Friday, December 13th 2013, Week 0, Day 2
Jerry:
You meet Ross in the student union, and he shows you the vase in question over a ham and egg cafateria food breakfast. The Olympian Priest points out the being that he suspects might be Vich Gor'Teerech, and you can quickly see how one might be confused.
The person Ross suspects to be the conqueror wears similar face concealing armor that might well have belonged to your god, but his form is merely human in shape, not elephantine. He appears to be in great pain, and what appears to be an Olympian is shielding him with it's massive body. As awkward as the situation depicted is however, you are fairly sure the being is indeed Vich Gor'Teerech. He is depicted wielding a sword and a club, and has both a net and spear hanging from his belt. He appears to be leading a small army of tigers, and you are well aware that the Ugyone who serve as the conqueror's shock troops are typically depicted as tigers by earthen artists.
"Its him... in some form or another..." you admit "unless he concealed from history a halfbreed son fierce enough to command Ugyone forces up until now..."
You know the Chaos Circle has ways to make gods suffer, but you have to ask Ross what he thinks happened to weaken Vich Gor'Teerech so. The Priest gives you a sheepish shrug.
"Three of these vases were dug up. I only have one. The other two are in possession of the Chaos Circle Studies club at Harvard Under-University. Without the other two vases, we will never know the whole story... Tell me Priest of Aijorluk, doesn't that make you Jealous?" He asks with a sly smile. On that note he asks you to wait outside the student union while he fetches the reward he promised.
He returns with a heavy looking copper crate on the back of a golf cart. You hop aboard, and direct Ross back to the hostel. Upon arrival you have Thorton take the heavy prize to the mens bedroom; it weighs enough to make even the vampire goon break a sweat moving it.
Ross hands you the key to the box and gives you a brief explanation. "I found it in an old temple Mars was using to store resources he captured from the Conqueror ages ago when he repelled the third conquest. Do with it as you dare..."
You unlock the crate and peer inside. You almost faint in astonishment when you see what it contains...
+ Crate Contents (To be revealed via PM)
+ New Opprotunity
Result = 21, Crit Success!
You head to the alchemy lab, and spend hours trying to safely bottle the Waters of Aaijorluk. Nothing seems capable of holding the nasty fluid very long, and eventually a flash gives out in your grip, causing you minor cuts and burns. You decided to call it a day in the lab.
Result = 8, Fail
You likewise have little luck trying to modify the crosses you purchased from Wal-Mart. It turns out they are made out of a brittle plastic, and cleverly painted to look like wood. You manage to break a few before you decide you need to go about acquiring you holy symbols from another angle.
Result = 6, Fail
With some time to kill, you decide to bundle up and head out for a walk into the woods to visit that shop you found yesterday. You spot the store right where you left it, only to discover it is still closed. When you knock on the door, an oldish gentleman answers you apologetically.
"I'm sorry sir. Some hooligans broke in last night, and my wife knocked over a few shelves full of some real nasty creepy crawlies when she went to eat them. It isn't safe in here until I catch them all."
He pauses for a few seconds in consideration. "But here, take this. Its a jar of fiends honey. Bugs can't resist the stuff, but it causes agony to us higher lifeforms. You can throw it at people to cause major injury, feed to um... friends in small doses to erm... entertain them, or use it as bug bait. Least I can do for somebody who travels all the way out here to see me..."
+Jar of Fiends Honey
Consolation prize because Tar couldn't get the shop stuff up in time...
Vortanna:
Your early attempts to research internal magic all turn out to be dead ends. Pretty much every book on the subject states that every sort of creature capable of internal magic has its own specialities and powers, and that as a group, Internal Mages have little in common with one another. After a few stale leads however you do come across a book that contains a list of simple powers and spells that almost any internal caster can learn. You check it out and give it a good long read to decide which, if any, you wish to practice first...
Result = 10
+ Library Copy of 'Standardized Internal Magic' Due back in 14 days...
+ You may learn spells and features from the Internal Mage Wiki Page once the Dev Team finalizes it...
Pulling every book you can find on strange dreams, the weaving of fate, and spiders, you can find on the shelves, you begin to search for meaning in all the weirdness in your life so far. Much to your dismay, it would seem that nothing in the library comes close to describing or explaining your dreams. Eventually you give up and return home to practice martial arts, none the wiser.
Result = 2
Your training starts off on the right foot, as you practice moving through the snow and striking undetected. As you push through a large snowbank however, you feel a sharp pain in your ankle, which quickly spreads to engulf your whole body. It is a struggle to return to the hostel, and you pass out as soon as you pass through the door.
You wake up in bed, and Jarl Snorri informs you that you were bitten by a New England Snow Snipe. You should be fine for most activities so long as you bundle up, but you will particularly vulnerable to snow and cold until the slow working snipe venom runs it course.
-For the next 4 days, you take a -3 penalty to all outdoor exploration rolls, and are vulnerable to Entropy Elemental attacks regardless of your defensive stance.
Result = 5, CRITICAL FAIL!
Alice:
Through your research, you quickly learn the Sirens are a flightless and musical subspecies of harpy, a type of vicious predatory bird that prefers to eat humanoids and mimics the form and call of a humanoid female to lure prey. A quick search of library records however shows that every book likely to go in depth on the subject of harpies and sirens was checked out by a Phineas Summers in may 2008 and never returned. It would seem you will have to take your hunt for that particular information elsewhere.
Result = 5
You pull miles from his translation work and head out into the abandoned buildings of Old Arkham in search of adventure. The pair of you check out several dozen old buildings in a matter of a few hours, and in the 25th or 26th one you visit, a poorly kept house from the 1890s, you find something interesting: A corpse.
The body still stinks, and has some flesh on it, but it has clearly been dead for quite some time. On the wall the words 'January, 2014' are repeatedly written in dried blood, and a strange symbol; a scarab encircled by a ribbon appears several times in the room as well.
You take notes on the scene while Miles partakes in the time honored tradition of corpse looting. When you both finish, Miles hands you a pistol and two clips of 9mm ammo, explaining the dead guy had two of em, and that a good gun is often a reliable alternative to magic.
Since you are both just a bit shaken by the discovery, it is decided that you will wait until tomorrow before deciding to find some authority to alert, or launch your own private investigation.
+ Handgun (AC 5, DB 6, Mundane Damage)
+ 2 Clips 9mm Ammo
Result = 7
After the adventure with Miles, you decide to return to the library and attempt to get better at studying. The image of the dead guy and the strange writing on the wall however refuse to leave your head. You can't focus, and by the end of the day you have made very little, if any, progress on the research front.
Result = 5
Miles:
Translation, especially involving languages you may have spoken in the past, has always been one of your strong suits. You head to the library, pull out a dusty old reference work on Mage Latin, and get to work translating whatever you wrote to yourself. As the hours pass, the message slowly takes shape. The note is mostly an explanation of the map, and the promise of free goods, but a bit at the end disturbs you deeply.
I hope that this is Milo reading, because this is Milo writing, and this note is a rather personal matter. It will likely be a few years before I consider making my next jump, but I am writing this note now while the information is fresh in my mind.
I was at a party with several other time brokers last night, and William the Seafoam, that queer Mystic with designs on taking Innsmouth from the deep ones, was there. My friends and I ended up trying to outdo each other by buying information about later and later points in our respective futures.
I got pretty far ahead of the others, and learned I would end up back here in Arkham 2013 after a bad jump. With that in mind I will be taking the liberty of instructing some of my customers to 'pay it foward' by sending goods to Arkham around that time for my future use.
The goods will be stored in the wall-safe in our office, which can be found through a secret passage in the Washroom of Coleman Hall on the Miskatonic campus. Anybody can put goods into the safe with the password 'French', but to remove goods one needs to speak the name of our first love when opening it. I will be placing some photographs in the safe, to perhaps warm our heart and touch our soul as well.
Regards,
Milo
P.S. I got one further cryptic message from the mystic that means nothing to me. 'The best chance to kill that which pursues you, is in that which kills Kathryn Lynch'. Hope that helps.
Your opportunity regarding the map has been updated
Results = 17
More than bit shaken by what you have read, and not sure you yet feel comfortable showing Alice whatever private photos are in the vault, you decide to let the girl drag you through various old buildings in Old Arkham when the time comes to explore the town with her. Eventually you find something of interest, but sadly the nature of the find prevents it from doing much to lift your mood...
Alice's roll was higher. See her turn for fluff and results regarding your exploration action.
+ Handgun
+ 2 Clips of 9mm ammo
Deciding that learning is the best way to detox is to try re-learn something useful, you hit up the teleport to Innsmouth and seek out Alan Glover. Much to your good fortune, you catch Alan in the act of whipping up the basic concoction used by merchants to allow them to visit bazaars in the past or future.
You start taking careful notes, but quickly stop doing so once it becomes clear that the old knowledge is being easily re-learned. Alan lets you practice on a few dry runs between chimes, and even gives you some components to get you started. You think to ask Alan where a good grandfather clock can be found in Arkham, and he suggests using the old one in Coleman Hall on campus, explaining that you used to make your office in that building back in the good 'ol days.
+ 1 20lb Wheel of ROUS Cheese
+ 1 Gallon Mule Blood
+ 1 1943 Steel Penny
+ New Ritual
Result = 15
Leilani:
Intent to learn exactly how the magical world works, you ask the librarian for suggestions on where you can find a good overview of the subject. He directs you to a thick book entitled 10000 Things a Newly Minted Mage Should Know.
The basics of society are a bit discomforting, but simple enough to understand.
The most powerful group on the planet is called The Court of the Ancients, a close knit family of vampires from a powerful bloodline that devote themselves to protecting the planet from external threats. The Court's main weapon against those who pose a true threat to earth is called 'The Shield of Innocence', a powerful yet secretive ritual or artifact that can warp reality itself and create, destroy, and modify just about anything at the Court's whim. For The Shield of Innocence to function properly, a large percentage of the planet's population must be unaware of the existence of magic; therefore the Court of the Ancients will go to any length to keep the secret from going public. The court will gladly cause wars and natural disasters to cover things up, and have declared on multiple occasions that they will cause a disaster powerful enough to throw society back to the stone age should the secret get out.
The most powerful human controlled organizations are the Archmage Councils. An Archmage Council typically rules over a population of between one hundred thousand and fifty million. All Archmage Councils do their best to placate the Court of the Ancients by punishing those who needlessly spread the secret of magic, and by heavily restricting the rights of beings who can't pass for normal humans in public. Outside of those duties, most Archmage Councils are poorly organized clusterfucks where each member simply looks out for his or her own personal interests.
Other less powerful factions also exist. Elf tribes tend to live in magically protected wilderness that those without knowledge of magic cannot reach. Several Dwarf exile fortresses exist on earth, but truly civilized dwarven kingdoms would never dare intrude on a planet that lawfully belongs to their sister race. Orc tribes sometimes get permits to hunt human slaves during times of war and chaos, but they tend to return from whence they came when finished. Many lesser vampire courts exist; some are more benevolent than others. Naga families live in warmer climates, and are sly and subtle enough to live amoung humans; some Naga tribes are easily more powerful than the human Archage Councils that technically lord over them...
As disturbing as all of what you learn seems, it inspires a curiosity within you to learn more about the reality of the world around you.
+ New Feature
Result = 17
You try to gather supplies to plant your hibiscus, but quickly discover that there are no gardening tools in the Hostel at all... perhaps a shopping trip is in order.
Result = 4
Fredrick and the Jarl are both out, and Thorton still scares you shitless, so you decide to spend the afternoon getting to know Jan.
The elf is glad to have somebody to talk to, and ends up sharing a decent chunk of its life story. Jan's mother is a jeweler of sorts who makes pretty crafts, charms, and trinkets out of seashells on the shore of cape cod. Jan's suspected father is a beach bum, water mage, and volunteer firefighter who spends his winters in Maui. Jan has three sibblings: a younger one who has yet to obtain a gender, and two older brothers who fight in Sweeny the Seafoam's personal guard and play for his sports teams. Jan keeps a good distance from its family, as Jan is what is called a Woodheart: An elf born without the traditional elven free spirit but instead a high capacity for logical though and common sense. Woodheart elves are only valued when elven society is in trouble and requires strong leadership, and are otherwise considered outcasts.
Jan is especially proud of its brothers, both of whom were present to witness the rebirth of the dread god Set back in 2011 and received multiple physical, mental, and spiritual wounds in the ensuing battle to seal it away again. Linus is an archer, swordsman, and pianist of great talent, while Xander is a clever intuitive conjurer who breeds shawks in his spare time.
You learn that as a Woodheart Jan is looking for a monogamous relationship, and hopes to have a spouse or long term relationship pre-selected before deciding to become male or female. Jan dreams of holding a corporate position such as CEO or Vice President in a large magical firm, and would prefer to remain in New England for the rest of its natural life in case its tribe ever finds itself indeed of a Woodheart's leadership.
In the end, Jan thanks you for your time by regifting you a package that its likely father sent from Maui containing some fun items made by Hawaiian elves.
+1 Bottle of Elven Pineapple and Herb Marinade (When used to prepare a seafood dinner, grants +1 point of special defense to all who eat it)
+Glowing Volcano Charm (Grants a 1 time only +4 Bonus when attempting to learn a Mass, Genesis, or Flow spell)
+6 Pack of Elven Kelpring Necklaces (These necklaces are traditionally given by coastal elves to their 1 night stands. The fact that they come in a six pack says alot about elven culture...)
+1 T-Shirt (Depicts two elves jousting on shark-back)
Result = 11
Francis:
Deciding to play every card available, you bug Frederic until he agrees to take you down to campus and introduce you to several of the big shots behind the scenes. Sadly most of the big names he would like you to meet are gone for the winter, but he does manage to show you off to a couple of his friends.
He first formally introduces you to the librarian and head of the Druidic Studies department, Carl Mihilipxhits. Carl, as it turns out, is actually a being from beyond the stars who took the oath of a Logos nature spirit in 1859 as a penance for eating the slave population of an entire plantation. Carl usually keeps a human form to avoid freaking out students. He is thrilled to find out that you are one of the Bloodrushers, and promises to give you some work should you prove yourself on a proper mission, as he is oathbound to the building and most of his favorite druids are on winter break.
Next you are made to meet Julia Jimenez, the head of campus police. Like Carl, Julia is quite glad to have bloodrushers around, and offers to make some police resources available to your group.
+ New Opprotunity
+ New Resource/Trainer
Result = 15
Fredric eventually returns to the Hostel, and you return to the library and dig up some books on the realm of fact. You already know the basics; it is a carnivorous realm that breaks down whatever enters it into pure knowledge and data. Your object for the day then is to find a way to put things you want to get rid of into the realm.
It doesn't take you long to find a ritual that does what you want, but sadly it looks like it requires many expensive components. You still dogear the page however, so that you can find the ritual information should you need it...
+ Opprotunity to learn a new permanent ritual
Result = 12
Deciding to end your day with a nice stroll, you bundle up and hit a trail into the woods for fun. You watch the trees, and take careful note of several clearly supernatural birds and flowers as you walk. Sadly, in doing you, you fail to pay attention to the ground, and end up stepping into a beartrap like device that painfully catches your leg.
You scream for over an hour, before the hunter sheepishly turns up. You chew the man out for trapping a main trail as he gets you out of the trap and fixes your leg with some salve. To make up for ruining your evening, he offers you a trophy from the day's hunt, and even lets you pick which one you want!
+ Your choice of...
Frost Troll Skin (Grants +1/16 Max Hit Points per turn, but the user becomes weak to Genesis attacks)
Well of Landsquid Ink (50 Uses. Grants double the Magicly Potent Writing when writing about nature, animals, or magical beasts. Grants triple the magicly potent writing when writing about the above as it relates to the forest or the ocean.)
Potion of Angel's Blood (Mutates the drinker with benevolant divine power. 3/5ths chance of gaining a useful feature, 1/5th chance of getting a harmful feature, 1/5th chance of getting both)
Result = 17
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Topic: @)~~}~ (RPG) Magia Exquisitis: Bloodrush ~{~~(@ (Read 16271 times)