Tweet
7th Session
This one's going to be a bit shorter since a large chunk of time went to combat.
Cast list:
Joe Hanson: Noir Detective
Aaron Gibson: Punk Hacker
Helen Walter: Hermetic Spy
Sean Heath: Templar Knight
Both Lydia and Alfred are absent today. I'll be meeting with Alfred's player for a mini-session tomorrow, but Lydia probably won't be around until the next session.
Notable NPCs:
Edwin Philips: Our Marauder
Keepers of the Wyck
Vivian Porter: High Priestess
Boris Mortimer: High Priest
Camellia: Maiden
Kael: Talisman Crafter
Mica Rose: Techno witch
Granny Elm: Hidden Malfean Seer
---CHAPTER 7: PICKING UP THE PIECES---
Lydia ran off. Hanson was still a bit disorientated from the backlash and had no idea where she went. Helen noticed her run off, but was too far away to intervene. They look around. The ground was a mess of broken glass, rubbish, bent lights and a knocked over telephone box. They took in the scene and and considered their next steps.
Meanwhile, Aaron's effect had ran out, and his computer screen fell blank. He was about to prepare another one to get a visual, but got distracted by a squeaking noise. He investigated, and discovered a large rat scurrying down a hold made in the back of his cupboard. "Uh oh..." He thought, "Rat problem... There goes my deposit." Her returned to his computer and managed to get a view on Hanson.
Hanson noticed a strange sign on the side of a building. A strange looking twig with five prongs, three on the left and two on the right. Aaron took note. Helen and Sean were about to head back, when Sean noticed a group of strange creatures nearby a car, each of them trying to tear it apart. Helen walks by them, obliviously. One of them senses her, and throws a pipe right at the back of her head. Helen falls to the ground. Sean immediately readies his gun, enchanting it with the Holy Spirit. The creatures, three in total, are hostile and vile. One of them jumps on to Helen's back while another runs up to Sean. Helen manages to get up, dropping the creature to the ground, allowing her a chance to get a good look at them and properly identifying what they are.
Gremlins, spirits of destruction, enemies of machines.
Hanson ran up to the two and started aiming and firing his gun straight at the Gremlin terrorising Helen, while Helen tried to doge its oncoming slashing with limited success, sustaining several deep gashes on her arm. Hanson's Gremlin draws close, his gun doing limited damage. The Gremlin swipes at the gun knocking it clean out of his hands, and jumps at Sean as he jumps to reach it. Hanson quickly took a swig of his hip-flask and worked on a mind effect, putting a huge amount of mental fatigue straight into these creatures. Their actions slowed and their intensity felt laboured, but still the continued their assault. Helen's Gremlin grows more interested Hanson, and tries to make a swipe at his gun instead, making it increasingly difficult to aim. Aaron focuses his attention on the third Gremlin, one that is still damaging the car. He loads up his Force Builder app and starts increasing the amount of electrical energy within the car, eventually building up enough wattage to zap now horrendously surprised Gremlin. While the guys were shooting or zapping a Germlin each, Helen took this chance to heal herself of their slashes, and decided to fight her her own powers. She picked up a large shard of glass, got out her wand and readied her shapes, threw it at the one fighting Hanson, and added a little extra kinetic kick. The glass shard lodged itself into the Gremlin. After another zapping, the Gremlin on the car jumped away and call out to its fellows, the other two stopped for a moment, and then ran off with the first. Helen ran after them in hot pursuit.
Not wanting to lose sight of Helen, Aaron pulled up a new window and set a Corr. effect on her. He saw her run off down the street after the Gremlins, but Helen was not able to catch up. She saw them run of, fading more and more as they ran further and further away, effectively jumping back on the other side of the gauntlet. Helen stopped and looked around. Her understanding of the spirit world was limited, and without Alfred of Lydia around to assist, she wasn't too sure what to expect of them. She was about to turn back when she heard something in the alleyway.
She cautiously went to investigate, careful to make little noise despite the shard of glass embedded in the soles of her shoes. As she came to a corner, she slowly peered around and saw a man drawing a strange sign on the wall. Aaron had a hard time getting a clear visual on his face, and immediately assumed that this was him, this was Edwin. Helen approached the man who immediately stopped and turned to her. Aaron excitedly called Helen's blutooth headset and started talking to her.
Edwin: Who are you?
Helen: Uhh...
Aaron: He's Edwin! Talk to him!
Helen: uhm...Hello Edwin.
Edwin: How.. How do you know my name!?
Aaron: Just tell him it's ok, the computer man's got his back.
Helen: It's ok, the computer man has got your back.
The robotic way that Helen recited what Aaron told her started to play on Edwin's imagination. This person did not sound natural, so perhaps she was not. He started to imagine that she was some kind of monstrous creature disguised as a human, like Wilbur Whately from the Dunwich Horror. As he thought this, she began to transform before his very eyes, causing his retreat. "Stop him!" Aaron cried out, and Helen took out her gun and prepared to shoot, but as she got ready, she found it increasingly difficult to keep her balance. Her sight began to change, getting tinged with yellow, and her hand had suddenly become much larger. She continued to chase but her legs were not of much use.
Aaron Concentrates on what he can see of Edwin through his screen and tried to drain his kinetic energy, slowing his run to that of a slow jog. Helen continued the chase, but just couldn't keep up, even in his slower form, however she did manage to fire a single shot at him. Helen turned a corner and came face to face with a amorphous blob with several tentacles and numerous pulsating eyes. It made a grab for her, causing her fall, she wrestled around as she heard the awful creature's cry "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!". She quickly tried to free herself and pushed herself away just in time to watch Edwin disappear around another corner. Helen got up and ran the other way, back to the scene where he made his mark, her stride improving with every step until normality resumed. The mark was the same as that seen earlier by Hanson, a strange twig with five prongs.
Meanwhile, Hanson and Sean where considering their options. The car alarm in the distance was still going strong and it made Hanson curious. He quickly pulled up his perception filter rote on both him and Sean, and they started venturing forth towards the alarm. They reached it with little trouble, but quickly hid as two men in street camo marched towards them. The two men marched towards the car. One stopped, took out a baton and with a waving motion struck the side of the car, the sound instantly stopped. Relying heavily on the perception filter, the two of them stayed as still as they could. Hanson drew out his senses and tried to hear better what they were saying, all he managed to get was:
Man: -reporting to Schechel Joseph Kent! Area secure and clear! ..... Affirmative!
And they marched away.
Hanson: Friends of yours?
Sean: Perhaps...
Hanson: You know a Joseph Kent?
Sean: I might have heard of him... he's a part of the Chorus, might have seen him once or twice.
Hanson is certain there's something Sean isn't telling him, but lets it go for now. Before they leave, however, they hear a low hum from not to far, they go to investigate. Hanson's danger sense goes haywire as they approach, and with good reason. The hum is of a strange machine, and there are technocrats in the area. They listen in on their conversation for a moment, and determine that they are probably not far from where the breach in the gauntlet was, and that this machine is designed to "fix the break in the dimensional barrier". They get the hell out of there before they can call any attention to themselves.
They regrouped, Aaron asked Hanson to come to his place to discuss something important, Sean and Helen just went straight back to the Keepers.
Hanson made a quick stop over by the liquor store in order to fill up his stock while Aaron started setting a few rat traps down. The two met and Aaron started discussing with Hanson all the weird stuff that kept happening around him, and that it all seemed to happen when the same guy was near them time and again. At the station, in front of his house, and now not far from where the Sturm was fought. This guy kept showing up around all these happenings, and his name was Edwin. This caught Hanson's attention immediately, and started to have a long discussion of what they thought they were dealing with.
Edwin was a very powerful mind mage who has an intense level of arcane. Somehow he seems to be the one doing the bulk of the damage to the gauntlet, but to what end is unclear. He must be good at Correspondence too, otherwise how would he have made that big chamber Aaron found himself in back at Euston station. Then there's these Twig glyths he carves, they gathered that he must be using these glyths to teleport around.
Aaron asked if Hanson would stay with him for a few nights, partially because Hanson returning home was too dangerous, and partially because Aaron had a feeling that he would bump into Edwin again, since he kept seeming to show up around him so often, and the next time Edwin showed up, he wanted to be ready to catch him and get some answers.
When Sean and Helen reached the Keepers, they met with Kael who asked what happened with the others, that Vivian was due to arrive back soon and wished to speak with all of them. Helen informed Aaron of this. When they arrived Kael let them into the Node room where Mica was spinning a crystal around in her hand with a look of abject frustration.
They asked her if she was ok, and she explained her frustration, how Kael was trying to get her to do crystal magic "the right way" and how she was having the hardest time figuring it out. The best she could manage was focusing the energy of the crystal to change its colour, and that's about it.
Kael: You need to focus on the energy within.Mica
Mica: This would be a lot easier if you let me use my stuff...
Kael: Concentrate! You don't need those things.
Mica: Yes I do!
Kael: They are not good for you, They'll ruin the energy.
Mica: No it doesn't! It enhances it, it's exactly what you taught me, but stronger.
Kael: There is nothing stronger about it, you must learn to work this properly!
Mica: Well I can't do this!
Mica throws the stone down at the tree.
Kael: Mica! These crystals are tools! Show them respect.
Mica: I can't, it just doesn't work!
Kael: Do not speak to me like this.
Mica: Fine! I won't!
And mica leaves.
Kael looks at the rest of the group and starts to gather up the crystals strewn across the room.
Hanson: So, what's the problem here?
Kael: Mica, she's having a lot of problems with her magic.
Hanson: She seems to do pretty well to me.
Kael: Yes, well she has a lot of trouble here.
Hanson: Perhaps if you let her use her machines.
Kael: Ah, but that isn't really doing magic, is it? It doesn't work that way.
Hanson: It works for her.
Kael: But it's not good for her.
Hanson: Magic is whatever we believe it to be. For you it's crystals, for her it's the machines, what's the issue?
Kael: Magic is energy. This energy is everywhere, in the air, the heart of every living thing, and even in the core of things like these crystals. This pulsing life energy is what we manipulate, and by focusing on the innate power within these crystals, that is how we are able to manipulate the flow of life around us.
Hanson: So what's the problem? If she can change this energy with her machines, then that's all she needs.
Kael: Her machines are a distraction! If she only concentrated more, if she only attuned herself to the living beat, then she'd get it. But sticking with these machines, it ruins her. She used to be quite good at Crystal magic, you know, but then this hobby of hers got out of hand.
During part of this discussion, Sean decided to take the crystal, say a brief prayer over it, and change it from orange to blue just to spite Kael. Unfortunately Kael was so caught up in this argument that he did not notice at all.
Kael: Think of it like this. You have a field and you wish to grow your plants. First you must tend the field, plant the seed, bring the field water, and nurture the growth for the months it takes for the plant to grow, and the plant flourishes and the soil is enriched. If instead you tried to speed up the process by pouring a lot of chemicals into the soil, the plants may grow quicker, but now you've poisoned the soil!
Hanson: I mean, if that's the analogy you're trying to use... But no. She needs to figure out her own way of doing things.
Kael: I don't expect you to understand. The rhythm of life can be a difficult thing to feel.
There is a strange but subtle sound, like a high pitched wale, as if something is trying to squeeze through a tight spot. Suddenly, Vivian appears within the middle of the room completely naked. She looks over at the group and asks "Where are the others?" They tell her of Alfred and Lydia's sudden disappearance while Vivian takes a robe hanging up by the tree and wears it. Camellia appears out of thin space just as Vivian had a moment before, and just as nude, followed shortly by Boris, who is covered in blood and screaming in pain as he collapses to the ground. Vivian rushes over to him while Camellia hurriedly finds a robe for herself. Vivian shouts at Camellia to hurry and fetch their tools while she tries to reduce Boris's agony. Vivian asks if any of them know how to use herbs. Helen says yes and is commanded to assist Camellia prepare their mixture. Vivian and Kael rush to gather the correct herbs while Hanson and Sean try (and fail) to stop the bleeding with mundane medical knowledge. With the mixture complete, Vivian rushes to apply it to Boris's wounds, but they don't seem to have any effect. The damage is far too aggravated.
Granny Elm appears and walks with purpose towards the horrendously mauled Boris. She puts her hand on his chest and mutters a few words. The wounds start to seal themselves and as they do so, Granny Elm's hand begins to wither and blacken. Boris lies exhausted on the ground, but no longer bleeding. Vivian passes him a robe, helps him up to his feet and takes him through a door on the over side of the room. Camellia quickly thanks Helen for her help, and goes with Kael to pack away their supplies. Granny Elm looks up at the others.
Granny: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Granny Elm. I know of you all, who you are and what you plan to do here. I know all of what you are. I'm sure you have many questions.
Hanson: yes.
Aaron: So... what happened?
Granny: They stepped sideways and passed through the Avatar Storm.
Aaron: ...What's that?
Granny: The storm which rages on within the folds on the gauntlet. Only decades ago passage into the spirit world was a simple endeavour, but these days its treachery cannot be underestimated.
Aaron: Would that have happened to us if we left the path?
Granny: Perhaps. Though the storm is harshest on those with a higher...level of enlightenment.
Helen: Is he going to be ok?
Granny: Boris knew the risks when he embarked. Sometimes this is to be expected.
Hanson: And what were they doing there anyway?
Granny: They left to investigate the cracks in the gauntlet, just as you had done. Except they went to check on the other side.
Aaron: Also, why were they naked?
Granny: It is easier to step sideways when you do not bring much with you.
Aaron: Oh right, yes... Matter patterns and all that.
Helen: Do you know who Zandros and Malady are?
Granny: ...This will need to be discussed properly with Vivian when she is ready.
There is a cold silence. Broken only then Granny Elm looks back at the group.
Granny: I expect I'll be seeing you all of you in consultation.
Hanson: All of us?
Granny: In turn.
Granny Elm returns to their room while the others look at each other in confusion. Vivian enters the room and thanks the others for the help they gave.and follows, says that their meeting may have to wait until the morning, and follows Granny Elm into her room for consultation.
Mica pokes her head around and asks what all the noise was.
Aaron: Boris got hurt trying to come back from the spirit world.
Mica: Oh right... Yeah... Not really done much spirit walking myself. Tried it once, wasn't really into it... By the way, I got your message. Don't know about this Zander guy, but If you're talking about Mel, I can show you something.
Hanson, Helen, and Aaron follow Mica into her room, it's quite cramped with all four of them in there, and a lot of the space is already taken up by crystals and machine parts. Mica gets to work setting up a number of light beams, crystals, and typing something into her computer.
Mica: So, Mel used to be one of the Keepers.
Hanson: Used to be?
Mica: Well, yeah. I mean she still might be, I don't really know. Vivian doesn't really like talking about it. I can show you the last thing she did before she left though.
A minute or so later and a few Ruby, Saphire, and Opal crystals casts coloured light towards the door. Mica is showing them an even from the past. A girl leaves the long corridor and enters the antechamber. Some find her familiar, but Helen recognises her to be Malady. She looks angry and irritated.
She shouts back at the corridor behind her.
Malady: You Hypocrite! That's all you are!
Vivian emerged from the hallway.
Vivian: Come back here!
Malady stops and looks round at her. there is a tense moment of anger. Malady spits on the ground at her feet.
Malady: You're just like the people in my village, if not worse!
She storms up the stairs and away. Vivian looks on but does not follow. The image starts to fade as the machine whirrs to a stop. The others look at each other for a bit.
Aaron:I think we'd better speak to Vivian about this.
Mica: You can try... But I don't know. She doesn't really like talking about it. Sorry I can't show you any more than this, my stuff doesn't really work in the node room.
Aaron: I know the feeling.
Hanson: Can I ask quickly, is it ok if I smoke in here?
Mica: ...no.
Hanson leaves to take a cigarette break and Aaron follows him. Hanson is a bit taken aback about how hostile people seem to be towards smokers these days.
Meanwhile, Sean decides to sit at the node and meditate for quintessence. As he does so, he feels a strange presence try to gain entry to his mind. He considers it for a moment but feels that it is something very much unlike his godly associations. He rejects its entry, banishing any further thought of taking in the quintessence of such an ungodly area.
While Sean was meditating, Helen returns to the node room. She is about to try and heal the damage from the Sturm's lightning and draws a spiral in anticipation, but decides against it. She was about to try meditating at the node herself, when a voice could be heard in the back of her mind. A whisper, quiet but unmistakable, someone was calling her name. She followed this whisper to a door left ajar. Helen knocked, heard nothing, then stepped inside. A candle lay by the entrance, she picked it up and look around. Inside was a dark study with a bookcase holding a vast array of books. Some occult, some herbal, some on high rituals. Thinking that perhaps the book of shadows was somewhere within, she started to search around. The voice called again. This time her attention was drawn to a single sheet of paper sticking out of the shelf. Helen took it and unfolded it. She had found a letter.
To The High Priest.
I can assure you that the ritual was a success. Chaos broke out when the technocracy ambushed us, and this is when we lost track of them. Luckily they had arrived after the rite was complete. Personally, I'm glad they saw exactly what we're capable of. They will remember this! I don't know what to tell you of the girl, but I suspect she was found by one of them. I don't think we need to worry about her. Children see things all the time.
Beranabus
Aaron returned downstairs and started helping Camellia and Kael take stock of the inventory.
Aaron: So you grow a lot of these yourself?
Kael: Oh yes. (showing him the back of the apothecary room) we have our own greenhouse here for a number of herbs.
Aaron: And this is where you get everything?
Kael: No, not everything. There are a number of herbs which we cannot grow. They require very specific environments. We go on trips to gather such ingredients as we need them every few months.
Aaron: When was the last time you needed to go?
Kael: Last month.
Aaron: Ah, so you should be ok for a while then.
Kael: With luck, providing we don't have any more emergencies.
Aaron: What do all these herbs do?
Kael: They can be used for a whole variety of matters. Some provide methods of healing wounds, some are for memory, some provide relief for pain, some can alter your mood, some can make you feel relaxed. She can tell you more about those (gesturing towards Camellia).
Camellia starts to turn her away, pretending not to acknowledge Kael's reference to her.
Aaron: Actually yeah. I wanted to ask you that. Camellia? Why do you take so many herbs to make you calm?
Camellia: What?
Aaron: I mean, you're always so calm, no matter what you're doing. I was wondering why. Is something wrong?
Camellia: (turning her head away) I don't know what you're talking about...
Camellia quickly makes an exit, her normally calm demeanour starting to falter. Vivian emerges and asks if Helen is about. Aaron realises that he hasn't seen Helen since he got back and starts looking around for her. Vivian hears something from one of the doors, and walks towards it.
Helen heard someone approach the door. She quickly hid the letter in the clothes and returned the candle to the entrance. The door opens and Vivian's voice comes out"Boris? Is that you?" Helen stands by the candle.
Vivian: Helen? What are you doing in Boris's Study?
Helen: Oh, I was looking for Kael to get some herbs to help me sleep.
Vivian: Really... Well, you shouldn't be nosing around these rooms on your own. Come on.
Vivian takes Helen to the apothecary room and helps her pick out a few things.
Aaron returns and sees Helen is with Vivian. Vivian leaves and the three of them walk by Granny elm's door and wonder if one of them should go inside or not. They all think that Helen, as the only Verbena present, probably should be the first to go in. Helen really doesn't want to as she's afraid that Granny Elm already knows the truth about her and what she plans to do. But can't find a good reason to avoid it, and so submits, she enters the room and has her consultation.
Aaron and Hanson leave for the night, returning to Aaron's home as planned, while Sean stays the night in his room in the outer Chantry. While trying to sleep, Aaron is awoken by a hideous squeaking sound. Walking over to the cupboard he finds a rat caught by the tail in one of his traps. He asks Hanson for help, and gets ready to put it out of it's misery with a frying pan, except that the rat successfully gnawed through its own tail and escaped. Aaron swings the pan and misses, cracking a tile on the kitchen floor. The rat scurries away. Aaron quickly drags over a rug to cover up the crack. "Yeah, I really don't want to lose my deposit over this..."
And that's where this session ended.
---NOTES---
In case you were wondering. This Twig glyph Edwin was drawing is the Elder Sign. I decided to go with the twig version partially because that's the one Lovecraft drew, and because I thought the star and eye design would make things far too obvious. That being said, it's interesting how they've narrowed in on the mind effects, but haven't quite made the leap to Marauder just yet. It's a shame Alfred wasn't around for this, his contribution and realisation from reading Pickman's Model might have helped a lot here.
The scene where the Verbena return from the spirit world was one I wanted to include for a while. I wanted to point out to them how nudity can make crossing the gauntlet easier, but also just how dangerous said crossing can become. As these players had never played Mage before, I thought it would be fair if they found out through the NPC's experience rather than just get horrendously hurt on their first experience.
Funnily enough, although I expected one of the three to be hurt by the storm, I wasn't too sure who it should be. I ended up rolling everyone's arete, and Boris's just happened to be a botch.
Tomorrow we're going to play through Alfred's solo experience with the Technocracy, and some time this week I'll be giving Helen's Granny Elm meeting, so look forward to that.
This one's going to be a bit shorter since a large chunk of time went to combat.
Cast list:
Joe Hanson: Noir Detective
Aaron Gibson: Punk Hacker
Helen Walter: Hermetic Spy
Sean Heath: Templar Knight
Both Lydia and Alfred are absent today. I'll be meeting with Alfred's player for a mini-session tomorrow, but Lydia probably won't be around until the next session.
Notable NPCs:
Edwin Philips: Our Marauder
Keepers of the Wyck
Vivian Porter: High Priestess
Boris Mortimer: High Priest
Camellia: Maiden
Kael: Talisman Crafter
Mica Rose: Techno witch
Granny Elm: Hidden Malfean Seer
---CHAPTER 7: PICKING UP THE PIECES---
Lydia ran off. Hanson was still a bit disorientated from the backlash and had no idea where she went. Helen noticed her run off, but was too far away to intervene. They look around. The ground was a mess of broken glass, rubbish, bent lights and a knocked over telephone box. They took in the scene and and considered their next steps.
Meanwhile, Aaron's effect had ran out, and his computer screen fell blank. He was about to prepare another one to get a visual, but got distracted by a squeaking noise. He investigated, and discovered a large rat scurrying down a hold made in the back of his cupboard. "Uh oh..." He thought, "Rat problem... There goes my deposit." Her returned to his computer and managed to get a view on Hanson.
Hanson noticed a strange sign on the side of a building. A strange looking twig with five prongs, three on the left and two on the right. Aaron took note. Helen and Sean were about to head back, when Sean noticed a group of strange creatures nearby a car, each of them trying to tear it apart. Helen walks by them, obliviously. One of them senses her, and throws a pipe right at the back of her head. Helen falls to the ground. Sean immediately readies his gun, enchanting it with the Holy Spirit. The creatures, three in total, are hostile and vile. One of them jumps on to Helen's back while another runs up to Sean. Helen manages to get up, dropping the creature to the ground, allowing her a chance to get a good look at them and properly identifying what they are.
Gremlins, spirits of destruction, enemies of machines.
Hanson ran up to the two and started aiming and firing his gun straight at the Gremlin terrorising Helen, while Helen tried to doge its oncoming slashing with limited success, sustaining several deep gashes on her arm. Hanson's Gremlin draws close, his gun doing limited damage. The Gremlin swipes at the gun knocking it clean out of his hands, and jumps at Sean as he jumps to reach it. Hanson quickly took a swig of his hip-flask and worked on a mind effect, putting a huge amount of mental fatigue straight into these creatures. Their actions slowed and their intensity felt laboured, but still the continued their assault. Helen's Gremlin grows more interested Hanson, and tries to make a swipe at his gun instead, making it increasingly difficult to aim. Aaron focuses his attention on the third Gremlin, one that is still damaging the car. He loads up his Force Builder app and starts increasing the amount of electrical energy within the car, eventually building up enough wattage to zap now horrendously surprised Gremlin. While the guys were shooting or zapping a Germlin each, Helen took this chance to heal herself of their slashes, and decided to fight her her own powers. She picked up a large shard of glass, got out her wand and readied her shapes, threw it at the one fighting Hanson, and added a little extra kinetic kick. The glass shard lodged itself into the Gremlin. After another zapping, the Gremlin on the car jumped away and call out to its fellows, the other two stopped for a moment, and then ran off with the first. Helen ran after them in hot pursuit.
Not wanting to lose sight of Helen, Aaron pulled up a new window and set a Corr. effect on her. He saw her run off down the street after the Gremlins, but Helen was not able to catch up. She saw them run of, fading more and more as they ran further and further away, effectively jumping back on the other side of the gauntlet. Helen stopped and looked around. Her understanding of the spirit world was limited, and without Alfred of Lydia around to assist, she wasn't too sure what to expect of them. She was about to turn back when she heard something in the alleyway.
She cautiously went to investigate, careful to make little noise despite the shard of glass embedded in the soles of her shoes. As she came to a corner, she slowly peered around and saw a man drawing a strange sign on the wall. Aaron had a hard time getting a clear visual on his face, and immediately assumed that this was him, this was Edwin. Helen approached the man who immediately stopped and turned to her. Aaron excitedly called Helen's blutooth headset and started talking to her.
Edwin: Who are you?
Helen: Uhh...
Aaron: He's Edwin! Talk to him!
Helen: uhm...Hello Edwin.
Edwin: How.. How do you know my name!?
Aaron: Just tell him it's ok, the computer man's got his back.
Helen: It's ok, the computer man has got your back.
The robotic way that Helen recited what Aaron told her started to play on Edwin's imagination. This person did not sound natural, so perhaps she was not. He started to imagine that she was some kind of monstrous creature disguised as a human, like Wilbur Whately from the Dunwich Horror. As he thought this, she began to transform before his very eyes, causing his retreat. "Stop him!" Aaron cried out, and Helen took out her gun and prepared to shoot, but as she got ready, she found it increasingly difficult to keep her balance. Her sight began to change, getting tinged with yellow, and her hand had suddenly become much larger. She continued to chase but her legs were not of much use.
Aaron Concentrates on what he can see of Edwin through his screen and tried to drain his kinetic energy, slowing his run to that of a slow jog. Helen continued the chase, but just couldn't keep up, even in his slower form, however she did manage to fire a single shot at him. Helen turned a corner and came face to face with a amorphous blob with several tentacles and numerous pulsating eyes. It made a grab for her, causing her fall, she wrestled around as she heard the awful creature's cry "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!". She quickly tried to free herself and pushed herself away just in time to watch Edwin disappear around another corner. Helen got up and ran the other way, back to the scene where he made his mark, her stride improving with every step until normality resumed. The mark was the same as that seen earlier by Hanson, a strange twig with five prongs.
Meanwhile, Hanson and Sean where considering their options. The car alarm in the distance was still going strong and it made Hanson curious. He quickly pulled up his perception filter rote on both him and Sean, and they started venturing forth towards the alarm. They reached it with little trouble, but quickly hid as two men in street camo marched towards them. The two men marched towards the car. One stopped, took out a baton and with a waving motion struck the side of the car, the sound instantly stopped. Relying heavily on the perception filter, the two of them stayed as still as they could. Hanson drew out his senses and tried to hear better what they were saying, all he managed to get was:
Man: -reporting to Schechel Joseph Kent! Area secure and clear! ..... Affirmative!
And they marched away.
Hanson: Friends of yours?
Sean: Perhaps...
Hanson: You know a Joseph Kent?
Sean: I might have heard of him... he's a part of the Chorus, might have seen him once or twice.
Hanson is certain there's something Sean isn't telling him, but lets it go for now. Before they leave, however, they hear a low hum from not to far, they go to investigate. Hanson's danger sense goes haywire as they approach, and with good reason. The hum is of a strange machine, and there are technocrats in the area. They listen in on their conversation for a moment, and determine that they are probably not far from where the breach in the gauntlet was, and that this machine is designed to "fix the break in the dimensional barrier". They get the hell out of there before they can call any attention to themselves.
They regrouped, Aaron asked Hanson to come to his place to discuss something important, Sean and Helen just went straight back to the Keepers.
Hanson made a quick stop over by the liquor store in order to fill up his stock while Aaron started setting a few rat traps down. The two met and Aaron started discussing with Hanson all the weird stuff that kept happening around him, and that it all seemed to happen when the same guy was near them time and again. At the station, in front of his house, and now not far from where the Sturm was fought. This guy kept showing up around all these happenings, and his name was Edwin. This caught Hanson's attention immediately, and started to have a long discussion of what they thought they were dealing with.
Edwin was a very powerful mind mage who has an intense level of arcane. Somehow he seems to be the one doing the bulk of the damage to the gauntlet, but to what end is unclear. He must be good at Correspondence too, otherwise how would he have made that big chamber Aaron found himself in back at Euston station. Then there's these Twig glyths he carves, they gathered that he must be using these glyths to teleport around.
Aaron asked if Hanson would stay with him for a few nights, partially because Hanson returning home was too dangerous, and partially because Aaron had a feeling that he would bump into Edwin again, since he kept seeming to show up around him so often, and the next time Edwin showed up, he wanted to be ready to catch him and get some answers.
When Sean and Helen reached the Keepers, they met with Kael who asked what happened with the others, that Vivian was due to arrive back soon and wished to speak with all of them. Helen informed Aaron of this. When they arrived Kael let them into the Node room where Mica was spinning a crystal around in her hand with a look of abject frustration.
They asked her if she was ok, and she explained her frustration, how Kael was trying to get her to do crystal magic "the right way" and how she was having the hardest time figuring it out. The best she could manage was focusing the energy of the crystal to change its colour, and that's about it.
Kael: You need to focus on the energy within.Mica
Mica: This would be a lot easier if you let me use my stuff...
Kael: Concentrate! You don't need those things.
Mica: Yes I do!
Kael: They are not good for you, They'll ruin the energy.
Mica: No it doesn't! It enhances it, it's exactly what you taught me, but stronger.
Kael: There is nothing stronger about it, you must learn to work this properly!
Mica: Well I can't do this!
Mica throws the stone down at the tree.
Kael: Mica! These crystals are tools! Show them respect.
Mica: I can't, it just doesn't work!
Kael: Do not speak to me like this.
Mica: Fine! I won't!
And mica leaves.
Kael looks at the rest of the group and starts to gather up the crystals strewn across the room.
Hanson: So, what's the problem here?
Kael: Mica, she's having a lot of problems with her magic.
Hanson: She seems to do pretty well to me.
Kael: Yes, well she has a lot of trouble here.
Hanson: Perhaps if you let her use her machines.
Kael: Ah, but that isn't really doing magic, is it? It doesn't work that way.
Hanson: It works for her.
Kael: But it's not good for her.
Hanson: Magic is whatever we believe it to be. For you it's crystals, for her it's the machines, what's the issue?
Kael: Magic is energy. This energy is everywhere, in the air, the heart of every living thing, and even in the core of things like these crystals. This pulsing life energy is what we manipulate, and by focusing on the innate power within these crystals, that is how we are able to manipulate the flow of life around us.
Hanson: So what's the problem? If she can change this energy with her machines, then that's all she needs.
Kael: Her machines are a distraction! If she only concentrated more, if she only attuned herself to the living beat, then she'd get it. But sticking with these machines, it ruins her. She used to be quite good at Crystal magic, you know, but then this hobby of hers got out of hand.
During part of this discussion, Sean decided to take the crystal, say a brief prayer over it, and change it from orange to blue just to spite Kael. Unfortunately Kael was so caught up in this argument that he did not notice at all.
Kael: Think of it like this. You have a field and you wish to grow your plants. First you must tend the field, plant the seed, bring the field water, and nurture the growth for the months it takes for the plant to grow, and the plant flourishes and the soil is enriched. If instead you tried to speed up the process by pouring a lot of chemicals into the soil, the plants may grow quicker, but now you've poisoned the soil!
Hanson: I mean, if that's the analogy you're trying to use... But no. She needs to figure out her own way of doing things.
Kael: I don't expect you to understand. The rhythm of life can be a difficult thing to feel.
There is a strange but subtle sound, like a high pitched wale, as if something is trying to squeeze through a tight spot. Suddenly, Vivian appears within the middle of the room completely naked. She looks over at the group and asks "Where are the others?" They tell her of Alfred and Lydia's sudden disappearance while Vivian takes a robe hanging up by the tree and wears it. Camellia appears out of thin space just as Vivian had a moment before, and just as nude, followed shortly by Boris, who is covered in blood and screaming in pain as he collapses to the ground. Vivian rushes over to him while Camellia hurriedly finds a robe for herself. Vivian shouts at Camellia to hurry and fetch their tools while she tries to reduce Boris's agony. Vivian asks if any of them know how to use herbs. Helen says yes and is commanded to assist Camellia prepare their mixture. Vivian and Kael rush to gather the correct herbs while Hanson and Sean try (and fail) to stop the bleeding with mundane medical knowledge. With the mixture complete, Vivian rushes to apply it to Boris's wounds, but they don't seem to have any effect. The damage is far too aggravated.
Granny Elm appears and walks with purpose towards the horrendously mauled Boris. She puts her hand on his chest and mutters a few words. The wounds start to seal themselves and as they do so, Granny Elm's hand begins to wither and blacken. Boris lies exhausted on the ground, but no longer bleeding. Vivian passes him a robe, helps him up to his feet and takes him through a door on the over side of the room. Camellia quickly thanks Helen for her help, and goes with Kael to pack away their supplies. Granny Elm looks up at the others.
Granny: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Granny Elm. I know of you all, who you are and what you plan to do here. I know all of what you are. I'm sure you have many questions.
Hanson: yes.
Aaron: So... what happened?
Granny: They stepped sideways and passed through the Avatar Storm.
Aaron: ...What's that?
Granny: The storm which rages on within the folds on the gauntlet. Only decades ago passage into the spirit world was a simple endeavour, but these days its treachery cannot be underestimated.
Aaron: Would that have happened to us if we left the path?
Granny: Perhaps. Though the storm is harshest on those with a higher...level of enlightenment.
Helen: Is he going to be ok?
Granny: Boris knew the risks when he embarked. Sometimes this is to be expected.
Hanson: And what were they doing there anyway?
Granny: They left to investigate the cracks in the gauntlet, just as you had done. Except they went to check on the other side.
Aaron: Also, why were they naked?
Granny: It is easier to step sideways when you do not bring much with you.
Aaron: Oh right, yes... Matter patterns and all that.
Helen: Do you know who Zandros and Malady are?
Granny: ...This will need to be discussed properly with Vivian when she is ready.
There is a cold silence. Broken only then Granny Elm looks back at the group.
Granny: I expect I'll be seeing you all of you in consultation.
Hanson: All of us?
Granny: In turn.
Granny Elm returns to their room while the others look at each other in confusion. Vivian enters the room and thanks the others for the help they gave.and follows, says that their meeting may have to wait until the morning, and follows Granny Elm into her room for consultation.
Mica pokes her head around and asks what all the noise was.
Aaron: Boris got hurt trying to come back from the spirit world.
Mica: Oh right... Yeah... Not really done much spirit walking myself. Tried it once, wasn't really into it... By the way, I got your message. Don't know about this Zander guy, but If you're talking about Mel, I can show you something.
Hanson, Helen, and Aaron follow Mica into her room, it's quite cramped with all four of them in there, and a lot of the space is already taken up by crystals and machine parts. Mica gets to work setting up a number of light beams, crystals, and typing something into her computer.
Mica: So, Mel used to be one of the Keepers.
Hanson: Used to be?
Mica: Well, yeah. I mean she still might be, I don't really know. Vivian doesn't really like talking about it. I can show you the last thing she did before she left though.
A minute or so later and a few Ruby, Saphire, and Opal crystals casts coloured light towards the door. Mica is showing them an even from the past. A girl leaves the long corridor and enters the antechamber. Some find her familiar, but Helen recognises her to be Malady. She looks angry and irritated.
She shouts back at the corridor behind her.
Malady: You Hypocrite! That's all you are!
Vivian emerged from the hallway.
Vivian: Come back here!
Malady stops and looks round at her. there is a tense moment of anger. Malady spits on the ground at her feet.
Malady: You're just like the people in my village, if not worse!
She storms up the stairs and away. Vivian looks on but does not follow. The image starts to fade as the machine whirrs to a stop. The others look at each other for a bit.
Aaron:I think we'd better speak to Vivian about this.
Mica: You can try... But I don't know. She doesn't really like talking about it. Sorry I can't show you any more than this, my stuff doesn't really work in the node room.
Aaron: I know the feeling.
Hanson: Can I ask quickly, is it ok if I smoke in here?
Mica: ...no.
Hanson leaves to take a cigarette break and Aaron follows him. Hanson is a bit taken aback about how hostile people seem to be towards smokers these days.
Meanwhile, Sean decides to sit at the node and meditate for quintessence. As he does so, he feels a strange presence try to gain entry to his mind. He considers it for a moment but feels that it is something very much unlike his godly associations. He rejects its entry, banishing any further thought of taking in the quintessence of such an ungodly area.
While Sean was meditating, Helen returns to the node room. She is about to try and heal the damage from the Sturm's lightning and draws a spiral in anticipation, but decides against it. She was about to try meditating at the node herself, when a voice could be heard in the back of her mind. A whisper, quiet but unmistakable, someone was calling her name. She followed this whisper to a door left ajar. Helen knocked, heard nothing, then stepped inside. A candle lay by the entrance, she picked it up and look around. Inside was a dark study with a bookcase holding a vast array of books. Some occult, some herbal, some on high rituals. Thinking that perhaps the book of shadows was somewhere within, she started to search around. The voice called again. This time her attention was drawn to a single sheet of paper sticking out of the shelf. Helen took it and unfolded it. She had found a letter.
To The High Priest.
I can assure you that the ritual was a success. Chaos broke out when the technocracy ambushed us, and this is when we lost track of them. Luckily they had arrived after the rite was complete. Personally, I'm glad they saw exactly what we're capable of. They will remember this! I don't know what to tell you of the girl, but I suspect she was found by one of them. I don't think we need to worry about her. Children see things all the time.
Beranabus
Aaron returned downstairs and started helping Camellia and Kael take stock of the inventory.
Aaron: So you grow a lot of these yourself?
Kael: Oh yes. (showing him the back of the apothecary room) we have our own greenhouse here for a number of herbs.
Aaron: And this is where you get everything?
Kael: No, not everything. There are a number of herbs which we cannot grow. They require very specific environments. We go on trips to gather such ingredients as we need them every few months.
Aaron: When was the last time you needed to go?
Kael: Last month.
Aaron: Ah, so you should be ok for a while then.
Kael: With luck, providing we don't have any more emergencies.
Aaron: What do all these herbs do?
Kael: They can be used for a whole variety of matters. Some provide methods of healing wounds, some are for memory, some provide relief for pain, some can alter your mood, some can make you feel relaxed. She can tell you more about those (gesturing towards Camellia).
Camellia starts to turn her away, pretending not to acknowledge Kael's reference to her.
Aaron: Actually yeah. I wanted to ask you that. Camellia? Why do you take so many herbs to make you calm?
Camellia: What?
Aaron: I mean, you're always so calm, no matter what you're doing. I was wondering why. Is something wrong?
Camellia: (turning her head away) I don't know what you're talking about...
Camellia quickly makes an exit, her normally calm demeanour starting to falter. Vivian emerges and asks if Helen is about. Aaron realises that he hasn't seen Helen since he got back and starts looking around for her. Vivian hears something from one of the doors, and walks towards it.
Helen heard someone approach the door. She quickly hid the letter in the clothes and returned the candle to the entrance. The door opens and Vivian's voice comes out"Boris? Is that you?" Helen stands by the candle.
Vivian: Helen? What are you doing in Boris's Study?
Helen: Oh, I was looking for Kael to get some herbs to help me sleep.
Vivian: Really... Well, you shouldn't be nosing around these rooms on your own. Come on.
Vivian takes Helen to the apothecary room and helps her pick out a few things.
Aaron returns and sees Helen is with Vivian. Vivian leaves and the three of them walk by Granny elm's door and wonder if one of them should go inside or not. They all think that Helen, as the only Verbena present, probably should be the first to go in. Helen really doesn't want to as she's afraid that Granny Elm already knows the truth about her and what she plans to do. But can't find a good reason to avoid it, and so submits, she enters the room and has her consultation.
Aaron and Hanson leave for the night, returning to Aaron's home as planned, while Sean stays the night in his room in the outer Chantry. While trying to sleep, Aaron is awoken by a hideous squeaking sound. Walking over to the cupboard he finds a rat caught by the tail in one of his traps. He asks Hanson for help, and gets ready to put it out of it's misery with a frying pan, except that the rat successfully gnawed through its own tail and escaped. Aaron swings the pan and misses, cracking a tile on the kitchen floor. The rat scurries away. Aaron quickly drags over a rug to cover up the crack. "Yeah, I really don't want to lose my deposit over this..."
And that's where this session ended.
---NOTES---
In case you were wondering. This Twig glyph Edwin was drawing is the Elder Sign. I decided to go with the twig version partially because that's the one Lovecraft drew, and because I thought the star and eye design would make things far too obvious. That being said, it's interesting how they've narrowed in on the mind effects, but haven't quite made the leap to Marauder just yet. It's a shame Alfred wasn't around for this, his contribution and realisation from reading Pickman's Model might have helped a lot here.
The scene where the Verbena return from the spirit world was one I wanted to include for a while. I wanted to point out to them how nudity can make crossing the gauntlet easier, but also just how dangerous said crossing can become. As these players had never played Mage before, I thought it would be fair if they found out through the NPC's experience rather than just get horrendously hurt on their first experience.
Funnily enough, although I expected one of the three to be hurt by the storm, I wasn't too sure who it should be. I ended up rolling everyone's arete, and Boris's just happened to be a botch.
Tomorrow we're going to play through Alfred's solo experience with the Technocracy, and some time this week I'll be giving Helen's Granny Elm meeting, so look forward to that.
Comment