Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

[DragonParadox]

Where Laughter Stills ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

A last look around the erstwhile chamber of horrors. "One minute".In moments you are going through their pockets, ignoring bulging billfolds and credit cards in favor of a small pile of cellphones. At your Dad's look, you explain as you stuff them in your pockets "Loose ends, Dad. Niemi was apparently scamming both Iku Turso and the poor people here. His people's phones might help us figure why."

Dad does not look convinced at the notion that Iku Turso can be scammed, but he lets you finish. Thankfully another another thing that finishes is your transformation, sinking back into the flame of your anima, like a stone under still waters, eternally part of the lake bed. Cleveland was probably not ready for that look.

Alas it's not all good news.

"Darn!" you shake your head looking at the guard. One more question had gotten you the 'doctor's' number, but the guard did not have enough of an affinity to whatever magic was done here to tell you what Way Niemi would have taken out of here. At least you learned one thing out of asking it. If you try to use a focus that is not good enough to set the eyes upon your crown upon it's just like grabbing for something that isn't there, momentarily confusing, but without any higher cost.

Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 3/12

A hurried departure through empty passageways gets you out of there just ahead of a throng of firemen and EMTs, and you only have a brief meeting with Ruth Koskinen before slipping out the foyer and down the sidewalk.

That had been a bit more than luck back there, you think back on how unlikely it was that even doing little to try to be stealthy you made it out of the building without meeting any emergency personnel and got to talk to Ruth. With a quick, slightly self-conscious prayer of thanks for somewhat more obvious than usual help you slip into the hotel and up the stairs. Some king of glamor or illusion magic would be great for some like this

After all three of you clean up from looking like extras in a horror movie, you take a nice relaxing bleach bath while your digital helpers look through the Cleveland police cameras for signs of the Pathfinders. Vampires are not the only ones who can play this game after all.

Essence and Wounds now at full

Luckily for you, and unluckily for the fleeing Pathfinders not all of them had the chance to flee along the Ways and their path on the streets of Cleveland is easily tracked to the shores of Lake Erie, to a place called Euclid Beach Park, a former amusement park according to the internet, emphasis on 'former'.

A twisting, turning wooden half-cylinder with no rails rose over a field long since colonized with chickweed and crabgrass the yellow heads of dandelion and the white cups bindweed flowers looking out from among the half rotted posts of what had once been a popcorn stand. Everywhere bright colors are peeling to dirty browns and greys like half withered flowers. Only the two story brick arc of the park gate seems to have survived the passage of time strangely intact.

As the wind blows out from the lake you can hear, or think you hear at least the faint tinkle of bells on the breeze. The hint of childish laughter is definitely your imagination though... definitely.

Alas Lydia does not let you have comforting lies for long: "The dead do not rest easy here."

"A good place to go to ground for those who have less reason to fear them than ordinary folks," your dad sighs. "I've seen this before, even beings that have no power to command the dead can use them as tripwires of a sort, to slow pursuit or at least warn of them."

"Well it's been something like three hours since we dealt with that thing at Soul's Rest, so if they have anything else waiting for us odds are that will be ready as well," you note. Then to make the point you add. "This is out last chance to find out what they were doing Niemi is not answering his phone." You let a little of the frustration over that one seep into your voice. Why does the evil sorcerer have to know not to answer unknown numbers?

"I could try to talk to the ghosts, ask them where the Pathfinders went, but it's going to be obvious..."

"When you say obvious...?"

"Glowing bright silver," she confirms. "I can pull them across the veil for a bit to feel the wind and see the moonlight unshrouded. "Ghosts remember life and even those whose lives were darkest yearn for it, that is why they are still here."

What do you do?

[] Try to question the dead (Lydia rolls Empathy+Charisma at -2 DC; Obvious)

[] Try to find the Pathfinders within the park the old fashioned way (Lydia and Michael roll Intelligence+Investigation making use of the maps Clippy downloaded for you)

[] Use the Crown on the park itself to find out if they are still here or just passing through (-1 Essence)

[] Write in

OOC: In our world Euclid Beech Park was closed down in 1967 and the place was mostly cleared up, but our world also does not have Chicago Undertown. The various dark things of the Dresdenverse are drawn to places like this, the liminal ruined state.

 

[DragonParadox]

In Congenial Company ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

As Lydia walks through the arch the light of her soul slowly spills out silvery fingers over the ruin of Euclid Park only instead of washing out the last of the colors it brightens them even as the marks of age and decay soften and smooth out. Over the water the wind still blows, grasshoppers and cicadas make the music of the night, Was that the cry of a bat or another burst of childish laughter? In the time it takes to turn your head after the sound and back you see a shadow passing over the rolercoaster, as though the thing was rolling again... and looking after that somehow makes you miss the popcorn stand being open now, though you can't see the face of the man behind the man under the awning. A gloved hand just a little too thin points you onto the path into the park.

Spoiler: When the Dead Walk

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ylGHfLrdI

"Cool!" the word comes out without meaning to, but in your defense it's not every day you see a fifty horse and two chariot carousel decorated with cherubs and vines in the style of Greek myth. I wanna ride that thing, the part of you that is still like seven informs you in no uncertain terms, although the occult-knowing segment of your brain knows its probably not solid enough for that.

"Well I am not certain as to it being cool or warm, but she's a beauty and no doubt about that."

You look up to see a young black man in a suit and bow-tie, your age or maybe two or three years older, cute in a serious 'I'd like to unbutton this shirt collar but I'm too polite to do it' sort of way.

He introduces himself as Clarence Smith and does the whole dramatic hand-kissing thing that would be that would be supper awkward with someone alive, but which is clearly perfectly ordinary for him. Flirting with a ghost, clearly also not the least awkward Molly, you tell yourself as you smile back. Some things are universal it seems.

Spoiler: Clarence Smith

"Hi," Lydia clears her throat. "I don't suppose you noticed some very shady people come through here about three to four hours ago."

"I must confess I do not have a watch little miss," Clarence replies, sounding to your ear less flirtatious and more fond, like she reminds him of a younger sister.

"Ah... a little before moonrise. I know time does not flow the same way on the other side of the veil, but these should tread more heavily than most of the living I think."

"I did not see them, I had no eyes to see, though I am gladder than I can say to have eyes now and in such company. Come on do you want to see the park? I didn't get to see it near as much when I was alive, but death opens many doors."

"We really need to find those people, they are hurting the innocent, using them up like candles set to flame. Please."

He jerks to a stop halfway to turning, like an image blurring into static on an old TV, all the stranger for knowing that thanks to Lydia's anima he's as solid as any of the rest of you. "The city'll tear down this place if they don't need it no more."

"I bet plenty of other odd folk come here to deal with one another, the Pathfinders haven't been here in fifty years," Lydia insists.

For a moment as Clarance looks unsure you catch sight of other shadows gathering all around the rides and coiling about the games. Just curious for now but...

The phantom sighs, this breath cold as autumn wind. "Alright. I'll show you."

And so he does, taking you to the shore of the lake, though silver-shot snatches of the park's life until at last you come to a concrete walkway and a concrete pier than thrusts out like a tongue of stone onto the waters of the lake. "They have a place under the water, right over there past that buoy. Not sure how you're going to get there but..." Clarance gives the sort of expansive shrug that goes with the suit.

"Thanks," Lydia smiles. "Listen do you want to..." she swirls her finger vaguely skyward. "Go."

"Thank you kindly little miss, but I'll be staying put if you don't mind."

"Well OK then, bye," Lydia calls out. Not you suspect how her father would have dealt with that, but all's well that ends well.

Or at least it would have ended well for you and badly for the Pathfinders if there wasn't a lake in the way.

What do you do?

[] Try to cobble together a submersible out of scrap, you've come too far to give up now
-[] Write in stunt

[] Come back tomorrow with actual equipment

[] Write in

OOC: We have had a lot of creepy ghosts in this quest so far, but when they are not being enthralled by a body jumping necromancers the dead can be quite nice as seen in Ghost Story.

 

[DragonParadox]

Going for a Ride ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

As you are considering what to do next Clippy, rings with a familiar and welcome ringtone. Ignoring the raised eyebrow from Lydia at the personalized touch you answer: "Hi Harry, do you have something for us on these Pathfinder people?"

"Not really," he sounds frustrated, almost angry with himself. "The Little Folk don't know anything except they are bad news, which I knew already from what you told me about them. I wasn't able to get in touch with any senior Wardens and all the people I did manage to contact knew was that they are active in Europe and the Council is not 'actively at war with them', from the way that was said I am guessing a lot of wizards might prefer that we be at war with them given what they get up to."

"Harvesting the nightmares of retirees for arcane components," you answer grimly. "That is what they were up to this time around. Listen, ask Bob if he knows what gossamer is and who might be harvesting it. I get the feeling it's not very commonplace even as far as weird cults go."

There is a pause as you hear Harry go down into the basement then Bob speaks up himself: "That sounds like Fomor, they would have the know-how and the crazy to harvest something like that. They started out as enemies of the fey, sometimes allies though there aren't many in Winter or Summer who will admit that now. The Fomori were the losers in a one battle too many, they backstabbed their way into no one trusting them so they started going downhill, cutting more deals, cutting more corners. Now they are shadows and twisted reflections of all that comes from the sea, banished giants and fallen gods too bitter to die, untied by a single common purpose."

"I'm guessing not their love of chocolate chip ice cream?" you interject.

Bob huffs a laugh. "Nah, revenge on the mortals that abandoned them, on the powers that replaced them, the sort of thing every bitter old spirit and hoary ancestor ghost wants, only they had the smarts to band together so they could cling on through the ages. There were stories that they even learned how to recruit human to their cause, though they don't stay human long."

"Yeah, we've met." You shake your head. Once the phone passes back to Harry you add: "Listen there's a lady in Chicago who knows more about this stuff. Maybe you could talk to her. She goes by..." you trail off. "You don't have a computer."

"Should I?" Harry sounds confused.

"I'll get you a computer even if I have to build it myself," you proclaim before saying your goodbyes and ending the call.

Speaking of making stuff myself.... You take a long look around, up at the roller coaster, then all around, beyond the reach of Lydia's magic You don't see bent rebar and broken glass, rusted wiring and torn hoses moldering away, you see possibilities. "Well we are in an amusement park."

"No, you're not gonna...?" Lydia's shocked act would be a lot more convincing if it did not end in a giggle.

"Clippy I'm gonna need some simple submersible designs," you ask your assistant as you set out to look for materials

Lost 2 Essence -> Now at 10/12

As it happens there's a lot of stuff to be found By the light of Lydia's anima, by the whispers of the curious dead come to see what all the strangeness is about. A Flying Turns sled, one large enough that you could sit in your father's lap comfortably and there would be place left for Lydia, to serve as basis for the machine. Helium gas bottles from old air balloon kiosks. Windows from a burned down dance hall. Wiring from various places. As you look at the gathered scrap, and concentrate, multiple robotic manipulators spring into existence around you, ready to follow the design you based on what your faithful electronic minions found. The sled is covered in metal sheets, welded together, the gas bottles are renovated and made into both an air supply system and emergency thrust, a long length of hose and some plastic bottles becoming individual air supply channels in case of hull breach.

"I'm not saying this isn't very impressive Molly, but I'm pretty sure this is in breach of health and safety regulations," your dad says as he leverages one of the plates into place for the stream of green plasma that will weld it in place.

"Which regulations?" you quip back, affixing the thing by the simple repeated application of your fist to the still molten edges. One of the cooler things about your conjured tools is that they physically cannot hurt you, their fire does not burn you, the electricity does not shock you, you can literally hold a live wire in either hand and let the current pass through without harm.

"Yes," dad replies in his best deadpan voice.

About an hour had passed since you started and the sled is now covered in metal sheets, welded together, the gas bottles are renovated and made into both an air supply system and emergency thrust, a long length of hose and some plastic bottles becoming individual air supply channels in case of hull breach. Pieces of broken windows are heated, and then reformed into portholes. An old roller coaster engine is given new life and a serious tune up to drives the propellers, freshly made from a pair of old weather vanes through a series of newly cut gears. A complicated mechanical steering system takes shape from random pipes and chains. There was even time to add a pair of gas powered harpoon guns, fashioned from some pieces of rebar, guy-wire and yet another gas bottle take place at the front.

"So... what color do you think we should make it?"

In response dad starts humming a certain melody.

And that is how the Yellow Submarine comes to stand on the pier by lake Erie ready to plumb its depths looking for monsters hidden in the depths, though before you can push it into the water you hear upon the errant wind the rumble of a boat's engines. Peering in that direction you can just make out a trio of boats by the same buoy Clarence had pointed out.

Fortunately binoculars are a a kind of tool. Through them you can see diving gear strewn on decks and among the twenty or so people... a familiar face. "Looks like the Red Court had the same idea we had."

What do you do?

[] Let the vampires go first, you will clean up the winner afterwards

[] Try to get the vampires to back up, you do not want them getting their claws on whatever down there

[] Attempt commandeer the aid of the Red Court in this matter

[] Write in

OOC: Remember Demonic Primacy of Essence and Exalted Social stats apply, what would be entirely unthinkable for say Harry in terms of getting the vampires to do what he wants is merely difficult for Molly

 

[DragonParadox]

The Don and the Demon ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

The being that called itself Don Phillipe de Leon was an old, old monster, in another life beneath the scorching sun of Mexico he had ridden with Cortés, for God and king and glory everlasting, he had seen an Emperor stoned by his own people and set upon a pyre and he had seen with living eyes the death throes of a nation by sword and the plague of God's Judgement, the same which would raise the son of a poor hidalgo to lordship over wide, lush lands. Yet God had not seem fit to protect him from his own sickness which came by night on too sweet lips and numbing fangs and so he reasoned that it must be the will of the devil that he was cursed and as the promise of the Mount the Devil gave onto him all that was good and sweet upon the earth. A master was he over many slaves, of the Blood and not, true in fealty to his Lady even as she was to her lord and he to the Plumed Serpent. Conqueror, conquered, slave and slave-master all these Phillipe had been in the Empire of Blood and through it all a warrior strong and bold.

So he was not dismayed but wary to see a ship of the sort that could pass under the waters upon the far pier. Raising an imperious hand against the chatter of his lessers he narrowed his eyes at the scene, skin itching to unfold his proper ears and listen to what they were saying. The white cloak could not be mistaken. Anger bubbled in his gut like bile at the God who had abandoned him. Oh to rip out his heart and drink his blood, there was one, there was only one. Maybe once the Muck-dwellers had met them in battle. He did not may much mind the other ones who the cobarde Andre claimed were with the knight.

Perhaps he should have.

She came in fire from on high, shrouded in green, a thousand eyes from the flames staring in armor as black as night and thick with coiling shadows. She should have seemed a child to Phillipe who had stood in the presence of his gods and supped red life from their own table, but in her hand was a sword wreathed in fire that burn like the sun and in her eyes the death of gods.

Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 9/12

"You were warned to stay out of my way," the words were soft, light upon the air, enough that you could hear the voice of phantom flames behind it. "Who is master here?"

Rising from his seat Phillipe cast off the lie of humanity and the beauty it held as a lord might throw down a fur lined cloak assured that the servants would deal with it. "I am Don Phillipe de Leon, count of the Empire of Blood which some call the Red Court, speak your piece and know you address the a subject and messenger of Kukulkan who brooks no rivals."

The... demon, for no girl-child would bear such instruments of power was silent for a long moment, enough that one of the fools behind him exploded from his flesh-ask without any trace of grace, nor likely of intent. Then she spoke, malice dripping from her every word: "But it seems he does brook being light with his name and quick with threats. No matter, it is not my place to censure you for presumption..." It could be if I but chose to reach out my hand, was left unsaid, but not unheard and fear gripped the heart of Phillipe like a vice.

"We have common cause against the Muck-dwellers my lady, let us take it rather than make war upon their threshold," he offered as for a moment he considered treachery. True she was mighty but so had been the hosts of the Mexica of Tenochtitlan and yet they had fallen before the cunning of five hundred Spaniards. But as a eyes beyond measure peered at him Don Phillipe feared that his heart was open to them as he once feared God's own judgement of his sins.

How do you attack?

[] Let the Vampires go first

[] Have them escort the submarine

[] Write in

OOC: Edits done.

 

[DragonParadox]

Horrors Great and Small ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

As you descent into the depths, trying not tho think of where the spare breathing mask the vampire had on them had been you descend into the depths, the black forms of your new 'friends' obscuring the light of your anima and the bright yellow paint-job of your latest creation. Mom is never going to believe this one... Come to think of it maybe it's best not to tell her too many details about it.The water of the lake is clearer than you had hoped, nothing worse than fine white sand swirling all about you like the world's worst and wettest case of dandruff, though you quickly realize there's nothing else alive here either, no fish, no algae and no fish-men...

Then you see it, growing from the bottom of the lake like blisters of leprous white stone arranged in a distorted pentagram with the north-facing point way farther out than any of the others the base sprawls over maybe five hundred square yards, though you cannot see any opening to it, at least not with eyes of flesh. Looking deeper, you see that at the apex of the northern blister the top the the dome is not stone at all, but the barnacle covered shell of some mutant crustacean that opens...

Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 8/12

Yew.

In literally has to swallow and poop out everyone who enters the base that way, and you very much suspect it is not going to be so kind as to expel people who should not be there.

"We have to cut our way in," you call out over the short range radio, also courtesy of the Red Court. Monster they may be, but they are well prepared ones. "Keep away from the...."

As you speak a dissonance passes through the water, half pressure on the ear, half phantom pain at the back of your head, some kind of mind magic, though not meant for you.

"They seek to drive us into Rabia Roja, the Red Rage, but it is their blood that is in the water," you hear the elder vampire say with sickening satisfaction.

He hardly has time to gloat before the worm thing lunges forth it's pale, almost translucent body way, way longer than it has any right to be, though you are mostly focused on the jagged teeth that line its three part jaw ready to rip and tear at the vampires. though before it and strike a pair of harpoons thunk heavily into its undulating bulk, spilling ropes of dark blue blood into the water..

Three things happen then almost too fast for the eye to follow.

Firstly Don Phillipe who alone of all his kin had kept his flesh mask intact casts it off to reveal hideous almost scaly form where it is not covered in coarse white hair, pair of misshapen wings growing from his back, secondly something ripples in the water, quicksilver swift and almost invisible as it tries to tear the breathing mask off him, but the vampire had been ready for it, grabbing it with his clawed feet and then sinking his dreadful fangs into it, ripping and tearing at flesh now stained crimson.

Spoiler: Don Phillipe

From what you can see the hapless attacker looks like some kind of frogman with way too many eyes... but you do not have time to look more closely because the third thing that happens is one of the other domes exploding upwards in a shower of stone water suddenly turned into a deadly concussive wave that blows a pair of vampires away like leaves in a gale, though one of them looks only a little dazed and the other got out of it with only a broken arm

That had not been a mundane blast, you can feel it in the water, the dying notes of a dissonant song, this is a place of power where the dragon lines meet. And that is the last clear thought you have as you are swarmed by a dozen and more beings that may... once have been human. From the waist up the changes are not obvious, other than perhaps the bulbous eyes and the fact they are hairless except for the lanky strands on their head, but below the waist their legs are unnaturally short and bent backwards ending in enormous feet with prehensile toes almost the size of the leg.

The more pressing concern is that each of them seems to be armed with what looks like an oversized taser flashing and sputtering in the dark waters. Spinning and kicking, weightless in the embrace of your anima you manage to interpose your shield or sword between yourself and every blow every weapon, bisecting one smashing a second creature's head in and smashing Usum's pointed guard under the chin of a third in a shower of blood that strikes your face.

Lost 1 Essence -> Now at 7/12

I don't not have time for this, that sorcerer is still down there.

Tactical Situation

• When swarming the 9 remaining Frogmen have a total of 3x12DC6 Attacks and have a total of 45 HL; with the loss of each 15 HL they lose one attack
• The Worm is at 12/15 HL and can attempt to swallow whole any 2 humanoid targets or attack the Yellow Submarine with its acidic bile
• The unseen sorcerer used a powerful mental attack to try to drive the vampires into a frenzy, though he has so far failed... rather badly from the tone of Don Phillipe's last message
• The vampires are mostly unharmed except for one which was slightly wounded by the worm (5/7 HL)

What do you do?

[] Keep killing the chaff once they are dead you can deal with the sorcerer (Dex+Melee+Excellency already up)

[] Try to ignore the frogmen, the vampires will beat them off you, head towards the destroyed dome to secure an entrance into the base (Charisma+Leadership Roll to inspire the vampires while continuing to parry the swarm)

[] Write in

OOC: That poor sorcerer cannot catch a break, he botched what should have been an easy and in theme spell for him and Don Philipe murdered that assassin fomor even though he was at a significant disadvantage to spot him

 

[DragonParadox]

Weakness of the Flesh ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

Sight beyond sight is burned into your brain, the shape of the base, the passages the enemy could yet take. Even as the sword slams into the chin of the frogman, perfectly positioned to slay the next one you know this is not battle, it is a distraction, meat to the grinding. Baleful runes burn as easily in water as in air, the rubble of the broken base drawn forth into an armor of ruin sending the enemy recoiling beyond even the compulsions they had been implanted with....

There are more monsters than the enemy here, you look to the leader of the vampires, contempt twisting your mouth as you find him too busy feasting upon the flesh of his would be assassin to command the host that is descending without purpose without clear direction upon the base.

Out of that rage speaks the voice of your servant, your assistant, your darker self "You can give it to them My Princess."

For just a moment, passing so swiftly even your many eyes can hardly follow it, your soul burns with primeval green flame without shadow, inhuman hearts laid bear before your all-piercing gaze.

Lost 2 Essence -> now at 5/12

Eighteen is three sixes and six is two bands of three, bound by fear, by oaths or by love and each of those you mark and make use of. A shouted command sends one of the trios racing the side of the worm with their claws, even as they pour their noxious spit into its wounds, seeming to confuse the beast at least while among the flurry of parries and slashes you bait the frogmen in striking you all across the chest and arms where your armor guards you before....

It is not even a spoken command this time, just a short sharp whistle you somehow know is a hunting call they'll answer. One of the frogmen gets his throat torn out and he might be the lucky one. Another gets ripped in two like a wishbone and the third is blinded by a claw strike.

The vampires actually seem to move swifter and strike with greater savagery as they feed, but in the water something whispers,, not against the feasting, that would be as attempting to drive back the tides with a leaking bucket, not even to drive them into a rage again. What use rage when there is all this blood to be had? No this was a subtler and more pernicious sin, gluttony. Feed and grow fat, trouble us no more, the waters spoke with the will of some distant sorcerer.

Alas for him most of the vampires were still in the thrall of your words. Only two of them stop to... play with their food and drink while the rest, including a now recovered Don Phillipe are prepared when something far more foul than any frogman rises from the ruined sphere.

At first glance the thing might almost be confused with a jellyfish, if one the size of a horse, but looking closer one sees that the tendrils now upholding themselves behind the thing are made of human vertebra tipped with shards of blackened bone. Alas the 'head' isn't an empty cartilaginous ball of mesoglea. As the liquid momentarily clears gray, human-sized fetus suspended within, lacking a nose or mouth peers out at the world with eyes black as the deepest ocean trench.

"TrAitOrs! TRAitorS and UsuRPeRS!"

The words are a scream, not in any human language yet understood by all. One of the tendrils lashes out to strike a distracted vampires, seemingly wracking it with unspeakable pain... but whatever the thing is planning it isn't happening fast enough because it also strikes a pair of the remaining fomori slaves.

You really wish you still did not know what it was planning. Even as you and the vampires who sill have their wits close on the thing its hapless victims bloom into masses of tumorous flesh, gaping mouths, misshapen limbs and worst of all staring eyes filled with agony before exploding outwards into a shrapnel of human misery.

"The pieces are also infectious," Usum helpfully informs you. If the vampires had all been clumped together feeding, or if they had all been fighting one another as the initial spell had meant them to the attack would have been devastating, perhaps even fatal. As it is only four vampires are struck, all in possession of their faculties and all able to resist the twisting o their flesh.

Regain 2 Essence -> Now at 7/12

Seeing this and bearing witness to the death of the worm-creature a moment later the... Fomori, for you do not think this thing had ever been a human cultist spews out a cloud of squid--like ink in which.. other things are swimming.

You should not have been able to see them as you do not see their master in the cloud, but when one of the second echelon of the enemy tries to take you by surprise you see it through eyes of fire. It, or he maybe, looks like a perfectly formed male human save for the fact that he has no head, only smooth skin between the shoulders where the neck aught to be and in the center of his stomach a circular maw that can extend outwards like a proboscis made of glistening human guts.

Easy enough to parry it but your flaming eyes can only catch glimpses of the enemies that attack you and the grey thing is...

That is when you hear the sound of tearing flesh and ripping bone, the vampires apparently have a lot less trouble navigating in the murk than you do.

Suddenly your radio comes alive: "We have reached the base!" you hear your dad shouting into the radio. "Do you need back up or should we press on?"

Tactical situation

• Worm: dead
• Frogmen: dead or scattered
• The Grey One: wounded and engaged with the vampires
• 5 vampires incapacitated with pain (though none of them exploded into cancerous bombs)
• 2 vampires distracted feeding
• Indeterminate number of Gut-Mouths attacking inside the cloud
• Yellow Submarine: At the base

What do you do?

[] Tell dad and Lydia to press on ahead while you clean up here

[] Ask dad and Lydia to hold their ground inside the base while you finish up

[] Leave the vampires to deal with the flesh-shaper, you have to secure that base fast

[] Write in

OOC: The leadership roll was over 10 successes which is gave a significant bonus to the vampire will saves as well as making their attacks more spread out and efficient instead of just going where the blood was. Not going to post the rest of the rolls because it's combat and there were en enormous number of them even with me doing he vampires in batches.

 

[DragonParadox]

Of Shattered Spite ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

"Go! Make sure they can't get away," you shout into the earpiece, even as you turn your sword against the murk. These things might not have a head, but you'll bet they still have a heart. Closing your eyes you listen.

Lose 1 Essence (Renew Melee Excellency) -> Now at 6/12

Blood like red nectar races though the alien veins of the Red Court, viscera twisted to deadly purpose fly towards you, each seen in a flash of instinct, each parried and there... a heart all-too human thudding with the adrenaline of battle, of challenge. With one swift blow you pierce it, fire illuminating a tangle of glistening guts as you weave between them. Shoulder, knees arms and feet as much as the buckler of black metal ward them off as they try to entangle you, but there are just too many of the darn things. One manages to latch on to your armored ankle, its blie-laced bite burning through the stone of your armor until it gnaws at flesh. It is not trying to drink your blood, you realize with a sudden disquieting jolt but dissolve and consume bone for the vital minerals within.

You take 2 Wounds

As most of the vampires not wracked in agony from the grey one's tendrils continue to rip and tear through any part of it they can reach through the murk you see with distant eyes one of them, gaunt and ashen-skinned, hang back and open its mouth to... sing. You had expected some kind of bestial screech or at best a single high note fit to shatter glass. Instead it sounds more like a symphony of instruments not meant for human hands, tones that defy the ear and melodies that twist back on themselves in haunting echo.

The enemy is less appreciative of the music, you can feel one of the bony tendrils cringe as it brushes against your arm and for the merest instance you see one of the headless thrall 'attack'... by bumping into your shoulder unharmed but unresponsive. Another way for the blood drinkers to immobilize their prey when it's too far to spit, Usum notes, as impressed with the tactical acumen as you had been with the song itself.

It is all too clear that those vampires still in command of their senses are in no mood to feed as one of the others rips an arm off the headless thrall with one clawed hand, while the other carves its way into its chest.

One of the bone tendrils had been reaching for it, but it's clear that it can't use dead flesh for its magic. Through eyes uncounted you see another rocket towards almost faster than the human eye can follow. Good thing you aren't entirely human these days. The sword that is part of your soul arcs to meet it, slicing off the black injector tip as you surge forward with a perfect breast stroke if you do say so yourself and ram your sword where the central mass aught to be.

Your flEsh will tWIst youR Throat wiLl siNg
YoUR blOOd will fLy, your Mind will SCREAM

The words strike you like a thing manifest, physical, a curtain of lead, darkness without end, pain without relenting, a nightmare not of the soul, but of the flesh raised revolt.

In answer from the depths of your soul, from the place where your will is enthroned in power imperishable rises a denial not strident, but quiet as the shadow on the grave of a vanquished foe, soft as the wind through the arches of a city enduring in ruin.

As your anima chases away the murk of the dead wizard you guess you see flesh of the thing already decomposition into a foul sludge, though the translucent five foot diameter shell just drifts slowly to the bottom of the lake. So that was a death curse you realize. Nasty. Snapping your shield closed you grab for the thing, it has to be some kind of magic after all. "Mine."

None of the vampires argue, just finishing off the last of the headless thralls, but then Don Phillipe says something you did not expect: "My lady we are sore wounded from the battle and some of us will take many days to recover from the agonies inflicted. May we withdraw from battle?"

For a moment you wonder if he is planning some kind of treachery once he is out of your sight. After all the possibility of that is part of the reason you had decided to stay in the fight, but no, the bent posture, the twitching ears bent towards you, the way his fangs are hidden behind rubbery lips. He's terrified of you and wants to get as far away from you as he can before you can kill him and all his remaining servants.

That begs the obvious question: Do I want to kill them all now? On the one hand you had been allies of a sort, perhaps they had even spared you injury, but on the other they are murderous blood drinkers who are going to carry news of you and what they had seen you do to the Red King.

"The terror you sowed in their minds might be turned to a useful purpose at a later date, Lady Garbed in the Ramparts of Empire," Usum whispers thoughtfully. "None of your existing allies seem to have the resource."

What do you do?

[] Let the Vampires go
-[] You are not going to betray your allies no matter how distasteful
-[] Usum is right, you still have all that contact information

[] Insist that they help finish the fight (Charisma+Intimidation)

[] Kill them, the world will be a better place without them

[] Write in

OOC: Took me a while to figure out what the DCs for a death curse should be and I almost rolled one dice too many for your countermagic, but when I got all the ducks in a row...well you will see in the roll section. I am posting those.

 

[DragonParadox]

That Subtle Poison ​

25st of July 2006 A.D.

After the first moment's thought you dismiss the thought of killing them altogether, no matter how distasteful they had been your allies this day, but if they could be persuaded to keep fighting, to bring an end to evil worse than their own by their own admission. Not to mention Usum has a point I do still have that contact information.

Covered in a thin layer of blood and worse things starting to freeze over, clutching in one hand a sword of balefire you speak their fate, voice as clear through water as it would have been through empty air: "Go now, and know, that on this night, I hold no grudge against you and yours and will remember your service here. When our paths cross again, as long as no innocent is suffering from your actions, I do not foresee myself pronouncing judgement upon you."

As you speak the relief is palpable in every motion of bloodied claws, in every twitch of ragged ears and bright it is in eyes accursed. If I would but reach out my hand... The thought is a little scary in how reasonable it sounds in your own head.

Nope, nope, I'll handle it later. Evil fleshshapers now, potential vampire minions later.

Turning you descend to the base through the dead water, bodies and bits of bodies floating down all around you like some bizarre precipitation. And on today's weather it will be pouring guts with a light drizzle of semi-intact corpses, you think in one of those cheery weather girl voices, the sort that make you want to throw your coffee at the TV in the morning

Usum finds it utterly hilarious... you aren't sure how to take that.

"Dad, Lydia, are you there?" You ask into the radio, but all you get is static.

Heart racing in your chest as it had not done through the whole battle you dive into the broken dome after them. Passing through an U bend you come to an air lock that hisses with an impotent hydraulic voice, opening onto a scene of carnage. What the guardian had been in life you cannot say other than it must have been some misbegotten melange of eel and octopus by way of rusted cybernetic implants.

Some of the bodies are more human-like, and humanlike it all that you can call them, as though someone had made one of those storefront in mannequins flesh and blood rather than plastic.

"Molly! Over here!" you hear Lydia call from up ahead. Her head poops behind a corner in the sterile looking corridors. She had tried to wipe the blood off her face, but there is no saving that T-Shirt without magic.

"What happened, where's..."

Then dad comes round as well as you can finally breathe free. "We're alright Molly"

Their radios had shorted out when they had fought the eel-thing, it had spit lighting apparently, though it had been no more able to resist the Sword than any other monster. The creepy mouthiness, eyeless thralls had been some kind of flesh-crafted siren, making them utterly powerless against dad's will and faith and the last flash of Lydia's power.

"Nothing's ever getting in my head again."

You are not the least surprised to find its' their blood Lydia is wearing.

In the third chamber, a equipped with metal tables, with straps of course, and surgical tools arrayed in a procession from the banal to the horrific dad and Lydia had finally caught up with the mysterious doctor Niemi as he was about to cut and run. Now that he was dealing with a threat more dire than tricked senior citizens he did not last long in spite of the spells he tried to use. After that well...

Clean up is hell, not because it's hard but because of how pathetically easy it is. Absent both the Grey Thing and Niemi all the thralls seemed to just fail. Most of them went unresponsive, a few bashed their heads into walls or took other more creative means to end their lives. One particularly motivated frog man killed five human Pathfinders, the last ones here before biding off his engorged tongue. You find him drowning in his own blood unable to speak, but he seems to find some comfort in Lydia's company at the end.

That is not the worst of it, the worst comes in the form of carefully labeled shelves and filing cabinets filled with experimental data. Pathfinder Pharmaceuticals is more than just a cover to fun a retirement home, far more, though it has no interest in healing people. Even just a cursory look is enough to confirm that Rhys the Ragged, the thing you had killed, had been looking into alchemical processes to create shock troops out of humans.

"A better way to make thralls out of humans..." you explain. "Normally they need to target someone with the Gift, you know, magic."

"But everyone's a bit magic," Lydia cuts in. "There is no such thing as a human with no... oh."

"I do not think they were using the gossamer in the transformation, not directly." You shake one of the pill boxes, this one with a bright red label that reads 'X-treme Supps for an X-treme Bod', the pills are X shaped, they are also neon green and you think somewhat magical, if they had been made directly from the stuff of dreams and nightmares that would be more than faint. "They prototyped the substance with Gosamer to get just the right effect and then they worked backwards to figure out a less exotic way to mass produce it. I think the act of taking it of your own free will day in and day out, hoping that it will give you say the perfect body is part of what triggers the transformation."

"The transformation into what?" your father asks.

So you tell him, describing the headless marrow-drinking thralls, the frogmen, though you are not sure what kind of desire for physical transformation would do that. Though you are pretty sure that the Illusion-spinning living mannequins are the final result of a diet tea called 'SlimDream'

You had never seen your dad look more sick and horrified before, not even at the museum.

"They are using people who want to change something about their bodies..." Lydia trails off. "No, people who are desperate to change something about their bodies. It's kind of like what we heard the Pathfinders do only instead of a one on one self-improvement sell that turns cult-y you can just use advertising. Does the stuff work, before it turns you into a thrall I mean."

You give a grim nod putting the files down on the nearest table, thankfully free of blood. "There are still some kinks to iron out, partly with making the victim sick, giving them nightmares, but also with inducing just the right psychic mental sensitivity that the minor sorcerers can do their Pied Piper impression and sneak their new thralls out of sight once they mutate beyond the bounds of what can be seen in public."

Though you had not found anymore gossamer you did find the pods in which it would have been stored for prototyping... and from the looks of things the tanks are not very good, they would have started seriously leaking in a matter of tens of minutes, an hour at most, what is why the experimental facility had to be near the extraction point

What do you do?

[] Take the files and a sampling of the pills, destroy the rest

[] Try to strip as much equipment and arcane machinery as you can out of the base

[] Write in

OOC: So you know how World of Darkness has Pentex... that gave me ideas for moving the Dresdenverse fomori into the modern age. Yes they are thee dregs and monsters of a thousand mythologies, but that does not mean they cannot adapt for greater evil in the twenty-first century.

 

[DragonParadox]

Homeward Bound ​

26st of July 2006 A.D.

Though dad seems a little weirded out at your resolve to loot everything of value Lydia apparently finds it perfectly reasonable. 'To the victor go the spoils'. Actually that may have been Lydia's dad giving her advice on how to deal with the aftermath of battle. That's OK, a medieval outlook suits you right down to the ground, down to bedrock in fact.

You spend the next six hours moving all the valuable and fragile stuff up to the surface with the submarine, pills and precursors, electronics and more of that black stone meant to contain gossamer, surgical and scientific equipment some of which turns out of be even weirder than you had anticipated. What did they need a seismograph for?

Oh...

"If they drew on the Dragon Lines too hard at the wrong moment it could have caused an earthquake..." you trail off at the look of horrified understanding from your father and Lydia both, halfway between tearing a fan out of the wall. "If the grey thing had more time to prepare, or if Niemi had the time to attune himself to the Nest before we got to him either of them could have intentionally fed entropic power back into the system and caused the earthquake."

"How bad would it have been?" dad asks, but you can only shrug.

"Too many factors in play, how committed the caster was, how much they understood geology, it could have been really bad or just scared some pets and rattled some windows."

In spite of trying to end on a more optimistic note the three of you continue to work in silence, the feeling of something dark looming just on the other side of the darkened horizon pressing down upon you all. That feeling has a name, Corb, king of the Fomori and it seems ultimate patron of this house of horrors. The unwholesome visage of a man, if man one can call him, with blue green-skin, watery eyes and and an unnaturally large mouth flashes through your mind's eye as you look upon the place with eyes of fire.

By about five AM you had gotten the fragile and perishable stuff out onto the shore of the lake and with a bit of luck dad had pulled up the pickup to get it all out of there without being seen. Well a bit of luck and a few demons messing with the police radios to make sure no one is paroling where they shouldn't and the cameras that might see him all mysteriously freeze up.

As for the stuff that is too heavy to bring up through the lake and too obvious even if you could do it you and Lydia follow the escape tunnel into the sewers and, finding no more Pathfinders, or worse things about, you stash electrical wiring, pipes, fittings furniture and furniture into a formerly walled off branching path. From the looks of splintered boards and barrel hoops this must have once been the adobe of smugglers, but unless there are any ghosts about, which Lydia assures you were are not, no one should know this place is still here and when you are done you wall it up same as you had found it. Good thing sewer sized forklift is among the tools you can conjure, even if it is a bit disconcerting the way the headlamp flashes and the clamps clatter in excitement as they were being used.

Gained

• Materials for Alchemy Laboratory ● ; Also provides a 50% XP discount in buying Alchemy ●●●●
• Stash Sufficient to upgrade the Dragon's Nest in Chicago to Dragon's Nest ● ; Must be recovered as part of a later action to use.

No matter how hard you looked through the files at the base you could not find any hint of who the poor people twisted by the tainted pills used to be. It had simply not concerned Rhys where the 'materials' for his work had come and it would take you weeks to find all their names one question at at a time. The most you can give them as the pyre burns unnaturally hot illuminating the rusted scaffolding of Euclid Park is a quick prayer from dad and a helping hand from Lydia for those who want to pass on. There are a few more shades among the brightly dressed carnies by the time the flames burn down, but you really do not have the time to linger and say hello. Maybe when you come back for that stash.

Grim as the end of it all had been you are happy that you did end it, here in Cleveland at least. There is still more of these monsters out there, and more vampires, no matter how badly you had scared Don Phillipe and his lot you have no doubt that his masters will have their own plans for you. You will just have to dissuade them of the notion... and you won't be alone doing it.

You smile up at Lydia as she tears into the bag of liquorice with a fervor that only the hunger of someone who had been up all night can account for.

"Dad you are going to have to get us to a drive-through fast or Lydia is going to start eating the seating next," you call up.

"Hey, they aren't that bad..."

"Quick, she's getting delirious," you quip back.

Spoiler: Lydia

Name: Lydia
Age: 15
Gender: W
Willpower: ●●●●●○○○○
Essence: 1 (5/5)
Soak: 2
Health Levels: 0/-1/-1//-2/-2//-5//Inc



Attributes

PHYSICAL	SOCIAL	MENTAL
Strength ●●○○○	Charisma ●●●○○	Perception ●●○○○
Dexterity ●●●○○	Manipulation ●●●○○	Intelligence ●●●●○
Stamina ●●○○○	Appearance ●●●○○	Wits ●●●●○

(Divine Attributes are Bolded)
Abilities

TALENTS	SKILLS	KNOWLEDGES
Alertness ●○○○○	Animal Ken ●●○○○	Academics ●●●○○
Athletics ●●○○○	Crafts ○○○○○	Computer ○○○○○
Awareness ●○○○○	Drive ○○○○○	Finance ●○○○○
Brawl ●●●○○	Etiquette ●●○○○	Investigation ●●○○○
Empathy ●●●○○	Firearms ○○○○○	Law ○○○○○
Expression ●○○○○	Larceny ○○○○○	Medicine ○○○○○
Intimidation ●○○○○	Melee ○○○○○	Occult ●○○○○
Leadership ○○○○○	Performance ○○○○○	Politics ●○○○○
Streetwise ○○○○○	Stealth ●○○○○	Science ●○○○○
Subterfuge ●○○○○	Survival ○○○○○	Technology ●○○○○

Anima Power
Ankou's Eyes:
By spending 1 Essence the Ankou's Daughter can force any ghost withing her line of sight to manifest in the material world and become vulnerable to mundane weapons. After (Essence) rounds in combat or minutes outside of combat the ghost may attempt to become immaterial again, by rolling his Pathos until he gains a number of successes equal to 2x the Exingent's Essence score.
Further, while her Anima flares all ghosts in its light become clearly visible.

Backrounds:
Ressources 4

Mentor 1 (Arawn)
(To note, this does not mean he is a bad or weak mentor, but he seemed very much the type to let Lydia figure out her answers by herself. She could propably increase this backround, representing convincing her dad to help her more)

Merits/Flaws:

Vanilla (1 pt. Flaw) Oh my gods, you're such an innocent! In a world filled with sex magick and power plays, you're the little lamb who's strayed far away from home. Jokes get past you, clues escape you, and references to anything rawer than a Disney flick go straight over your head. Maybe you grew up in a secluded place with overprotective parents; or you could be in denial about the things you see all around you because life can't possibly be that twisted… can it? Regardless, hold firm to your innocence. Once it's gone, it ain't never coming back again!

Prestigious Mentor (1 pt. Merit) Your Mentor (as in the Background Trait of that name) has a reputation that benefits you as well. When you're making social rolls to invoke your influential teacher, reduce the difficulty by -2. Of course, some folks will be somewhat less than impressed; for rolls that involve rivals or enemies of your mentor, add +2 to the difficulty unless that mentor scares the shit out of them… in which case, you had damned well better be able to live up to the fear his name invokes!

Natural Linguist (2 pt. Merit) You're especially good at understanding how people communicate. Every purchase of the Language Merit (see above, and Mage 20, Appendix II) secures two languages for you, not just one. You also get three bonus dice when making rolls based upon clear communications, typically ones employing Art, Expression, Etiquette, Leadership, and other Traits that involve "speaking their language" to impress someone else.

Charms:

Excellence of the Tireless Psychopomp (•)
The Exingent can draw on their divine Essence to fullfill its eternal duties with skill and power beyond any mortal.
System: The first time the character purchases this Charm, it may be applied to any of her Divine Attributes. At any time, the player may reflexively spend 1 Essence to add (Current Willpower) dice to all rolls using a relevant Attribute for (Essence rating + 1) turns in combat, or minutes outside of combat. This Charm can be repurchased to unlock additional Attributes, but Essence must be spent to add dice to each Attribute separately

Speaker to Crow and Hound (•)
The Exigent has a natural connection to certain animals, particularly those associated with Death. This includes Hounds, Corvidae and some cats.
System: The Exigent can always be understood by the animals and they are usually inclined to fullfill her requests within the limits of their own comprehension.
By spending 1 Essence the Exigent can build an obviously supernatural connection to a single present animal, allowing her to share its memories and thoughts and to give it much more complex instructions for one scene.

Open the Way (••)
The Exigent has an affinity for the opening of otherworldly paths.
System: Spend 1 Essence and roll Perception+Occult (Difficulty local Gaunlet-rating) to open a Way. This can stay open for the rest of the Scene and be passed by entities from both sides.

Rest-Granting Strike (••)
The Exigent can send a creature to permanent rest.
System: When the Exigent slays any being, the player can opt to roll Wits + Occult (difficulty 6). Doing so prevents spirits (below Incarna-level) and ghosts from ever returning or reforming, prevents any ensouled being from becoming a wraith. The Exigent gains 3 Essence on the spot if the annihilated being was in any sense immortal, such as a spirit, ghost or vampire. Furthermore, the Abyssal can reflexively spend 1 Essence to gain the ability to strike and damage intangible beings for the rest of the scene, so long as she can perceive them

Chariot of the Earth (•••)
With a gesture of her hand the Exigent raises the earth to carry her on to her target.
System: Spend 1 Essence to conjure a wave of earth that can carry the Exalted and (Essence +1) passengers at up to 60mph. The earthwave leaves no traces and is in no way limited by its own size, allowing it to be ridden through narrow corridors.
When the Exigent wishes she can use the earthwave as a weapon, striking with Dexterity + Athletics at a target and dealing 5+Essence Dice of Bashing Damage on hit.

Thoughts of Oak Defence (••)
The Exigent solidifies her desire and duty, pushing away any externally-imposed thoughts or feelings.
System: Reflexively spend 1 Essence to utterly reject all thought and emotion-altering magic from a specific character or source for the rest of the scene.

Essence Regain:
3 +Essence each Midnight
Regain 2 Essence once per scene when bringing a restless dead to final rest, slaying a Necromancer or giving a dying person the last comfort.

Lydia's Charm-Set

---

Arc Three Complete​

Triumphs

1. Successful heart to heart with your parents about... your less than empathic attitude to your enemies dying 1 XP
2. Lydia persuaded Harry to take payment for fixing the wards at her place 1 XP
3. Hacked Daedalus good 1XP
4. Tracked down Polku Pharmaceuticals and learned something of its history 3 XP
5. Gained Jack the Reporter's number 1 XP
6. Uncovered the involvement of Iku Turso, glimpsing the nature of the Rashka 2 XP
7. Spotted a Red Court spy and bent him to your will 1 XP
8. Gained online contact 'Rose of Autumn' 1 XP
9. Solved the mystery of the boat-racer's killing 1 XP
10. Infiltrated Soul's Rest without raising an alarm 1 XP
11. Defeated or overawed the cultists without any harm coming to the residents 2 XP
12. Defeated an intrusion of Iku Turso 3 XP
13. Successfully contained Gossamer 1 XP
14. Conversed with and gained the aid of the dead of Euclid Park 1 XP
15. Constructed the Yellow Submarine 1 XP
16. Lead a host of the Red Court into battle 1 XP
17. Put an end to Rhys the Ragged and his proving ground of alchemical horrors 3 XP
18. Finally caught up to doctor Niemi 1 XP
19. Helped the souls of the victims move on... or settle into the park 1 XP

Total XP: 27

How do you spent your Essence?

[] Write in

OOC: I have to run so no list of potential upgrades this time around. I'll edit them in later.

 

[DragonParadox]

A Knight's Path​

26st of July 2006 A.D.

The journey back to Chicago is long and winding, punctuated by the sound of old school rock ballads that manage to strike the balance between everyone's musical tastes, the sound of a light summer rain blowing in from the north and more than once by the horns of a whole line of drivers objecting to the congestion of the I90. Dad would have liked to stay one more day and specifically one more night in Cleveland to give you and Lydia a chance to make up for not sleeping a wink last night, but in the end he decided it would be more prudent to get out of the city as fast as you can.

After all you had busted up an old folks home ran the staff out of there, leaving some mutated corpses behind then smashed up irons into a submarine in an abandoned amusement park, came out of the lake with several duffel bags worth of dodgy pharmaceuticals... and then lit a bonfire to burn several dozen bodies. On top of it the latter half of it had been done after dad felt his task was done so you are not sure to what extent you can rely upon Providence to cover up your tracks.

"Dad?" you ask as the car car slows to a stop behind the furniture delivery truck you had been training for the last twenty miles. "Why did your job end after we dealt with the Rashka?"

"Hmm..." He gives you an understanding look, like this was something he had expected. "I don't suppose 'God works in mysterious ways' is going to cover it?"

You shake your head, feeling a little guilty at the lack of faith, but he just smiles at you. "I was not expecting it to Molly, the truth of the matter is I don't know, but I have been doing this long enough to make a guess. The thing we killed in that tank, the Raksha..."

"Not killed, beat back, it was kind of reaching a hand into our world, or I guess more like a proboscis since it was feeding," you interrupt.

He nods. "I'll take your word for it. Anyway it was trying to get out wasn't it?"

"Conceptually yeah, Iku Turso was trying to get back if the myths are anything to go by, get itself un-banished by the descendants of the son who did it to him. The Pathfinders were basically harvesting the fumes of his failure for their own ends."

"And what do you think would have happened if it had gotten out?"

"I..." you are about to say you have no idea when Usum gives you one. "He would have probably tapped the Dragon Nest to create a Freehold, sort of like a fortress in this world and the Spirit World and then he would have followed the story that defines him, he is, was, whatever a dreadful sea beast and sire of illness, beyond pity, though not beyond reason. The lake is probably sea enough for him to dwell in being so big and all even if it is fresh water. He would not have demanded sacrifices exactly, but once someone figured out enough to make them he would have accepted them... "

You trail off, adding a moment later. "You're saying that is worse than Rhys and his magic pills? But it's all connected, if you did not kill him what's to say he wouldn't have done something like this again which some other monster.?" Iku Turso you suspect will be far too angry to answer any summons from the Pathfinders or their masters. His kind have a long memory.

"Who is to say his master won't get someone else to do it?" Dad counters. "All evil is connected if you dig down far enough, and all good for that matter. The Sword cannot follow every bloody trail, cut off each head of the hydra, it is only one of three, two now moving in the world. Where is is most needed is where no other sword will suffice, the light in the darkness. That is not to say we who bear it cannot choose to walk another few steps down any given path and fell whatever evil stalks there, that is the privilege and the responsibility of free will."

You nod thoughtfully, you have free will as well and your power is only growing.

***​

Though you get home in the afternoon and crash into bed until the evening you still have four more days in the month to fill:

[] Father of Hosts: It's not often someone gets a business card from Odin, or maybe it is, you are no expert on Norse Gods turned private military contractors, go talk to him and see what he wants and what he has to offer

[] A Rose's Tale: Follow up on Rose of Autumn, you are sure she will be happy to learn what became of the Pathfinders in Cleveland

[] Rescue for the Rider: Get Black Rider loose one way or another. You are pretty sure you can make the money you need in an at least semi-legitimate way now, or the impound lot could snuffer from a unfortunate technical glitch at just the wrong, or the right time.

[] Write in

OOC: You will note the date is the 26 now, that is because there was a dating error from way back when you want to bed in Cleveland. All Edits have been made so the rest of today will be spent catching up on sleep leaving you 27-31st of July to follow up one one of the leads left over from this turn.