"Meme" is a term not coined until 1976, so it's a bit jarring to see it used in this context, and besides that it refers not simply to ideas but to ones which facilitate their own propagation. By analogy an antimeme would be an idea which inhibits its own propagation, whereas the Moths seem to tend to spread their influence (see: the fate of the Lampsmen), and a memeovore would consume only self-propagating ideas. May I propose instead simply "ideovore"?
(alternatively of course you can simply ignore my pedantry and carry on your delightfully unnerving work)
Well, this looks fascinating. A minor quibble, though:
"Meme" is a term not coined until 1976, so it's a bit jarring to see it used in this context, and besides that it refers not simply to ideas but to ones which facilitate their own propagation. By analogy an antimeme would be an idea which inhibits its own propagation, whereas the Moths seem to tend to spread their influence (see: the fate of the Lampsmen), and a memeovore would consume only self-propagating ideas. May I propose instead simply "ideovore"?
(alternatively of course you can simply ignore my pedantry and carry on your delightfully unnerving work)
Pedantry is greatly appreciated. As I tell everyone who enjoys my work, I myself am an insufferable pedant.
I figured antimeme fit (it is the opposite of a meme, that despite spreading, it hides knowledge of itself from those it's in, whereas a meme, by definition, is known by those thinking about it). The word memeovore is just almost 100% a Doctor Who reference though, so I'll give that it doesn't make much sense in context.
I figured antimeme fit (it is the opposite of a meme, that despite spreading, it hides knowledge of itself from those it's in, whereas a meme, by definition, is known by those thinking about it).
Hm. I suppose I can see that - an un-thought that thinks itself, instead of a thought that un-thinks itself. Just shift where you put the negation. Fair enough.
Is it possible to get the non-magician members to learn basic sorcery? I know magic here is a lot more dangerous but I think it's not unreasonable for a cult member to gain an interest in doing actual spells, right?
Is it possible to get the non-magician members to learn basic sorcery? I know magic here is a lot more dangerous but I think it's not unreasonable for a cult member to gain an interest in doing actual spells, right?
Yeah magic seems like a risky proposition to spread widely. If we want to go the route of quantity and a bit of morbidity, what about using those cultists' souls for rituals?
I was wondering if there was a moth in his head, and turns out there was. I'm so glad to see this update. I absolutely love this and can't wait to really delve into the deeper horrors and secrets of this world. The expedition to the Andes has to relate to Yasir's dreams to reach Irem. It'd be a pretty big coincident if there just happened to be two strange mountain paths in the Andes that no human has walked on before..... It is a big mountain range though. I also wonder if those things beneath the Earth the miners in Chile found were worm
I also agree with getting a new agent. We have so many options but so few people to handle it all. There's so many mysteries and stray threads we need to tug on. I hope that we can eventually begin to paint a picture, metaphorically, of what's going on behind the scenes. We have all these dots scattered across the globe. We just need to start connecting them together.
I never realised that a quest themed around Lovecraftian horror was something I've always wanted. I like how you've incorporated elements of the Cthulhu mythos (although, actually... The King in Yellow was by Robert W. Chambers, wasn't it?) along with your own ideas and inventions that seem to fit in really well. Yeah, I really love what you've done with it so far, Telamon.
Anyway, I'm going to go back and 'like' everything now. Hmm, I should probably vote as well.
I can see nothing wrong with Vocalend's plan (and it's not like I've got any better ideas), so: [X] Plan "Rise and Serve, Ye Husks"
Magicians who do wishes to attain powers more than meagre get to grips with the fact that sacrifice and debt repayment comes very close behind. Specific to Stephanos, he knows this.
There is further knowledge out there. There is greater power to be found. There are magicks even men cannot ken. He tires of parlor tricks and minor summonings. He yearns for a power that will burn his bones.
Out of the Original Four, he is most liable to actually get himself killed and completely self-aware that he is doing that. His goal is pure and simple power, regardless how wise it is to actually get that power in the first place.
EDIT: Oh hey, Telamon gave an Insightful. Guess it's time to panic a bit
I mean, on the plus side, He's less likely to do something Stupid stupidly. There's a hell of a gap between Not reading the small print, and reading it but giving it a shot anyways.
Which hopefully means when he does go and off himself, he doesn't drag the rest of us down with him.
Do we have a list of spells/rituals Stephanos can do? I remember he lost a couple to the Moth, but a skilled sorcerer like him should have several dozen right?
Members: 4 Headquarters: Mammon Place, New York City Wealth: 8 (+3 a turn)(-2 a turn)(Total: +1)
Arcana: 5 Influence: 4 Informants: 1 Summons: 1/1 Contracts: 0 Suspicion: 1.3/20 Benefactors: N/A
Society Roster
These are the current members of the Bringham Society, their skills, the knowledge they hold, and their current location.
Mr. Abdul Al-Malik Ahmad ibn Yasir Al-Athari, aged fifty, though his eyes are older. An accomplished explorer and archaeologist of some renown. He is possessed of an understanding of the mysteries of the sand-swallowed city, Irem of the Many Pillars, and knows something of the Hidden History. Currently located in Mammon Place, New York City. Traits: Explorer, Historian(Horror: 4/500) (Contributes 3 Arcana)
Mr. Gabriel Birch, aged thirty. A skilled explorer and traveler, possessed of substantial funds and a certain innate good fortune. Currently located in Mammon Place, New York City. He has heard the beating of the Moths and seen the glory of the Worm-Fed. He has heard of the silent Men of Glass who danced with dragons in another history. Traits: Wealthy, Adventurer (Horror: 2/200)
Mr. Jon Stephanos, called also the Halfborn, aged thirty-eight. A master of the arcane arts and well-studied in those certain dark rituals which may allow one to harness the power beneath the skin of the world. He has some experience with the terrible mysteries of Thee Darke Artes, and has seen what the Lampsmen died to hide. Currently located in Mammon Place, New York City. Traits:Mental Fortitude(Horror: 15/200) (Contributes 5 Arcana)
Lady Isadora LeBlanc, aged twenty-four. Incredibly tall and strong, and possessing a particular intelligence and capacity for reasoning which outstrips most other Society members. In dreams she has seen the Gate of Ivory and heard the song of the Dreamcrow. Currently located in Mammon Place, New York City. Traits: Noble Bearing(Horror: 11/200)
Agents
Jackson Harcourt: A former soldier with years of experience and an ability to expertly wield all forms of firearms, he can gather to himself a group of very deadly and well-trained men. Not experienced in the occult -- but he will soon learn. The wholly mortal horrors he saw in Verdun will stay with him. (Horror: 50/200)(Special Trait: Men of Fortune: Harcourt, upon being picked for an expedition, can gather or hire a group of old comrades from the war to assist in the expedition if the option is voted in.)
Artefacts
The Travel Diary of Ashley Enoch: A book detailing the travels of the adventurer Ashley Robert Enoch in America, his attempts to discover the forgotten link between Mesoamerican gods and Egyptian pharaohs, and what he found in his travels that drove him mad. There is something under the skin of history that is not right. You have seen the truth he hid in his words, and he has laid out the path to further understanding. (Lore: The Hidden History)
A Shattered Lamp: Once, this bore light. It still does, if looked at from the right angles. Cracked edges of glass gleam angrily like razors. They remember. (Lore: The Lampsmen)
A Moth-Riddled Tome: This book said something, once, before the Moth entered it. It's pages still hold words, but their meaning is gone, the ideas behind them gnawed and devoured. What is left behind is a frankly boring text that says nothing of any real importance -- the ideas that were too thin to be worth the memeovore's time. (Lore: The Moths)
A Starry Organ: This strange organ came from a man who was not quite a man. It is warm still, and pulses and beats with a heat not of this earth.
The Lampshards: Made to protect the Lampsmen of old from the terrors they sought to face, these glittering shards provide some small benefit in trying times. Their edges are sharp and angry, as if they remember what they were. (+1 to all rolls on Expeditions)
The Dreamscapes: Two vivid and impossible paintings, both titled Dreamscape, of an impossible city, a city that bends and twists and burns, a city not of this Earth. The pictures seem to shift whenever you look away, and it is said if you gaze too long, you may visit this city in your dreams. The sigils painted upon the canvases, when looked at together, open your mind to strange new vistas that are not wholly of Earth.
Lore
These are the secrets of the world you have begun to uncover, or of which the Society and it's members have encountered in their travels. There are many, and they intertwine. To learn too much of any one lore may be...damaging.
The Hidden History: There are holes in history -- civilizations that do not appear on any record, continents not found on any map, wars not told of in any book. History as we know it is a lie. Picking apart the lies leads to greater truths elsewhere. (Studying this mystery will unlock expeditions for other mysteries)Understanding: II
Thee Darke Artes: Men are not powerless in this world. There are those who lease their very souls to unearthly powers in exchange for the ability to shape the world to their whims. They walk a tightrope above oblivion, and their bones will smolder for all time. The Society has not encountered this lore, but has heard of it.
The Iremic Mysteries: There was a great city in the sands called Irem. It is gone now, and its' king lies nameless and dreaming. It is said that those who have lost their way in a desert, any desert, may sometimes make their way to Irem in dreams. The Society has not encountered this lore, but has heard of it.
The Lampsmen: You are not the first. Others have flung light into the darkness. They are no more, or so it seems, but they left something behind. They covered the globe once, seeking truth in the darkest places with their magical lamps. When the darkness sought them, they had no defense. They were destroyed by one of the Moths, destroyed so thoroughly that even the idea of them no longer remains. What they learned in the shadows, and what they fought there-- this will take work to find out.
The Worm-Fed:There are certain worms in the deep places which feed upon the dead. When they have fed enough, even death may die. This is a secret only undertakers and gravekeepers know. The Society has encountered this lore, but has not studied it's mysteries.
The Men of Glass: There are histories and skins other than these, stories other than this. There are certain histories where there arose on Earth a power called the Men of Glass. These histories are all silent now, and the Glass-Men seek new ones. They walk shining through the worlds, and history burns at their touch. They are not human. Not anymore.
The Moths: Antimemes. Memeovores. The Devourers of Light, the Yn'tari, the Moths-- they have many names. They are living ideas that nestle in books or words or anything that could hold an idea, and spread like parasites from mind to mind, devouring knowledge and thought. They feast on the well-read and the intelligent, so the first to fall in any infestation are likely those who might recognize what they are. Let them feast long enough, and they will devour even the idea of their prey, so that the world forgets them. Unintelligent and defenseless, they are easily slain once their true nature is realized and they are forced to take corporeal form. Understanding: II
The Tigerlily:There is a god, or something like a god, called the Tigerlily. Worshiped since antiquity in the stranger corners of the world, there are several occult books littered with references to his capricious and selfish nature. Stephanus remarks that he seems strangely familiar.
The Boreal Mysteries: The Knights of Prussia live a frozen unlife, neither quite dead nor quite living. They have an affinity for snow and frost, for dew-crystals and bone. They are pale, and their chests do not rise or fall. Their touch is silence, and winter, and an ending that does not quite end. Boreas weeps.
The Dreamscape: There is a city of bronze and smoke that lives in dreams. This is the land that painters and madmen alike visit in their sleep.
Groups of Interest
You are not alone. There are other groups like your own, men of ambition and foresight who deal in the darker mysteries of the world. Sorcerers, eldritch explorers, and occult researchers abound, and though these groups are a dime a dozen in the occult underworld, there are some who may yet help or hinder your own goals. These are the groups of interest:
The Boreal Order: The Teutonic Knights of the Order of Prussia, as they are formally called, are one of the oldest occult groups in the world. For centuries they have protected Germany from occult threats and gathered powerful artifacts and treasures from around the world. Their hidden base, the Cobalt Lodge, is thought to be one of the greatest repositories of occult knowledge in the world, exceeded only by the Morris Collection. They have many ties among the old nobility of Europe, and their age and influence means that their reach is worldwide. The Knights of Prussia live a frozen unlife, neither quite dead nor quite living. They have an affinity for snow and frost, for dew-crystals and bone. They are pale, and under certain stars their chests do not rise or fall. Their touch is silence, and winter, and an ending that does not quite end. Boreas weeps.
The Morris Collection: A repository of occult knowledge to outstrip most any other, the Morris Collection is widely regarded by occultists of all stripes as 'neutral territory'. Perhaps the greatest of the Collection's mysteries, however, is the identity of it's proprietor, a mysterious being referred to only as Morris, or, in more hushed tones, 'The Collector'. Whoever they are, they have been in control for millennia, and they are very powerful and quite exacting. Few have crossed them. None have lived.
Ivary's: The Ivarys are one of the oldest occult lineages still in existence, and their business, Ivary's, is one of the oldest occult shops. Cunning, clever, and more than a bit cruel, these ruthless businessmen have dealt in occult artefacts for over three generations. Unlike most occultists, their only interest in the mysteries of the universe is what price they might fetch on the auction block, and the Ivarys have become infamous for their driven hunt for profit.
Misc
The Dreamscape: A land of dreams and magic and fire and bronze that could only exist in dreams. Those who gaze upon certain paintings for too long may find their way here in dreams. Those who dare navigate it may find secret knowlege lost in the waking world. Or they may never wake again.
The stars. The stars the stars the stars the stars. The stars are wrong. The stars are wrong.
[X]Plan "Rise and Serve, Ye Husks"
-[X] You agree.
--[X] LeBlanc -[X] Study The Travel Diary of Ashley Enoch
--[X] Al-Athari -[X] Study A Cracked Lamp
--[X] Stephanus
-[X] A Japanese whaling ship from half a century ago has appeared off the coast of California. It's crew speak of an Emperor in the East. (Gossip)
--[X] Birch -[X]Rudimentary Moth-Wards
-[X]Who Came Before
-[X]And In Darkness Bind Them
-[X]Backdoor Channels
-[X]Hire An Agent
The cold began perhaps three blocks away, just a shudder down her spine. By a block away, her breath was misting. By the time she came to the building with the white door, her fingertips were numb and light dusting of snow sprinkled down from the clear blue sky. The knifelike cold stabbed through her thin summer clothing, and the street before her was as pale and still as a tomb in winter. Above, the August sun beamed down, but it's heat did not seem to reach the street. Snow crunched under her boots as she walked up the thin steps to the door of the house.
With a noble's refinement, the Lady LeBlanc raised a velvet-gloved hand and rapped shortly on the door with her knuckles. Moments later, a man in a servant's dress opened the door. A congenial smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. His face was sunken and shriveled, as if he had died long ago and been preserved in the cold. His eyes were a still, piercing blue, and they did not move.
"My lady LeBlanc," the dead man spoke. "We have been expecting you for some time. Please, enter."
Isadora LeBlanc was not a woman easily shaken. Head and shoulders above most men, she had lived her life with the certainty that in intelligence, breeding, and strength, she was more than a match for any man -- any human-- who might cross her path. And, first and foremost, she was a LeBlanc. LeBlancs did not show fear.
So she nodded curtly and stepped in, handing her bag to the corpse in a suit with all the decorum one could muster doing such an act. The servant bowed and led her down a long white hallway to a pale room. In the room was a small off-grey table with two bone-colored chairs on either side. One chair was empty. In the other sat a man.
He was dressed fashionably for a century ago, in the type of tight jacket and high-waisted pants that would've been all the rage in Napoleon's time. He had smartly coiffed hair and well-manicured fingernails. His skin was tight around his head, like it had been shrunk, and his chest did not rise or fall. His eyes were as blue as icicles.
Upon seeing her, he rose from his seat and bowed sharply.
"Welcome, my lady. My name is Georges Ellery, but you may call me Childe Ellery. I represent the Knights of the Order Of Prussia."
"The Boreal Order."
"So we are called by the Warm, yes. I must ask forgiveness, firstly, for the unsightly appearance of myself and my retainer. The stars," he said apologetically, "are wrong."
With a European refinement, he drew out one of the bone-white chairs for Isadora, and gestured. "Please, sit. We have much to discuss. First, let me say what an honor it is to be visited by one of your great lineage. You need not fear the stars, and for that I cannot help but envy you."
Isadora nods. "It is my own pleasure, Sir Ellery, to make your noble acquaintance."
The pale knight smiles in a genteel maneer, then leans forward.
"Now, listen closely..."
(Lore Expanded: The Boreal Order!) The Boreal Mysteries:The Knights of Prussia live a frozen unlife, neither quite dead nor quite living. They have an affinity for snow and frost, for dew-crystals and bone. They are pale, and under certain stars their chests do not rise or fall. Their touch is silence, and winter, and an ending that does not quite end. Boreas weeps. (Portent Uncovered: The Stars)
The Stars: There is a power in the stars. They burn, they roar, they live, they hate. They are the mightiest of the signs, for as the moon rules the tides, the stars rule the occult. Their arrangement allows for certain rituals, and the power of certain entities waxes and wanes with their alignment. It may come to pass in certain times that the stars are wrong. You may notice troubling shapes in the heavens and unsettling signs in the sea. When the stars are wrong, you will see all things as they truly are, and even gods may be slain. It may one day come to pass that the stars are right. Pray that that day is not within your lifetime. (Lady LeBlanc: Trait Revealed: Noble Bearing)
Noble Bearing: This character is not easily shaken. If they feel fear, it does not show, and they conduct themselves at all times with the dignity required of their station. (Lady Leblanc: 10 Horror Gained)
Again, the red room. Again, the rubies and the chandelier. Again the rite and again the blood. Again, the Society meets.
The Lady LeBlanc reports first, on her meeting in the cold room in the cold house with the cold man. The Knights of the Boreal Order have extended an invitation to the Society, an invitation they have made to many groups like yourself across history: aid them. The Knights are powerful and they are mighty, but they are few, and a single loss is uncountable. Your lives, Childe Ellery puts it as gently as he can, are worth less than theirs. The Knights thus hire people to accompany their Brothers on expeditions, much as you hire wayward gangsters and parlor magicians. They pay very well, because theirs is an exceedingly dangerous business. Should you accept, you would fall under the protection of the Knights of the Boreal Order -- spirits of living winter would guard Mammon Place, a Childe, most likely Ellery himself, would be sent as a permanent liason, and you would receive a very generous stipend. (15 Wealth a year)
Of course, their enemies would also become your enemies.
And the Knights have many enemies, the least of which are human.
[] Accept their offer, taking on the Knights as a benefactor. [] Reject their offer. You need no aid from these wintry ghouls.
Stephanus is the next to speak. He has been busy, this month. He has investigated the cracked lamp, and reports that once, this lamp and others like it sheltered the Lampsmen from the horrors of the dark. Even broken, the glass, which was not made by mortal hands, holds a certain power. Reassembled, it might prove a shield once more. This power, he notes, is not of Earth. It would seem the Lampsmen had a benefactor.
Apart from this, he has bound a few dozen spirits to aid the society members in their various tasks, which should prove useful in the coming months. During his summonings, he raised as well a few of the spirits who have died in these crimson halls. They were bound to this place by the suffering that ended their lives, and it was an easy enough task to bind them into our service for a time. Their deaths were violent and red, and so too shall their unlives be violent. They stalk the halls where they once bled, and their wails chill the soul. They kill for you, and they will die a final time for you.
This is as many summoned creatures as the society's magical powers (i.e, himself) can handle at a single time, Stephanus warns.
Lastly, completing his work in Mammon Place, Stephanus has drawn several crude wards on the doorframes of the building. They should alert every Society member if anyone entering the house has a Moth within their heads.
(Creature Summoned: Wraiths)
Wraiths: All spirits are formless, and are given shape in the waking world by the emotions which defined their deaths. Wraiths are those spirits born of unspeakable agony and terror, whose dying moments have followed them into undeath. They are senseless and violent things, driven by hate and suffering to kill whatever their masters command, capable of little else.
(Artefact Lost: A Cracked Lamp)
(Artefact Gained: The Lampshards)
The Lampshards: Made to protect the Lampsmen of old from the terrors they sought to face, these glittering shards provide some small benefit in trying times. Their edges are sharp and angry, as if they remember what they were. (+1 to all rolls on Expeditions)
Birch has returned from the City of Angels with a strange tale: the Japanese ship truly does hail from another time and another place. They speak of a great war between the Emperors of Qin and the Men of Glass, where the emperors in the East were forced to harness all their occult might and strength to hold back a power that had decimated the rest of Earth. They say there is a world where dragons soared the sky against an Enemy like no other. They say the dragons lost.
They say all worlds will lose, in time, to the Men of Glass.
(Artefact Gained: A Dragon-Mirror)
A Dragon-Mirror:Forged in a different China in a different time, this beautifully filigreed mirror does not reflect the face of the holder, but rather shows images of a mighty war that never happened, or is yet to happen -- or may have happened in another history. Lore Encountered:The Men of Glass:There are histories and skins other than these, stories other than this. There are certain histories where there arose on Earth a power called the Men of Glass. These histories are all silent now, and the Glass-Men seek new ones. They walk shining through the worlds, and history burns at their touch. They are not human. Not anymore.
The world, as we know it, is a lie. This is the great truth Mr. Yasir has found in the scrawlings of the Englishman Ashley Enoch. Man has not tamed the earth, he has deluded himself into thinking it is mastered. Our history burns with secrets and lies that cover faintly for what truly happened. Rome did not fall to the barbarians, but to the one-limbed god of the Vejovites, who danced in it's streets for a week and eleven nights, then devoured every holy man remaing in it's walls. The Phoenicians waged a war with the Nameless King --then named-- on behalf of the Dreamcrow, and their war razed a continent that then had to be forgotten. The nobility of Old Europe made an unspeakable deal with wretched things from wretched stars to divert the course of history and stop Napoleon. The conquistadors did not undo the Aztecs alone -- they fought as pawns of gods, or things they believed to be gods. Entire civilizations have fallen and risen on the whim of beings that were not human, or wholly of this world.
This is the Hidden History, and it rules all other mysteries, for it is the truth to the lies we have told to hide them all. The travel diary is fully decrypted, and it provides tantalizing clues to certain locations which it indicates may be of occult import.
(Artefact Studied: The Travel Diary of Ashley Enoch)
Expedition Unlocked: The Lake
Expedition Unlocked: The Mausoleum
Expedition Unlocked: The Black Hills
Expedition Unlocked: Alexandria The Furthest
Expedition Unlocked: The Clock Tower
Expedition Unlocked: The River People
Discovery Unlocked: Thebes
Discovery Unlocked: Where It Fell
Discovery Unlocked: The Ten Thousand
Recognizing the need for more skilled hands under your employ, you have had Stephanus reach out into occult society and find the most skilled occultists he can. He has returned with a shrewd man from Delaware named Jackson Harcourt, a soldier, adventurer, and man of fortune who served in one of the US military's all-black regiments during the Great War and fought at Verdun. He believes he has seen the worst of what this world has to offer. He is wrong, of course, but he will serve your purposes well enough.
(Agent Gained: Jackson Harcourt)
Jackson Harcourt:A former soldier with years of experience and an ability to expertly wield all forms of firearms, he can gather to himself a group of very deadly and well-trained men. Not experienced in the occult -- but he will soon learn. (Special Trait: Men of Fortune: Harcourt, upon being picked for an expedition, can gather or hire a group of old comrades from the war to assist in the expedition if the option is voted in.)
Agents can used for Information, Expeditions, and Discovery, but not Study until they have had experience with the occult. Agents who grow enough in skill and experience may be recruited into the society.
On a final note, you have all used certain illegitimate methods to gain the information which you now report. The eye of the authorities has not swung over to you yet, but your actions have not gone wholly unnoticed. Caution may be advised in the future, Stephanos warns.
Information:
[] There is a valley in Africa. In the valley is a city, shadow-shrouded and sunken. Those who found it are no longer sane, but it is said it holds terrible secrets. (Gossip) --[] Assign A Member
[] In Bolivia, there is a small mining town where the locals practice a disconcerting tradition. (Gossip) --[] Assign A Member
[] There is a house in Bombay where an irreputable author died. His last writings have driven men mad. (Hearsay) --[] Assign A Member
[] A professor at a university in a distant land has stumbled on a troubling set of formulae that scratch at the back of his eyes. He has aged years in days, and his skin glows with starfire. (Gossip) --[] Assign A Member
[] Rumors abound -- there is a tortured poet who speaks in strange tongues. In moments of lucidity, he claims there are worlds in his skull. (Hearsay) --[] Assign A Member
Discovery:
[] There is a church which preaches something that might be called heresy. They worship an enigmatic being called the Tigerlily, which is something that might be called a god. (-1 Wealth)(-2 Arcana)(Finished in 1 turn)
--[] Assign A Member
[] Yasir has had dreams of a city in the sands. The path to the city begins in the Andes, in a forgotten pass deep within the mountains. You could always pay a few scouts to see if his dreams have any truth to them (-5 Wealth) (Finished in 2 Turns)
--[] Assign A Member
[]Thebes: There stood in Greece in ancient times a city called Thebes. There stood in Egypt in ancient times a second city, called also Thebes. Enoch says there stood in ancient times a third Thebes, and the other two feared it mightily. --[] Assign A Member
[] Where It Fell: A star fell to Earth in the time of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus. They say it bent the world and shone with the light of the gods. In some histories, mad Enoch tells you, the emperor swallowed it and became a star himself -- some say the very star that fell. Where it fell still burns. --[] Assign A Member
[] The Ten Thousand: In antiquity, the elite spearmen known as the Ten Thousand Immortals served the Shahs of Iran. Their name, some irreputable histories tell us, was not an exaggeration. --[] Assign A Member
Expedition: []The Lake: A frozen lake in the north of Europe. Here, Enoch says, is where the Worm first came to Earth, and where they slew it a second time. Its bones lie beneath, but be wary, for its children swarm the water. Crack the ice and see the Worm in all her glory. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] The Mausoleum: There is a place in the desert where the Mughal rajas buried their honored wives. One in particular, Enoch says, was honored here. They demolished the temple, after, but the catacombs still run deep beneath the sand. Strike the earth, and you may find what they loved and feared. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] The Black Hills: The Romans killed many when they conquered ancient Gaul. What they murdered in these black hills took three legions to kill. Go to the place where they fell, and you may find where it died. Targarung roars. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] Alexandria The Furthest: In some histories, Alexander the Great made it as far as China. In some histories, the city he founded there grew to become the mightiest of all cities. In some histories, they worshipped a vain and mighty god indeed, and conquered the world in his name. Something of their history bleeds into ours, Enoch suggests, like fresh paintings running together. Go to the place where it would have stood, and you may catch a glimpse of the Dragonfly, called also in our world the Tigerlily. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[]The Clock Tower: There is a dilapidated old clock tower maintained by a quiet and reclusive group of abominable monks. It is counting down, Enoch insists, to the day when the stars are right. Slay the monks and what lives within their skin, and you may know which clocks tick to the rhythm of the Men of Glass, and why. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] The River People: In the dawn of mankind, there lived a certain people on the banks of the River Indus. Their very names have been scoured from history ten times over, and their crimes will never be forgiven. Something of them still remains, however. Dig the earth and find their cities, and you may learn of the sin that so offended both the Dreamcrow and the Dragonfly. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] The Crawling Caves: The catacombs beneath the university are truly cavernous. They run deeper than humans ever delved, and the worms feed on those who have gone too deep. There is something deeper still. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] The Cobalt Lodge: The ancient redoubt of the Boreal Order, home to six centuries of occult lore and research. It is protected by wards of living light and deathless knights who long ago gave their flesh and their spirits to serve their homeland even in death. It is not located entirely on this world. There are spirits of living winter chained to its' walls, cursed to protect it until the stars die out, and some of the mightiest occultists in the world await within, armed with artifacts of untold power. Unless you are incredibly well-armed and have powerful friends, attacking this place would be a very, very bad idea. But you could try. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
[] There is another, darker place, in the shadow of the Valley of the Kings, where they buried those pharaohs whose names had been excised. They are nameless, certain histories suggest, because names have power, even after death. --[] Assign A Member
--[] Assign A Member (Optional)
--[] Take An Artifact (Optional) (Write-In Artifact)
--[] Hire Muscle: Big men who ask few questions. Ideal for situations like this. (Optional) (-5 Wealth)
--[] Hire An Occultist: Well-read and thin, their eyes wide with secrets. They may be of use. (Optional) (-10 Wealth)
--[] Send the Wraiths: Red and hungry, the wraiths will kill until they are done. (Optional)(Can use on one expedition per turn)
Study:
[] Study The Starry Organ: This organ beats with an otherworldly strength. It's light is not of this earth. It's heat is not of these stars. -[] Assign A Member
[] Study The Dragon-Mirror: What lies through the mirror may have passed, or may yet come to pass. Studying it may yet provide insight.
[] Study A Moth-Riddled Tome: This book is useless now as a book. As a study of what destroyed the Lampsmen, it may yet prove useful. -[] Assign A Member
[] Moth-Secrets: Now that you have deeper knowledge of the lore of the Moths, it may be possible to figure out more, and perhaps even bend this lore to your own ends. This will require research and study, however. -[] Assign A Member
[] Hidden History: Now that you understand what hides beneath the skin of history, you can pore through old tomes and irreputable histories of the sort written by madmen for clues as to ancient things long forgotten. This will require great effort and expense, however. (2 turns, -10 Wealth, gain 1d5 Expeditions/Discoveries)
The Arcane:
(Note: You may pick as many Arcane options as you want, but remember that Arcana takes two turns to regenerate)
[] Magical Warding: Stephanus has thrown up a few basic detection wards, but with time he could daub the walls with blood-infused runes that repel any but those the Society has chosen to let enter. This will take time. (-1 Arcana)(Takes 2 Turns)
[] Divination: Bargain with something not quite dead and not quite living for a glimpse of what might be. (-2 Arcana, +5 to all rolls for a turn)
[] Explore the Dreamscape: Beyond the gate of bone lies a burning city of dreams. A place of song and mystery, a land where painters and madmen alike find inspiration, a kaleidoscopic jumble of reals and unreals and smoldering impossibilities -- the Dreamscape is many things. There are secrets in it's depths, if you are brave enough to delve for them. (-1 Arcana)
--[] Assign a Member
[] The War-Words: As every occultist knows, there are rituals for those going to battle. Dance the dance and speak the words, and fill your hearts with a murderer's flame. These are the war-words. (+3 to all combat rolls for the selected Society member next turn. -1 Arcana)
[] Who Came Before: Many have died in Mammon Place. Their spirits have been bent to terrible purpose. Free them, and grant them new death. (Releases Wraiths, frees up Summoning slot)
[] And In Darkness Bind Them: You summon several lesser souls drifting too near to the veil, and bind them to your service. They will aid you in all things until they are released. (+1 Arcana permanently until the spirits are released, bonus to all research, combat, and exploration rolls, may change outcomes story-wise)
[] A Mortal Bargain: You may lease a bit of your souls out to something other, in exchange for power and success. (-3 Arcana, pick a single non-expedition vote and it is an unequivocal success. The cost of this vote will increase by two with each use.)
[] A Mortal Loan: You may borrow power, for a time. But all debts will come due. (Gain 10 Arcana, that regenerates twice as quickly as normal (so one turn). In 10 Turns, your debt will come due, with interest. If you cannot pay it, there will be consequences.)
[] A Mortal Trade: Nothing comes from nothing. Give something of value, and you will gain something of value. (Select an Artifact to sacrifice. In exchange, gain 5 non-renewing Arcana instantly)
Miscellaneous (Pick Two):
[] Buy Interesting Information: You reach out into the underworld and pay for the latest rumors of things which might interest the Society. It costs money to weed the wheat from the chaff, but it may be worth it. (-5 Wealth) (One piece of information is guaranteed Rumor level or higher next turn)
[] Cancel Contractors: You no longer have need of extra hands around the city, freeing up funds for other things. (-1 Miscellanous option a turn, +1 Wealth a turn)
[] Reach Out: The Society needs wealthy patrons if it is to survive. Reach out and try to get some more. (-2 Influence)
[] Entertain Libertines: There are people of wealth and power who flirt with the occult, with the idea of mystery and the thrill of the unknown. They will pay you a large sum for a look behind the veil. (Gain 1d10 Suspicion) (+15 Wealth) (Chance of gaining Influence)
[] Gain Leverage: It has been said that knowledge is power. For certain people, it is more. There are secrets men would die to keep secret. (-10 Wealth)(Chance of gaining 1d20 Influence and unlocking the Blackmail option)
[] Backdoor Channels: Getting stuff done is easier if you ignore the legality of certain things. (-5 Wealth) (All non-study actions take 1 less turn. Increases Suspicion)
[] Canvass Students: You search among the young and fresh-minded students of Bringham University for potential recruits to the Society. The University has a certain way of attracting people. (Low chance of discovering potential recruits)
[] Seduce Socialites: Wealthy, bored, and capable of magnificent cruelty. The scions of the wealthy prove a valuable breeding ground for occultists of all stripes -- men and women who, bored of the pleasures of regular life, seek out more exotic fancies. (Chance of discovering potential recruits) (-1 Influence) (+2 Suspicion)
[] Enoch's Names: There are certain people now living named in Enoch's travel diary who were not yet born when he died. If you use the Diary as a map and track them down, who knows what you may find. (Medium Chance of discovering potential recruits)(???)(Takes 2 Turns)
[] Inside Connections: Everything is easier when you have people with their ear to the ground for you in the places you'd like. You've already got some, but more might be beneficial. (-10 Wealth)(Low chance of acquiring an Informant)
[] A Visit To The Morris Collection: There is a library whose halls are unnaturally silent, and whose shelves are filled with books of a different sort. It's owners are extremely particular. If you pay an exorbitant amount, they may allow you to enter. If you pay more still, they may let you leave with something. You must know what you are looking for -- they will not let you enter otherwise. (-12 Wealth) (Gain one random book artifact of a lore you already know)
[] Call An Appraiser From Ivary's: The Ivary clan can send someone to examine the artifacts currently in your possession and assign them a material worth, making sale possible.
[] Take A Contract: Moorham and Sons has many opportunities for an enterprising occultists to make money, if they're willing not to ask too many questions. Ask them to send over a list of their current contracts.
[] Hire an Agent: There are skilled people in the mortal world who, while not immersed in the occult, are well-equipped to handle it's mysteries. For a certain sum and regular payment, you might be able to employ one of these into your service for the time being. (An agent is a fully-fledged character with their own skills and traits that can be sent on expeditions or discovery missions, but costs money per turn to employ)
I'm reminded of that one card in Fallen London which haunts you when Nightmares reach a certain level, plus the Dawn Machine, of course. Interesting that the stars being wrong is better than them being right, though.
I'm thinking of picking Enoch's Names for Miscellaneous, although I'm not sure about the other options. Maybe something involving the Tigerlily, because its name is showing up in multiple options now, which basically guarantees that it's a big deal. The Glass Men are also quite concerning, so I'd like to take the Clock Tower expedition unless someone has any better ideas.
My choice would be to research either the Lamp Shards or the Moths, to give us at least one supernatural tool at our disposal. I'd also pick Enoch's Names to try and get us another member and probably pick Alexandria the Furthest or else the other Tigerlily option, if for no other reason than the name comes up a lot. Willing and waiting to see other people's ideas though.
