if I'm alright. Am I acting different?" After this, penmanship goes back to normal. Later, after a 10-day period of silence, he says the earplugs no longer work, that the voices are in his head now.
In the middle of the night, a group of people break into our room with stun batons and shackles.
Fidgit says he found our contact Sheila, in a big house on the north end of town. We want to see her in the morning before the big drop.
2020-07-19: A Knife in the Hand is Worth Two in the Back {{{1
Fidget says our caravan is being watched from 3 different directions. He stabs me in the hand, and suddenly I can see everything from outside my body. He takes me to an alley, where a modern NEMA robot (Coalition design) is there watching us. #2: On opposite side from alley; a small shadow on the corning of a building. Quadruped shape inside, more bestial than anything else, made of darkness. Lying behind a dumpster behind it is a mirror. It appears to be watching me (my body). #3: Underground. Catacombs directly under caravan. Rotting creature stares directly up at us through the earth. No clothes or other markings on it. To my knowledge, ghouls and vampires cannot see through earth. I get the impression that Fidget is not an imp, but a diminished creature or demon. Imps can't draw a person's essence out of their bodies in this manner.
The skele-bot comes shambling out of the alley, in an abnormal gait, in a straight line toward the shadow creature. And it starts fighting it.
At the same time, we hear a rumbling under the earth, and a hand erupts from the ground to grab at the doll (currently controlling the skele-bot). Its wrist is as thick as a human's thigh. Nara tries to chop it off with a vibroblade.
2020-07-21: Side Mission, Part I {{{1
Fidget comes to me in the night with a baffled look on his face and a scroll in his hands. He tells me that he was "intercepted" and compelled to bring me this message.
Street Urchin taps me on the shoulder, tells me Sheila has work for us. He offers us a portion of a Dimensional Portal scroll -- a verrry nice spell indeed. Takes us to an abandoned-looking building, points to the basement, and says something bad is going on down there. We enter, and it is disgusting inside, hallways strewn with trash, drunks, and corpses.
We head downstairs to the basement. The darkness is unnatural -- it actually resists illumination from my Globe of Daylight. We find a weirdly clean area, devoid of everything but walls and floor. Behind the door on the far side is a self-contained Rift emitting a blinding light.
One man comes barreling through from behind us, and leaps into the rift. He is followed by a heavily armed man bellowing, "JEFFREY!" Nara follows. Before I can enter, anoter pair come in from behind me: a sneak-knife with a psy-blade, a samurai woman, a partial-conversion cyborg technomage, and another woman, armed with pistols, who simply walks through the wall. They are looking for Jeffrey, whoever this guy is, and are friends with Mr. Potato Gun.
Assassin: Curt. Samurai: Jade. Pistolera: Mary. Borg: Laura. Crazy: Poe.
We pursue Poe, and are overtaken by a hovercraft, which immediately launches rockets at us.
We find an ENORMOUS city with mile-high walls, tunnel through one of said walls to gain access. We steal some clothes to blend in.
2020-07-26: Side Mission, Part II {{{1
We find a huge concrete slab, devoid of everything, no buildings, debris, anything. Speakers start emitting whistling sounds, and everybody retreats inside right away. Poe stays outside and starts looking up at the sky. The 3 planetary rings start to converge. The entire world seems to fill with magic, a bolt strikes the center of the slab, and a pyramid appears with 4 monoliths at its corners. It smells of another world. Statues line the path that leads up to the entrance to the pyramid. They are of Egyptian gods, but start to morph into alien forms the closer we get to the pyramid itself, going backward in time to the Great Old Ones. Alex says the pyramid is Atlantean, currently controlled by the Sploogorthians, some interdimensional slavers. Pyramids were designed as gateways between other, similar pyramids in other dimensions. So either it's supposed to transport a lot of stuff, or one REALLY BIG thing.
The top of the pyramid opens up, and winged things swarm out and start attacking the town, carrying off inhabitants. We climb the front steps of the pyramid, leading to two 20x20' stone doors. 4 statues there.
Suits of armor lining the hallways have symbols on them I recgonize from Peter's journal. Symbols for one of his circles of protection. I try to deface these with a vibroblade, but the e-clip is drained immediately and the knife ceases to function.
Shelf of books, a drawer with quills and a bone-handled knife. Very high-quality MD damage knife. We find slaves (human and otherwise) in holding cages.
We open one door, marked with a yellow sticky note suspiciously similar to the ones I've been finding in Peter's journals and notes. Inside we see a lush room furnished with a fireplace, bearskin rug, and a desk, behind which sits a woman signing papers. She introduces herself (telepathically, or at least in a voice that sounds inside Nara and my heads) as Amalia, and she seems to have been expecting us. She says she needs our help in retreiving a certain item. Further inside the pyramid is a capstone, which will allow us to use the gates left behind by Amalia's people. She will teach us how to use it, as well as teaching us some forgotten magic. She says Peter is in the hands of the Shadow Lords, who wish to conquer Earth because it is a nexus to many other worlds. Stone is 2.5x6" tall, covered in glyphs. After telling us these things, she and the entire room she was in disappear, revealing the closet that had been there the entire time.
2020-08-02: Side Mission, Part III {{{1
Eldritch Battle Mage: I will gain access to other spells; Federation of Magic can no longer trace my whereabouts, and no longer be recognized as one of their members. Levels 1-4, which normally take 1 action to cast, I can now cast 2 of them. Levels 5+, which normally take 2 or more actions to cast, now take 1 less action. But only attack spells. I have also gained the ability to read & understand Eldritch (Literacy; Eldritch) Also to recognize Eldritch runes & wards. All attack spells cost 1/2 their normal PPE.
In a particularly long hallway, we see a light approaching us, which turns out to be an incoming fireball. We try to avoid whatever launched this at us, but then run into a group of guards and some kind of hellhounds with scorpion tails.
Battle Awareness (new ability): I become aware that more hellhounds are on the way.
We find a huge open area, skirted by railings. The whole place is crawling with those winged things that were previously busy carrying off villagers, and we beat a hasty retreat.
2020-08-11: Homeward Bound {{{1
We catch up with Jeffrey, who is in the hands of torturers. He conjures a portal and jumps through it, stone in hand. We pursue him back to our world and quickly capture him. The 4 mercenaries say they're looking for Alex Springer to get the bounty for Jeffrey the wizard.
I have a dream about Jeffrey; on his chest are symbols from the Federation of magic, indicating that he was one of the High Mages, who create the automata, giant robots controlled by magic.
In the morning, that one fellow from the Federation (Giles the inquisitor, walking with a limp) finds us at our camp.
REMINDER: Don't forget to use Fidget as a resource!
2020-08-16: TCB {{{1
We are on horseback, with Solomon Felix in tow, en route to the dropoff point. We meet with Sheila Moran, who offers to pay us in goods or in cash. Nara asks for information on moonstones, and Sheila replies that she's the 2nd person who's asked after that subject in the last few days. We negotiate and agree to exchange Solomon for the information.
The man asking about the Moonstone is named Kyle Raski, and he hails from Mexico; Sheila thinks he's a blood thrall to vampires. She's not sure what they'd do with the Moonstone. He's been trying to gather info on how to use it, however. He's still here in town, but aiming to leave for Mexico City ASAP.
He's a Demon Dragon Mage (a race, not a vocation), so he'll have a very distinctive appearance.
I ask about my brother Peter, and she looks surprised. The Coalition and Federation, as well as the Sploogorth from Atlantis. And she received a courier package last week addressed to me -- from Peter. It turns out to be a large envelope covered in runes and symbols. She says her best mages could not open that envelope.
Alex asks for an intro to one of the local technowizards, in order to help us sell all that gold. Randall asks for 200 silver bullets. Both of these requests are granted.
We make our way to the magic shop. The merchandise, of which there is plenty, are a mishmash of stuff, not organized in any way on the shelves that reach up to the ceiling on all sides. Aisles stretch out on all sides, apparently extending as far as the eye can see. Nara gets a strong sense of warning as she enters, that the place is purposely designed to boggle the mind and dazzle the eye. The walls are made of ironwood (magically hardened wood with MD capabilities). We send Fidgit on a mission for a book on moonstones, then go to find the proprietor, whom we find in a nicely furnished drawing room. Alayna asks for info on moonstones (and maybe one moonstone in particular), but the mage wants something in trade. He expresses a strong interest in Nara's doll, and also in the Dimensional Portal scroll I've got. He also tosses in some magic glasses for good measure.
He tells us that moonstones only respond to the "Children of the Moon." All were-people, or just certain factions? Unclear. When we leave, Fidgit suddenly shouts, "MOVE!" A shadow creature laying in wait outside lunges forward and attacks.
The book Fidgit has found is incomprehensible. I find a yellow sticky by flipping through it, which reads, "This is the page you're interested in. Now you just need to be able to read it." Also a symbol at the bottom of the yellow sticky: I look at it and get sucked into it. I now am able to read/write Daetheadi at 98% (plus IQ bonus = 107%). And I can read the book. It is a book on the moonstones of Yor, as collected by Amalia. It was the study of all these other stones that allowed them to build the Wavering Gate.
We go looking for Kyle. Randall enlists the aid of street urchins, who points us in his direction in the center of town, at Kelly's Taphouse. At the door of Kelly's, Curt suddenly appears next to us, and he offers to join us again. The others in his group appear shortly.
The plan is to follow him out of town and get him outside. We also level up to Lvl. 4.
2020-08-25: The Possessed Man {{{1
TODO: Communications: Optics. Could take this as a course, instead of waiting until level 7 to take it as a Secondary Skill.
Flipping through the book: 3 sections. 1: Stones use for dimensional travel. 2: How to use that knowledge in order to craft spells. 3: How to transcribe spells onto stones in order to make the Wavering Gates. So, basically, an instruction manual on how to perform transdimensional travel magic. TODO: Investigate this later. Also, Amalia has notes in the margins, apparently aimed at a student, not for her own benefit. They indicate the order in which I should learn the spells. 1st up: Dimensional Pocket (like a Bag of Holding). Simple: timed. Advanced: permanent. Most complex: Negate Dimension, designed to unravel an entire realm.
Separate page tucked in the back: Small drawing of the Doll. At the top: "Information to share with Nara." "Seraphim" written underneath the doll's picture.
Seraphim: Its name, not its species. Extremely powerful.
Therron is looking for a man named Shad Lewis. Supposed to be making a deal that Kyle Rathji is interested in.
Some members of Kyle's crew come in, one of whom is carrying a package of some sort. Jade looks at the man carrying the package, tells her crew via sign language that a serious threat has just entered. Therron's knife also whispers the word "possession" to him in his mind.
We attack; the possessed man strips his skin off and opens a portal. Through the portal emerges a pitch black form with wings. The Shatter spell does nothing to the mirror, nor does Throwing Stones.
We sense the presence of a Master Vampire in the building.
2020-08-30: A Job for Shad {{{1
Out of Game: Moving games to alternating Tuesday nights for 3-hour sessions.
Research in Amalia's book: Moonstone opens to a specific Shadow world, listing lots of info on that world. ShadOw mages figured out how to use these stones for dimensional travel. Only the children of the moon can use them.
We send Fidget out to follow Kyle and watch him, see if he gives the stone to anyone. Then we get rooms for the night nearby. Someone knocks on Sebastian's door in the middle of the night. A voice says, "I have come with a message. Shad sends his regards." Shad is apparently downstairs waiting for him. He goes down alone. This Shad Lewis deals in all kinds of technology, including nanites.
Therron's looking specifically for nanites. Shad has canisters of them, but which does he want? Shad says the vampires we clashed with earlier are hurting his business interests, and he's all too happy that we've been causing them trouble. In fact, he'd like us to cause them more trouble: something to do with the NEMA Academic University, and some information he needs from it. If we can do this for him, he'll get Sebastian those nanites. We also have to get inside a vampire's coven (den).
Fidget returns: Kyle is being hidden in catacombs beneath a derilect tenement building, lots of coffins. The big vampire yelled at him, told him to keep his head down. The Master VAmpire has left town. Kyle still has the Stone.
Shad gives us a secure frequency at which we can reach him, and the location of the University and a computer we should use. We invite Curt and his crew to accompany us.
2020-09-08: Mission: Coven {{{1
~24 tainted individuals in the coven, mostly wild, plus a few extras.
How to fight vampires: Vampires not susceptible to knockdown, stun, heat, fire, cold. Magic sort of works, but not completely. They appear dead, but at that time they are actually healing rapidly -- best to finish them off at that point. Attack them with wood and silver. Stake in the heart? Paralyzes, doesn't kill. Cut off its head & burn it separately from the body.
Pella: Street urchin who showed us around earlier. He agrees to find info for us about the vampires in the tenement building. Meanwhile I study the Dimensional Pocket spell from Amalia's spellbook, and Alayna & Therron go shopping for guns & ammo in preparation. We take turns (along with Curt's crew) in reconnoitring the vampire coven while all this is going on.
Urchins come back with a roll of paper: on one side, a sequence of numbers; on the back, "BAK DOOR." Fidgit reports lots of coffins in the basement, daytime guards who switch shifts at noon. There's a man, not a vampire, but who doesn't sleep, who manages the guards. He asks for a password, but each guard gives a different one.
2 rooms he couldn't get into: one he felt the inhabitant would detect his presence; in the other, a priestess of light being held captive.
Pella gives us the location of Gundy, the vampires' fence. He also mentions that they hire guards every morning down at the docks.
Laura (one of Curt's crew) meets me and gives me a rundown of the info they've found, including a map. The local gang "The Blood Drinkers" have allied themselves with the vampires as sniffers -- mortals who protect the coven. One of these is a Mind Bleeder, a magic user who specializes in mental attacks.
Also, the vampires are expecting some kind of shipment tonight on a large vehicle.
On Therron's watch, as he has his hand on the hilt of his blood knife, he can see that the outside of the building is covered in runes. One of these is a great hammer. The vampires seem unaware of the presence of these runes. Therron sketches them out for us. When he shows the to me, one of them seems to be a fire ward, designed to set the place on fire when activated. So it seems another group is targeting these vampires...
Mary suggests we attack at night, when the guards are gone and many of the vampires have left for their nightly activities.
Therron augments some grenades by gluing silver shrapnel to the outside of them, then gives a few to me & Alayna.
Poe starts launching potatoes at the street gangs outside, and we move in.
Upstairs, we find a closet that turns out to be a peephole-room looking in on a rune-covered room next door. Inside the room is a portal emitting tentacles which search around for anything to grab. The runes are protecting the room from normal sight, but also constrain the portal from seeing anything outside the room.
2020-09-22: Vampires and Tentacles {{{1
Living Room: Stairs leading down. I get hit by a spear as we descend, thrown by a reptilian creature.
I recognize them as Gergoyles, foot soldiers of the Gargoyles: wingless and evil, but not bright. Supernatural creatures, but not susceptible to silver, wood, etc., attacks. Prehensile tails.
In a room to the south, a room full of wild vampires. I toss a Globe of Daylight into the room, and Randall throws a steam grenade in there for good measure. Alex seals the door shut and we leave them to burn for a while.
We head into a large room to the east, and find a VERY attractive woman sitting listening to a phonograph and sipping wine. I am temporarily entranced by her, but shake it off. Nara immediately lobs a grenade at her -- which she catches and lets detonate in her hand, doing no harm to her at all. Alex conjures a portal and sends her somewhere far away, leaving us free to explore the cells to the south.
Alex does not want to talk to the Priestess of Light, who is held captive by the vampires. Neither does Fidget. But it doesn't matter, since we can't open the door, which is sealed by runes.
In one room: A diary dating back to 1945 -- in German. Holed up in mountain range near Eagle's Nest. Asked by someone if she wants to become immortal. We take this and the other volumes of the vampire lady's diaries for future research (one recent entry says that they are to await "the coming," which sounds ominous enough).
In another room: a zonked-out vampire brute-force password attacking a NEMA computer. We take the computer.
The vampire lady starts to return; we know this because Randall and I are overwhelmed by a feeling of despair and the feeling that "We have to help her." Fidget slaps us both and throws a noxious liquid in our faces, which cures us of the bewitchment. As we arrive upstairs, we feel the pressure of something entering our dimension -- probably the tentacled thing upstairs. The fireplace in the corner has an arch shape to it, with the capstone missing. I put the capstone I got from the pyramid into that spot, and a gateway opens. I make it through OK, but Nara stumbles and ends up talking to Amalya for a while about the gateways and her brother, who possesses a map she wishes to give us.
Ral: Amalya's brother. DO NOT KILL HIM.
Amalya has given Nara directions on how to use Gateways: 21 stones (10 on each side, capped by keystone). Also directions on how to open a gate to Albuquerque, which we do.
In Albuquerque, we find that nothing is moving, not even insects. We head north towards the Colorado Baronies, and find a couple of cowboys along the way. They direct us to the nearest road and a place called the Hole, which will sell us horses and supplies. Also tell us to avoid Worm Valley, populated by the worm wraiths. (Humanoid figures composed entirely of worms, hundreds of them. Bad, bad news.)
We buy some very nice horses from the folks at the Hole and continue north to Colorado.
2020-09-29: Wormy Night {{{1
Dangers on the road: The Pecos Empire, Slavers, and a strange black skiff that makes no sound when it travels nor registers on any radar of any type.
No sign of any magic-sensitive creatures, nor magic-using people, in this whole area.
We find 4 churches at the corners of a town on the way, with all paths that lead away from them disappearing into desert sand within yards of the building itself. One of the family enters, through the door I see a priest/acolyte (?) who appears heavily armored, gauntleted, and standing 7 feet tall at least. Fidget says he won't go anywhere close to the consecrated ground. Foolkiller (Therron's blade) also warns him not to enter.
Little old lady selling flowers -- particularly some yellow ones, which she says will protect people from "the evil that lurks in these lands, the creatures of the night."
Therron asks the lady about the churches. She says they are the Church of Shamus, Lord of Light. The flowers are also called the Flowers of Light.
The flowers might be the cause of the magic/psionic users in the area, since they siphon off energy and feed it to Shamus, who then uses it to protect his followers... if they are worthy, that is.
A priest asks us if we would be interested in some work for the Church. We warily agree to hear his proposition, and he heads back to the nearest church. As he does this, Foolkiller warns Therron that they want to take the Stone and the books from me, and use them for their own purposes. We insist on hearing the priest's proposition outdoors, which he reluctantly agrees to, but then Therron starts hearing many, many heavy footsteps approaching from all four churches. Alex slows time and we flee on horseback. The domes of the churches light up and cast beams of light towards a central point in the center of town, through which something starts to emerge.
As we flee, storms start to form to the east, and Alayna's doll starts putting off waves of danger warnings. In the center of the storm, we can barely make out a skiff.
At a certain point, all radio signals go dark, and we see some kind of silver structure reflecting light in the distance. OMNI thinks it is a downed satellite, but nobody knows for sure. We back out and skirt around it, and eventually find a road heading in the direction we want to go.
We find a parking lot filled with smashed pre-Rifts cars, and a large building behind it. The walls feature blast impacts. We give it a pass.
In the middle of the night, we are attacked by vampires in the dark. I cast a Globe of Daylight and discover we're also being attacked by a Worm Wraith, who shoots my ear off and generally terrifies me.
TODO: nswc facebook page, virtual job fair @ Crane
We find our way back to Charity. Kurt finds us and tells us that back at the vampire lair, those tentacles kept eating vampires and expanding, until a lady in white emerged, and said, "In the name of the Lord of Light, begone!" and banished it. (I'm guessing she was the Priestess of Light, into whose cell we could not enter before.) We contact Shad, our employer, in order to deliver the computer to him, and arrange to meet at a tavern. A large bouncer is turning away others from the place, but lets us in.
We hand over the computer to Shad, who accesses its hard drive and pays Sebastian the nanites he owed him for the job. He also gives us free room & board at the tavern as a bonus.
Jason back from Colorado in two weeks, on the 19th.
2020-10-19: Study Hall {{{1
Two weeks' break for everybody; we try to learn some new skills.
2 secondary skills, plus 1 roll a night for new spells (for 14 nights)
New spells:
Recommended for next time: D-Communication, D-Step (I can disappear for a few moments), D-Envelope (like D-Pocket, only generating a closet-sized space)
2020-10-25: Planning the Big Switch {{{1 Alayna now has a list of Lykan contacts who can help us recover the Stones. The vampires have had trouble finding couriers of late. Shad seems to have something to do with this, and his animosity towards vampires motivates him.
We'd like to make a forgery of the Stone and pass it off to the vampires (who can't touch the real Moonstone). It would be nice to be able to make the fake a trap, so that when it is touched it sweeps them away to some other dimension or something. The trouble is to find someone capable of doing this kind of work, and ideally they'd have to have come in contact with the original in order to make the fake convincing. Also, the real thing is made of meteorite from Alayna's home realm.
Meanwhile, I can create a dimensional pocket to hide the real Moonstone, incidentally suppressing any tracing spells that may be on it, at least temporarily.
Laura returns and says the forger needs 10,000cr up front and can finish the job within 24 hours. We'll get Fidgit to cast a light-and-steam-bomb effect on the fake. Then we'll need to get the original, bring both to a secondary forger, who will then imitate the scent/feel of the original with the fake.
We head to Alayna's Lykan informant, who happens to also be an armorer. All the armor is handmade and of extremely high quality. I look at his scopes: 80x mag, lighted reticle, range finder, $10,000. +2 strike.
He lets us know how to make contact: a man with a tattoo in a certain bar, whom we should offer to buy a beer. We'll send in Randall, Sebastian, Jade, and Laura to meet him (Alayna, Alex, and I have our names and pictures on wanted posters all over the place -- no good for pretending to be just looking for work). Fidgit will be there too, in the background. I will set up a tunnel for quick escape. Set up a retreat path for us all.
I could try:
I try contacting Amalia first. I go into a trance, in which I see Amalia speaking to a large commanding man and a short figure wearing a featureless mask. She speaks with the voice of a young girl. She says there is a demon (a Regent) pursuing us because of the knife Sebastian carries and Alayna because she is a Lykan. She is a Harbinger, a sort of visionary for the Storm Legion.
I could leave the Capstone somewhere and use it as a focal point. She also points out to a passage in the book on how to set up a permanent glyph. Teleport Lesser AND Superior are now available to me. Ask Fidgit to bring premade sigils to the Bunker. Fidgit is also a PPE battery by himself: over 600 PPE!
2020-10-27: The Big Switch, Part I {{{1 We head back to our rooms. As we leave and make our way through Charity, Alayna senses supernatural creatures, and Therron gets the feeling that something VERY bad is about to happen. Foolreaper enables Therron to see the enemy -- two incredibly fast opponents approaching. Alayna senses two more approaching from the back. The enemies turn out to be sentient fireballs (whom I cannot see clearly) and a giant lizardman.
Therron is teleported to a demoness who offers to help him. The Regent demon who is after Therron is Shalim al-Kadir, a rakshasa demon. Known for being psionics, and for being very cunning. Also shape-changers. If she helps us here, we need to help her later. She is a devil; devils and demons are enemies, as it turns out. They shake on the deal. She introduces herself as Mel before teleporting him back to the battle.
Therron, enveloped in a magical aura, drops right into the lizard demon, who then explodes. We each get boosted (Therron healed, my Impervious to Fire spell is extended to all the party, Alayna gets an instant critical hit), and we mop up the remainder of the demons.
Mel is a Nexus Devil -- a rare breed who specialize in dimensional transport.
We go to the Forge. Outside, we hear Poe starting a fight with the local gangs over "tolls." We also help Laura repair her armor, and chat with her afterwards.
TODO: read the sword Laura gave me, which is covered with markings which may or may not be magical.
I ask Fidgit about the demon attack. He says it was a search party; after we killed them their souls went back to Hell, where they promptly reported events to their superiors.
After we return to the hotel, some caravan guards arrive, clamoring for medical assistance, food, and shelter. Alayna sees that the blade must have been red-hot, since the blade cauterized the wounds they inflicted as they passed through the flesh. Both they and Laura speak of being attacked by religious fanatics dressed in white, suddenly appearing through a portal. Also, some feathered thing in archaic armor and wielding a flaming spear. They were demanding some kind of Artifact before they started killing people. This Artifact seems to be some kind of necklace, given the way they were searching the corpses.
We get the forgery and drop it off with Shad for enchantment. Then we split into two groups in order to try to make contact and get the job as courier to the vampires (some of us are too well-known to try to show our faces there). Therron, Randall, Jade, and Laura all show up to the bar to meet with the tattoo-faced man who is the vampires' contact man; the rest of us hang back in case something goes wrong. They drug Shad's man (in place specifically to prevent anyone from taking the job, because Shad hates vampires just that much), then punch him as the drug starts taking effect. We are to deliver the package to Honcho in the town of Glowing Springs, 250 miles south of here. We'll find him in the local bar.
Fidgit fetches the Moonstone from inside the box for us, without triggering the alarms, and replaces it with the forgery. I create a long-term Dimensional Pocket and store the Moonstone inside it before we start heading south.
We make 1 day's travel, then camp. First thing in the morning we meet a group of apparent pilgrims wearing white flowers who ask us if we've seen someone leaving Charity. Seraphim radiates hatred towards the entire group -- they are the same religious zealots as from the village. Poe starts launching grenades at them, thinning their numbers considerably. An all-out fight starts, complicated only slightly by the appearance of an angel lobbing holy fireballs from overhead.
2020-11-04: {{{1 After the fight, we discover that someone poisoned all our horses. We keep heading in the direction of the nearest town in order to buy some more and heal up a bit. Alayna tends to the wounded, too.
We find a valley with strange-looking spiny or thorny plants growing there. Alayna slips and crushes a few on the way down. They have beautiful bluish silver-white flowers. The leaves are long, slender, and pointed. When we catch up, we see that she is bleeding from various scratches that she had not noticed that she had. It turns out that the leaves of these plants are extremely sharp -- enough to score my MDC armor -- cut without the victim feeling anything at all, and contain an anticoagulant that keep the wounds bleeding. We eventually escape from the valley and blow some of the plants up during our exit. We decide to walk around instead. The next day, we see that the ones we blew up have already started to grow back.
We see and head for a town in the distance. Alayna doesn't hear or smell any normal signs of life in the town. As we get closer, we see that the town is in disrepair and nothing moving. Church, inn, saloon, blacksmith, courthouse/jail, general store. There are no signs of violence, and no tracks in the sand, which has had time to accumulate in various corners and angles of the buildings.
We go into the church, looking for a place to stay for the night that has a vantage point (the belltower). It is full of skeletons dressed in their Sunday finest. Again, no signs of violence; whatever killed them hit them all at the same moment. No signs that anyone even tried to flee.
We try to go to the courthouse instead. There we find a journal detailing the various prisoners. Most recently Jeremiah Williams, arrested for cattle rustling. Above him, cell #1, Tracy Hickman, drunken & disorderly conduct. Both their skeletons are found still in their cells, lying on their cots.
In the bailiff's quarters, I find a 6-shooter.
In the night, we are accosted by a Worm Wraith stalking through town.
2020-11-11: Flying Solo {{{1 During my meditation, I have a vision of a greyish desert landscape, with a starless sky above. Nearby there is a campsite with a fire going. Nothing else is in sight. I circle the site, and find a trail of sorts leading away. A heavily armored figure is walking up the path. One of his gauntlets is twice the size of the other and covered in runes and gemstones. When he sees me, he speaks.
"I come as a friend. Amalya has requested that I meet with you." I follow him up. His name is Harvester, chief demon-mancer for the Storm Legion. He invites me to sit, and says we have a few minutes before Alexander shows up.
As we speak, a crack appears in the air and someone steps through before it disappears again. He joins us and sits down. This is Alexander.
He says I will need training, since things are moving faster than expected. Harvester specializes in combat and summoning demons. Alexander: transport, dimensional entities.
While we speak, I hear a scream, similar to the one my brother had made. I can also hear indistinct whispers all about. Suddenly everything goes black and I can no longer speak with the two men. Shadowy creatures appear all around and attack. As they close in, a blinding light appears and a woman armed with a spear appears and destroys the creatures as she makes her was to me.
Afterwards, she introduces herself as Scheherezade, lead combat mage for the Storm Legion. She leads me (through a portal) to a castle. She gives me her spear before leading me to another room with alchemical equipment, weapons, and armor.
She grills me on my knowledge of magic, and begins to instruct me on the nature of magic. She tells me I must learn to siphon off energy from those around me. At the moment of death, people's PPE doubles. I should learn to perceive this energy, siphon it, and use it myself. She gives me assignments to perform in this "In Between" realm every night. I must also practice with weapons.
I've got some "hook" on me, through which the shadow creatures can track me. When I tough it, I will hear whispers. Destroy it, or bring it to the In-Between.
Scourge: Works as a group to destroy demon lords and huge creatures. Harvester is a member of this subgroup of the Storm Legion. Marshal of the 3rd Shield of the SL.
The hook seems to be a piece of paper stuck in Peter's journal: a map of mountains and swamps, completely unidentifiable and impossible to orient. A trail leads to a darkened area. Perhaps a city? On the flipside is a series of numbers: 16-132-86-540. I tell Harvester via my new D-Communication spell, and his hand appears out of thin air in order to take the paper away.
2020-11-24: Jeremy Joins the Group {{{1 Dusk: Small, 6-inch figure with fairy wings. Alayna's new companion, whom she saved during the night.
Dusk reports that she knows of a place filled with machines that still work. She may be describing power armor or vehicles. We agree to check it out, because we need transportation.
Close up, we see a sign "---vale Cen--- For Gen--- --arch" (---vale Center for Genetic Research"?) Vehicles in sight are not military in design. Alayna asks Dusk if she can see any movement, but she doesn't want to go back there. I ask Fidgit to scope the area for people and their activities.
Looking through our scopes, we see spheres emerging from a central location in the compound. 1 & 2: Guardshacks 3: collapsed, no supporting structures at all. 4: intact. Eye-bots emerge from the north side of this building and go two-by-two to each of the other buildings, each circling the buildings and returning to 4. 5: largest structure 6: parking lot
Therron discovers that these are commercialized versions of NEMA eye-bots. Alayna sends Seraphim out, who forms itself out of the rubble of Building 3, and troops start coming out to attack. We hang back, waiting to see whether more forces emerge. They do; every time one robot goes down, another emerges to takes its place. We decide to use the fight as cover to sneak into one of the buildings.
Looking through the scope on my rifle, I can see cameras on Building 5, but they look non-functional. We head to guard shack #1. Inside we see two perfectly cleaned skeletons, much like the ones we saw in the nearby village.
Therron and I take out the 2 remaining eye-bots as Alayna heads into the compound. When Alayna tears one of the environmental armors apart, she sees pinkish flesh (?) seeping out from where circuitry should be. The armor itself is hollow inside, no occupant.
When I zap another one with an electric Eldritch Bolt, I see the pink flesh in the joints of the thing fry when the bolt hits.
Another character, Kenshi, appears randomly, drops to the ground, and immediately starts coughing up liquid from his lungs. He is naked and seems to have no memory of how he came to be here. Dusk hooks him up with some leather armor and a weapon.
Some of the pink flesh squirts out onto Alayna lands on her, and starts squirming around looking for something. More squirts toward Therron, but he slices it midair, evoking a psychic scream from the thing.
After the battle, Kenshi tells us he lived in a monastery in Japan, until one day the monastery was attacked by an army of floating eyeballs. After that, he remembers nothing.
A demented, 6-armed demon with batwings suddenly descends from Building #5. Dusk paralyzes its wing and it comes crashing down, where we kill it. Alayna ends up in Building 4 and attacked by mechanical spiders. We join her shortly.
2020-12-22: Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film {{{1 (Original notes lost when my old laptop finally died.)
2020-12-29: Junkyard Jezebel {{{1 Scardale: we aren't allowed to bring MD weapons/vehicles within city limits. The town itself is surprisingly clean and well-patrolled by security. And the security guards are well-disciplined, self-controlled, and patrol in a random fashion (i.e., not according to a fixed route).
Guard Compound: Therron and I enter, while Alayna and Jeremy stay outside. We receive passes. We then proceed to find the smithy. Left: barracks. Right: services, smithy. Center: Fallen Guard HQ. Also some security turrets.
Therron asks the grumpy armorer to repair his armor. He can't fix it perfectly, and refers us to a certain Jezebel, who lives outside city walls near the junkyard.
Jobs:
Therron gets notification that we are nearing Bunker 15, but that it is offline.
The junkyard is... well, a junkyard. With some patched NEMA skele-bots on patrol. Jezebel: 5'4", twin blonde braids, gruff. Ignores us at first. Perimeter alarms go off -- vampire attack. She dons robotic armor, and we follow her in order to assist. Jeremy hears voices in his head saying things like, "We must lure her out, then pry her from the armor; make sure the trap is set!" Then he doubles over in intense pain.
I sense the trap: a patch of ground that is not in this dimensional plane. I warn Jezebel, who successfully avoids it by jumping over it. A battle ensues.
Afterwards Jezebel puts us up for the night, since night has fallen and vampires are still in the general area between the junkyard and Scardale. The bunk area lies beneath her junkyard digs, in an underground bunker populated by skelebots. The bunker is virtually identical to our own NEMA bunker, only with much larger repair facilities.
NEMA RX-3030 Combat Hound: 100 mph, 135 MD, size of a German Shepherd. Plasma Turret: 6d6 MD, 1600 ft range, 90 degree arc of fire. Can traverse water up to 600 ft deep.
The next morning we set out for the vampires' den to the west. Fidget appears and warns us not to approach the vampires' den, since there is a major demon inside. Mel says it is something called a Magot (one g): 20 ft tall, 200 tons, 3 eyes on stalks, which fire beams that temporarily turn victims to stone. 8 attacks per round. Can turn to mist. Minions of Mikla the Devourer. Champion of Hades. MD hit points in the thousands. We so can't handle this thing. We retreat posthaste and gather Randall, Alex, Curt & crew, and try to recruit Jezebel, too.
2021-01-05: Looney Tunes Combat Hour {{{1 We head to bring medical supplies to a local farm (one of the jobs available in town). We see several hand-lettered signs on our approach which warn us to turn back due to plague. Upon our arrival, the inhabitants of the farm come out to see us. We see some cactus-people, who call themselves the Phinodi (sp?). We ask the humans about the Phinodi, and learn that they are very friendly, and very passive. It's the cactus-people who have the disease in question.
It turns out there is a vein of silver in the nearby hills. So much, in fact, that it seems likely that the surrounding towns might be trying to starve them out in an attempt to seize the property -- and the silver. One of them gives us a hunk of the stuff in order to test it.
Kenji tests the water supply for poison, and determines that it is quite bad. The well is some 7 years old, but the Phinodi have only gotten sick lately.
Someone shoots us from behind, hitting me and sending me flying facefirst into the dirt. It turns out to be a full-conversion cyborg in a poncho and cowboy hat. Simultaneously Nara is hit by mortar fire. There is a fight.
Big Bore Combat Cannon on the Rumble Wagon. +2 to hit.
2021-01-12: Job: Missing Child {{{1 Heading to a ranch house in order to take on the "Find the Missing Child" job in town (we don't feel confident enough to take on the Magot yet). A servant lets us in and goes to fetch his master. Whoever he is, he's travelled extensively in South America. 15 min later, an elderly man walks in. Bill Southern. Looking for his daughter, who's been missing a month now. She disappeared from her room one night. No sign of a struggle or any breakage, no sign of her on the security cameras which surround his property.
We go to check out her room. Clean-looking room of an early teen girl. In front of the vanity mirror I notice an interesting set of scratches. Mirror creatures have been here. We find the girl's diary under her mattress. The last page is filled with little lines of different lengths, row after row of them. Alayna tries to inspect it, catches sight of the mirror and sees some creature there instead of her own reflection. Entranced, she walks over and touches it -- and disappears from sight. We scramble to get our weapons and follow.
Alayna finds herself in a mirror image of the girl's room. She also finds the girl, who speaks of someone named Ezekiel. Outside, she sees nothing but gargantuan buildings of strange design.
Meanwhile, we reappear in the girl's room. Therron and Jeremy go through and catch up with Alayna.
When I go through, I find myself in a different room: fireplace, cold wind blowing through the open windows, and a woman standing there: Scheherezade, the combat queen, who rebukes me for being in Lord Kuhl's land. She recommends using espionage. "You need to learn what they have around them." Meaning slaves. Find the Resistance, who will help me get back. Shadowlands: the most horrific things are probably my friends. I'm about to meet the Nightbane. A group of people with exceptional abilities to combat the night. The Morphous: a horrible beast. Then I appear in the mirror-bedroom with the others.
Therron detects something coming. Mel says it's a Blasphemy; Foolreaper starts exulting in the terribleness of the thing that is approaching. Dusk gives us all berries and we fly out the window away from there.
It is very busy outside, crowded with people, and when they see us they scream a little and start calling the local authorities. Therron tells them we're making a movie; they only kind of believe him.
I notice a flashing light in between two buildings. Therron recognizes it as Morse Code, telling us to move quickly. We find a man who leads us to the safety of his HQ, a building which looks like it once was a restaurant. They introduce themselves as the Night Hammers, who seem to be a pretty lame paramilitary group. I see a yellow sticky attached to their conspiracy-theory bulletin board. "Find Gossamer. She can help."
The Resistance knows of Gossamer, whom they regard as a legend. She is the chapter leader of the Resistance.
The Darkening: 15 years ago, everyone woke up confronted by darkness instead of daylight.
They may try to introduce us to Gossamer; first, we are to make a raid on a detention center and rescue the people inside.
2021-01-26: The Raid {{{1 Only recover 1/4 PPE during meditation on this world. Magical weapons/spells scale down to SDC in this magic-poor world.
We all reach lvl. 5!
2021-02-09: {{{1 TODO: Jump kick & Entanglement due to Physical: Martial Arts
We arrive (after the incident with the Hunters) at our stop, and we all get off the transport. Chris leads us out into the city, then to a local safehouse, where he gives us some rooms. He grabs some food and watches some TV. After a time we see a news report about us, featuring body cam footage of us from one of the guards we fought earlier. We are apparently Public Enemy No. 1 now. Noteworthy is the fact that neither Alayna nor the Nightbane (or Hunters) are shown, since she was in werewolf form at the time -- clearly they have edited her out of the footage, lest they admit to the public at large that supernatural creatures exist.
Later there is a knock, and Chris opens the door right away, without even checking who's there. It's Breaker, who grabs him by the throat and comes in. Chris is clueless as to why Breaker is mad at him. He tells us we're stuck here for a few days.
Breaker takes us into the heart of the city after dark -- lots of punks have come out, and it seems that they keep electronic surveillance by the government under control here. We enter a very (intentionally) noisy mechanical door into a building. Alayna sees lots of graffiti, but also lots of symbols or something underneath the top layers of paint. She tries to point it out to me, but I can't make it out, and she can't copy it down clearly.
A smiling man in a suit confronts us, and a battle ensues -- and then a Worm Wraith appears, apparently THE SAME ONE WE ENCOUNTERED BEFORE, and attacks everyone in sight. We actually flee from battle and leave the suits to their fate.
We sit in a local Irish pub for a few, then retire to a room upstairs.
We meet with Gossamer, who turns out to be a short, dark-haired older woman with a VERY strong grip. She tells us that this place is known as the Shadowlands. She seems unaware of the Worm Wraith's existence. She is particularly perturbed by the story of our arrival through the missing girl's mirror -- the book filled with lines of different lengths -- she says that should not have been possible.
Dusk says Gossamer is a dragon.
2021-02-23: Munitions Raid {{{1 TODO: Learned "Power Awareness" at the same level as my Perception skill (75% currently). Like perception, only with a focus on magically powered items/individuals.
Breaker comes in to tell us the results of his findings: A layout of a forward operating base, with a helipad & airstrip. Munitions will soon be dropped off there. He wants to 1) take the munitions; or else 2) destroy everything there.
There are also a LOT of officers (as opposed to regular enlisted men) at this site. Each wears an emblem that looks like this: (H). Honorary rank, typically given to government agents.
We head out to perform some recon prior to making definite plans. Fidget stops me near the top of a rise -- there's a magical alarm. Anyone or anything posessing PPE that enters the area will trigger an alarm. Therron and Jeremy continue on alone from this point.
They see an area within which no breath of wind stirs (flags, tumbleweeds, etc.). Mel casts an invisibility spell on them. They see soldiers being arrested as traitors, and also a black tent (which does not appear on the video footage we view later -- we just see a black outline). We also get indications that the munitions of interest will be leaving the base shortly after they arrive. So the new plan is to hijack the convoy after they depart again.
2021-03-09: An Unexpected Return Home {{{1 At Breaker's digs: The rebels are having trouble with the technology we heisted the other day. He asks for our help, and we pile into a truck and travel out to where they keep the stuff.
Language on the computer screens matches that on the tanks containing Kenji when we found him. Alayna gets in and finds data on subjects, including life signs and altered DNA data. Examples of the creatures in these 8 containers include:
Suddenly there is a ruckus from upstairs, and our old Inquisition friend appears in the company of 4 other Battle Mages. In the course of the battle, someone summons a maelstrom that sucks us all towards a portal at its center; we are all teleported away.
We awaken in a blasted city, all twisted metal (as if melted) and broken concrete. This, too, is a magic-poor environment. We hear the sound of airborne engines arriving; Therron recognizes the signs of planet-blasting aimed at wiping out all life on the planet; and I cast Dimensional Tunnel and teleport us back to the Arzno bunker.
TODO: New Skill -- Power Perception: to tell what kind of magic, how powerful, etc. More specific than Power Awareness. Also works on traps and other things not yet triggered or active.
Power Siphon: Allows me to draw power from multiple enemies around me at the moment of their death (as a temporary PPE source -- I can overcharge myself!) Reactive Attack Roll. Uses next attack to draw power; but I can still Parry and Dodge, just not attack.
Also: pick up some PPE batteries and a Power Matrix (a battery that holds thousands of PPE, with overcharge protections). Keep them empty, charge them with all the extra juice from siphoning.
For the future: Fragmented Mind. Allows me to maintain a concentration spell while casting a 2nd (or 3rd, etc.).
2021-03-23: {{{1 Back in Arzno: We go to a nearby town and buy some horses.
I notice a cloud of dust in the distance (~4 mi) in the hills. Our path will intersect theirs.
-1 hp/min for 12 min -6 parry/dodge/strike
2021-04-13: {{{1 Talking to 56 slaves we've freed, when suddenly a strangely garbed man wielding an unfamiliar rifle appears over the hill and approaches. (This is our new player, Jamie.)
Tattoo on the hedge wizard.
Alayna goes off to the nearest town in order to find a new vehicle. We stay behind with the sneaky hedge wizard. Suddenly Jeremy realizes the hedge wizard is a vampire thrall, and that Alaya and Therron have headed into a vampire town.
2021-04-27: {{{1 We sleep outside for the night (2.5 miles away), and are woken by the sound of explosions -- missiles, maybe?
We see a figure flying an Icarus flying suit (armed with 12 mini missiles) that seems to hail from Kingsdale: home of the Juicers. Looks like he's scouting the area, and some other party is firing missiles based on their feedback. Therron contacts them, and they demand our force.
These gentlemen turn out to be The Hundred Fists: Juicer bounty hunters. Universally hated for their extremism, yet also universally employed for their effectiveness.
Mel teleports Therron and the rest of us back to Scarsdale, to a farmhouse. Kurt, Poe, and company are there. They offer us food while we trade stories (it has been 3 months or longer since we left).
News from Scarsdale while we were gone: A large group of demons attacked Jezebel's bunker; she detonated its nuclear reactor in order to defend herself, killing the Magot in the process.
Genetic experiments that produced light-resistant vampires and shadowbeasts, and Kenji, was also directed toward creating human beings who are also dimensional mirrors (!)
The rancher gives us the missing girl's nickname.
The girl's journal talks about someone named "Seamus" who talks to her through the mirror, and promises her a world where she can be somebody important.
2021-05-11: {{{1 In the safehouse, in the Underside. Gossamer wants to talk to us tomorrow.
We go to the pub to spend the night, and work for our upkeep. I help with the cooking, and learn a bit. Jeremy takes lessons from the brewmaster. Therron works as the bouncer. Alayna waits tables.
Some underage girl tries to get in with a fake ID; Therron turns her away, but she threatens to return.
Alayna spots a jewelery ad in a magazine, featuring a jewel that looks suspiciously like a Moonstone. She wants us to go grab it. The store is known as a black market -- of dubious alliance. Not the best reputation.
We put out the word about the missing girl among the pub staff, then turn in. We are woken by Breaker informing us that Gossamer is here to see us. Remember the containers from the convoy raid last time? The ones containing biological experiments? They found a bunch more of them, only empty. And there have been a lot of killings in the area ever since. Alayna and Kenji agree to investigate the most recent crime scene; the rest of us go to check out the warehouse and empty containers.
Alayna and Kenji find evidence of oni (Japanese demon) activity, complete with multiple human sacrifices. The victims are very well-groomed (odd given the sleazy tenement building). Alayna notices a smell: a particular flowering tree from Japan. Following the scent, they find a 3-armed, maned humanoid monster ("oni of legend"). It hits Alayna HARD, and the wounds burn.
Right-hand ring finger missing from one of the bodies. But just one. The police have photos that indicate the presence of a ring on that finger (before it went missing). Kenji also finds a strange origami doll, looking like it was made by a child. Intact and immaculate, no bloodstains.
We are taken to the warehouse. It is attached to a dock on the river. 2 trucks similar to the ones in the convoy can be seen here. Lots of magical energy all around, especially around the containers. One of these smells of a Broadkill (European demon with multiple arms -- we saw one before armed with a minigun). Foolreaper indicates one (not the Broadkill one) as significantly more dangerous than the rest. Killian reads the label: this contained a light-resistant master vampire. This is very bad news. Others: oni, 3 humans, 1 centaur, 2 dwarves, elves, and a "thorn-head," which also registers as very dangerous. I track one of the human sets of tracks.
We find a stripped body along the way. Car keys still there. Foolreaper lets Therron know that there are 2 figures ahead, one lying in wait. Therron lobs a grenade at the hiding one, then charges towards the other (who is in an office). He finds a human figure who promptly sheds his skin and sprouts many tentacles. Foolreaper apologizes for underestimating the danger.
Afterward I begin to track the oni; we meet up with Kenji and Nara.
2021-06-08: {{{1 We go to the pawn shop (Therron and Jeremy do; Alayna, Killian, and I remain outside). An animate bundle of rags engages us on a job to retrieve a spaceship in return for the Moonstone. The spaceship in question is currently in the possession of Eric Mondale, the city Mayor, who may be a Shadow Prince in disguise. We tell the Resistance about this development and seek their help. They point us in the direction of the mayor's aide, Theresa Billings.
Waitress gives me a message sealed with an octopus insignia. Imbued with magic. Nara smells an earthy scent. Vellum inside, clearly a page cut from a larger tome. Ornate script, also chaotically ordered, with runes and a dimensional chart on the back. Circle with arrow ("You are here"). The runes also have a misleading character -- disguising what I see. What I can read sounds like a nursery rhyme: breadcrumbs, a yawning mouth... but again, in the corner, a symbol remains constant. A circle with an arrow through it, pointing to a typewritten letter "A." After shifting it around, the paper eventually locks into a stable configuration. The text describes various worlds on the map on the reverse side. Also examples of known doorways. It calls this world a conquered world. There is a door to the "Helix," as well as to the Shadow World. Another leads to an ancient Daetheadi ruin.
2021-06-29: Six Arms and a Bad Attitude {{{1 Possible things to do:
We get some clothes, toss some weapons into my dimensional pocket, then head back to the crime scene so that Killian can hopefully track the oni demon. Alayna finds a journal with pages torn out by a clawed hand. Japanese account of various transactions. Details of number of "souls sold" and where to collect payment. Alayna also finds an unidentified substance under the fingernails of the journal's owner. Killian tracks the demon down to a manhole cover; when opened, a poison gas trap is triggered. We evacuate while Fidget contains the gas, then descend into an E-W service tunnel. The trail leads west. Eventually the trail ends at a door, like a submarine-vault-style door. Fidget spies on the other side and sees a trap sigil on the other side. At my request he defaces it and disarms it. Through the door and up some stairs, Killian starts detecting the presence of the demon.
The oni had the pages, detailing 14 souls sold to Eric Mondale, to be delivered at a given date.
Later we find a warehouse, with armed, suited men inside, packing something into a crate. The warehouse is rented out to some people associated with the Yakuza. The men were not tattooed (not yakuza themselves, then), and the item in the box seems to be a satellite communications unit. The Powermad Industries logo was on the side of the box. The men were armed with ion blasters and plasma weapons -- not technology native to this civilization.
Gossamer has some update on the missing girl. She was kidnapped by the yakuza.
Powermad seems to be stepping on everybody's toes -- the mayor, the yakuza, etc. -- and operating completely independently of everybody else in the area.
2021-07-06: {{{1 Jeremy, Alayna, and I visit the police for info about the yakuza, while Therron and Jamie go shopping at Powermad Industries.
Rex Hunter, investigator: We see a shirtless, heavily tattooed Japanese man in handcuffs on our way to the investigator's office. He looks supremely bored. Alayna smells lotus flower in the air near Rex's door. He doesn't answer the door, so we open it to find Rex slumped at his desk. We start gagging as we enter the room.
Alayna revives Rex, then re-enters the office. She detects a sudden movement before she is stabbed in the back with a sword. The owner of the sword turns out to be a ninja, who bests us in the fight and escapes out the window with the help of a smoke bomb.
Meanwhile, at Powermad Industries, Therron poses as a customer in the market for security systems, as a way of probing their own security measures. Jamie senses absolutely no magic, only tech and maybe a smattering of psi power.
We start asking Rex about his work; his computer and all files have been destroyed by the ninja. He's been working on a series of kidnapping cases -- children of the rich & powerful, who go missing for several months, then return with no memory of what transpired.
We also find a death-rune over the door of the office (which we destroy), with Rex's name on it. And also a glass lotus-flower with a magical tendril leading across down (I set Fidget to following it). When Jeremy touches it, he "reads" it and gets a sense of its owner -- hatred of Rex, head of a ninja clan, walks with a limp and carries a sword-cane. The item was originally charged to kill the object of the owner's hatred -- Rex.
Rex tells us about a human-trafficking bust from last month. The man in charge, Seiko, was found guilty and executed.
Fidget went into a tall building, penthouse garden, and didn't see wards planted there (which were the plants themselves). The address is that of the bank. (One of the businessmen killed by the oni worked for this bank, and the bank uses yakuza for security.) The place reeked of energy.
Theresa Billings: busy setting up lots of dinners & functions to re-elect Mondale. Launching her own line of businesswear. She banks through the Tokyo Bank. People who snap her photo unawares tend to disappear. I see the Worm Wraith in a photo with her.
We lie low and heal up for a few days. Therron catches another fake ID; Jeremy brews some more beer; Alayna overhears some talk about the movement of Tokyo Bank trucks; another guy tries to skip out on his tab, and ends up throwing Therron through the front wall, and Jamie through the back wall, using his magical abilities. We eventually subdue him and confiscate his magically charmed items: a blasting rod, which delivers a charge of varying size; a journal of his spells and magical items; a ring which collects and discharges kinetic energy; a pendant which defends against spirits and possession; a bracelet which creates a shield around the wearer; and a belt which disguises the wearer.
2021-08-10: {{{1 We seek out PowerMad Industries, asking after the job they alluded to earlier. We meet with their representative, Jamie Osborne, in the morning. She takes us to an elevator and takes us to "-3" (the buttons range from -6 to +5). The room is entirely metal (though masked to look otherwise) and very sterile. She wants to hire us as convoy guards to move her merchandise through interdimensional space. The problem is that the inhabitants of the area we will be traveling through are violently opposed to our trespassing; they want nothing to do with the cargo itself. Energy weapons don't seem to phase them. They also through little crystal balls that explode. They appear to be magical in nature. Their agent will be in touch with us within the next 2 1/2 weeks.
Jamie gives us wristbands to help ID us in PowerMad facilities. I stash these in my dimensional pocket.
A few days later, Rex Hunter calls us in on an investigation involving one of the escaped mutant experiments. A group of people were ritually murdered in order to reap their PPE. Foolreaper thinks it's the Thornhead demon. We stomp it good.
2021-08-17: Deathmatch! {{{1 Circle magic in the bounced guy's journal (who took out the front of the bar last time), mixed with oceans and potion making.
Therron keeps seeing a car circling the bar every 15 minutes, containing no heat signatures. They scan him, and he calls us outside to check them out. I detect only small magical energy coming from the backseat.
We fight them, but find out very little. The one survivor was a low-ranking mule for the Mafia. Some lady talked to the Boss and told him what she wanted done. Here to kidnap a kid named Colby Jackson, who was supposed to show up at the pub, but be turned away because he's underage.
We question the kid, turns out to be a hacker. Hired by Jed Atkins, who told him he'd be doing his country a great service by writing something to break a code of some sort. Jed was supposed to be CIA, and showed gov't. ID to prove it. The kid carries Jed's business card in his wallet -- turns out to be an RFID device.
O'Connelly's: restaurant run by Seamus, the Irish Mafia rep we meet in the aftermath of the fight. He buys the mule (Mafia Boss Carlo's nephew) from us for $50k.
2021-08-24: {{{1 We head to sleep, then head over to PowerMad the next morning. We are directed to a side door, then hit with all kinds of surveillance on the way in. Further in, the structure becomes MD. Agent Morrow approaches and leads us to the "training facility." We engage in a mock-deathmatch against a variety of recruits and other soldiers. Afterwards Morrow hires us for a job doing a cargo-transport run through the Slipstream (where the crystalline creatures live). We each get 30K cr to purchase equipment in the showroom upstairs.
Crag (kung fu guy) warns us about a particular chi-strong creature that uses a death-touch and can move through barriers and walls. Ruin (sword guy) says there are 4 types of crystalline bugs, 2 of which fly and make distraction attacks that allow melee fighters to get in close. They also use people as meat shields. A certain type of crystalline bug will open rifts in order to introduce more chaos onto the battlefield.
Therron and I review video footage of past runs, while Kenji spars with Crag.
Our car gets blown up by a Crow Demon Mage: MD creature (300-500 MD), all mages who know LOTS of magic (~500 PPE). Also temporal mages (manipulating time & space). They prove to be so powerful that we are forced to flee (with help from Fidget, Dusk, and Therron's demon-lady friend).
2021-09-07: Centaur vs. Yakuza {{{1 Alayna goes on a shopping spree. I study wards from the bar mage's notebook, and pick up some new knowledge.
Rex Hunter (investigator for the police) calls & says he has something we need to see. We meet near some woods on the outskirts of town. Nara detects the smell of death and decay -- a camp has been attacked by something. She also detects horse-hoofs from an animal larger than any normal horse has any right to be. Also huge hand-prints on limbs as this thing tore them apart. Remains not eaten by their attacker, only by beasts that discovered the remains afterwards.
All the campers were adult male Japanese. We see multiple weapons (used) scattered around. The centaur apparently stole a chest after killing the campers. We have the option of backtracking to see where it came from, or following its tracks to find out where it went with the chest. We opt to follow.
We engage the centaur on his way back, sans chest. Alayna lobs a phosphorous grenade at it, misses, and catches us all on fire. The centaur perishes; we do not. We find the chest, which is covered in Japanese glyphs. I put some extra wards of warning on it (to tell us if anybody messes with it in our absence), and plan to bring Kenji back to inspect it later. Then we follow the centaur's trail back to its lair.
This turns out to be an abandoned gas station. The centaur had set up shop in one of the service bays of the garage. We find a lot of dead bodies (human and animal), and a beeping electronic device that turns out to be some kind of remote mapping device. It keeps saying that it's lost connection to the mothership, whatever that might mean. We take the device (after turning it off), and are confronted by an annoying little floaty sphere that dodges our attacks and gives us little laser zaps for our trouble. We flee and inform Rex Hunter about everything we've discovered.
2021-11-16: Together Again at Last! {{{1 Dimensional coordinates for calibrating the slipstream machine: a certain group within PowerMad knows more. Ask them about this, get more info -- they use technology alone; my magical background might shed more light on the subject.
We participate in a training simulation again. This time, a bubble-headed psionic entity known as "Sid," wearing jeans and a Misfits t-shirt, whoops everybody's ass. Everyone who tries to focus on him finds their attention sliding away from him. Only machines and AI can consistently track him. He also happens to be interested in finding the Gene Splicer for the bounty on his head.
2021-11-30: {{{1 We are transporting something of interest for the Irish mafia. The Italians and/or the Yakuza may try to stop us. 3 locations of concern along our route:
We check out #2 that night.
I travel with Sid; Alayna with Kenji; and Therron with Chris, as we check out the tunnels. I find suspicious trashcans in mine. Every other one emits some kind of latent energy. On closer inspection I see a sigil painted on each of these cans. Kenji IDs it as the symbol for "blindness." We turn them around to face away from the skybridge windows, thinking that these would trigger a blinding flash as we pass underneath.
Alayna finds a pane of glass in her tunnel that had been forced open and resealed. Wheel-tracks on the carpet show something had been carted in to the area. Dusk finds a large metal object attached to the underneath of the bridge. Weasel tells Therron that it is a robot, poised for action but currently deactivated (or just waiting). She asks Seraphim to possess them when we pass by during the delivery run.
Therron finds a surveillance camera in his tunnel (despite Chris' constant inane chatter in his ear). He instructs Weasel to turn the cameras the other way when we pass by during the delivery. Chris also says the hot dog vendor is an impostor.
We spot security guards with matching tattoos on their hands -- yakuza.
Sid and I get harassed by some punks. Sid gives one of them a fairly nasty seizure and we walk away.
High population of local police in this building.
Kenji notices a sinister firehose-box. I get death vibes from the thing. It's the magic equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction. An open rift to a nasty place.
2021-12-21: {{{1
I notice that Sebastian is gone, nothing but blank space filled with residual energy. Alayna notices the presence of a supernatural entity. Sebastian (Therron) finds himself face-to-face (in a slightly alternate dimension-bubble) with "Mr. Edwards," one of the Mayor's men, offering reconciliation provided that we withdraw. Therron politely refuses, and the man releases him in the end.
We head over to the Irish HQ in order to ask after the item we'll be transporting the next morning. We discover that some Frenchmen at a nearby table are bugging us -- with a little demon-imp-bug.
The Frenchmen have a wanted poster of me -- written in mystical script.
We get attacked by the bug's master as we exit the bar: a nasty, VW-bus-sized lump covered in tentacles that infest us with parasitic worms.
2023-03-01: One More Time {{{1
Still in the Upside-Down. We've just finished our run for PowerMad. 750K PowerMad credits.
Open Threads:
Find the Girl Locate the Spaceship Deliver the Stone to the Vampires - this would give them access to the Upside-Down French cultists Escaped Creatures from the Gene-Splicer Governor is puppet of Shadowlords Worm-Wraith Nightspawn Resistance Yakuza human trafficking - working with the Governor
We head back to the Resistance to follow up on the Yakuza's human trafficking operations. Cyd shows up with a sealed vellum from the vampires who hired us to deliver the stone to them. The vellum collapses into a portal, and something bad is coming to attack us.
Alayna and I are charmed by the creature. Therron is blinded. A vampire appears. Whiplash hurls a metal ball at her and knocks her out of the buildilng. Alayna and I attack him and Breaker (it doesn't go well), before we shake off the enchantment.
The vampire lady is her on behalf of the vampire intelligence. She herself is the first vampire sired by this intelligence (meaning she's ~12,000 years old or so). She wants the Stone. Now. We obediently hand over the booby-trapped forgery, and she departs.
The Irish mafia contacts us to say they have info about the yakuza. We head over to the pub to discover a yakuza member under interrogation. I perceive that he is a thrall.
We find that the yakuza have a shipment heading out in 2 days out of Dallas. The shipment will go out under the guise of a fleet of hazmat trucks.
2023-04-26: {{{1
Ideas for intercepting the shipment?
Alexis shows up & hands me an envelope marked "last will and testament." My parents were both executed by the Federation. Also a letter from my mother: They have property in Arzno, which is now mine. On the property is a recall mat. I should be able to use the attached enchantment, attune with it, and teleport back to the mat from anywhere. Down in the basement is more, much more. She's also discovered a dimensional pocket spell -- only more like room-sized than pocket-sized.
Back home:
Fidget is probably a Stygian demon -- a region suposedly destroyed by the Demons and the Deevals. He confirms this fact, and tells me that there are 7 demon realms: I know of only the 2 inhabited by Demons and Deevals.
Alexis points out that she can plant my magical trace on one of the decoy trucks, luring the Worm Wraiths to it and causing a distraction.
Sid agrees to help in exchange for 12,500 Powermad credits each to go toward an RV he will then convert into a spaceship. He also knows a few "refugees" who will help us for another 12,500 PM credits.
100 PPE: Recall Mat. Open as long as I want, like a portal. Every time I study this spell (on a weekly basis), I can roll for a chance to learn how to create a new mat. I can also attempt to combine this with my Ward skill to create a Protected Portal, which will let my friends open but block others, or send them to a different location. Also: think of different modifications I might want, and see if I can't craft a new spell around that desired effect.
New entry in my journal, not written by me -- written by Scheherezade. I haven't been to our training sessions for almost a year now!