I know it's been another quiescent period around these parts. If anyone's been paying attention to this blog and/or following along with my group's adventures, I apologize and I'll get caught up as soon as possible. I've just been running on an extreme spoons deficit as of late, and fell out of the habit of getting them regularly done over the summer. I need to build back up to that rhythm. Please be patient with me while I do so.
In the meantime, I've got a couple of minor announcements to make. This Wednesday, at DriveThruRPG, the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide is officially released! I'll link it when that happens. Also, according to this week's Monday Meeting Notes over at the Onyx Path site, next month the Alchemicals book is being crowdfunded! Oh heck! I was planning on doing a little something for that, should probably get on it. I'll update you as I have more info.
So where we left off, the group had just put an end to the Leaves' attempted takeover of Silverpost and met up with another Circle of Exalts who'd set up shop in the city. Some time passes, as merchants return to a more-peaceful Silverpost -- though some stay in Kolozma, wanting to contribute to rebuilding the village and some even looking to set up shop and get a fresh start in a fresh market.
During this time, Lecht tracks down Nadia, having seen her bodyguard around town. Turns out she's easy enough to find, at least now, because she's been hiding out in an apartment in the Tepet enclave. Her bodyguard leads Lecht to her, and they show up to find her packing her things. They've got a box containing that magical astrolabe in it.
When they come in she straightens herself up, and despite her attempt to carry herself with her prior dignity she's clearly been worn ragged. She said she heard Lecht was back in town, and figured they and their friends were responsible for the riot and the peace since then.
Lecht confirms that they deal with the Leaves, and she thanks them for intervening -- things were pretty touch and go for her, as she'd been particularly targeted.
Lecht then opens up the box and produces the folded-up astrolabe, and Nadia's eyes light up. "Ah, to business then," she says, any sense of weariness suddenly vanishing.
"To business," Lecht confirms. "You named your price, I want the immediate return of my sarcophagus as per the terms of our agreement."
"Well, about that. There is some good news, and some bad news."
Lecht twitches and they drum their fingers impatiently on the box.
"I don't know where it is, but I know who does, or at least who should."
Lecht is upset, and demands an explanation. She explains she had it taken away and exact knowledge of where it's being stored erased from her memory so they couldn't torture it out of her (or kill her and ask her corpse). Lecht points out that this wasn't the agreement, and Nadia said that was before a gang took over town and prevented her from putting things into motion. She's not in the apartment for the cheap rent, she's there because she ran for her life.
"You're welcome for the rescue, and for having the chance to flee for your life, and my friends saving the city."
Nadia counters that it's because of Lecht that the Leaves made their move when they did. Lecht points out that Old Man Liczka was dying anyways, and Nadia says the problem was the timing. If he'd died of natural causes or poison or ghost-bite a couple of weeks later, she'd have had the sarcophagus and that would be the end of it. But she will tell Lecht who's got the box, because that means it's no longer her problem.
A man named Rhion Bryn has it. She says he's supposed to be back in town at some point, but he's busy elsewhere.
Lecht insists on knowing why Rhion has the sarcophagus, and Nadia says he was asked to hide it, so she wouldn't know where it is. Lecht asks where Rhion is, and she says he's got a bunch of projects going on at any one time. She's pretty sure if he's anywhere, he's a little further south along the Traveler's Road -- possibly in a town called Larkim.
Lecht packs up the astrolabe to leave. Nadia asks if they're taking it with them, and Lecht says she failed to live up to her end of the bargain. But they thank her for the information. But she just wanted to be sure, because she could compensate them for it, but if they want to get a better deal for it from Rhion...
Lecht interrupts and says they risked their life for it, and their friends -- well, they think the others are their friends, they're not sure yet -- they all risked their lives for it. And Nadia doesn't have the agreed-upon payment.
Disappointed but trying to retain some dignity, Nadia agrees that's fair. She asks if they at least found out what happened to Zephyr. They inform her that he's dead, and she sincerely says that's a shame. She'll track down his family and let them know. She opines that Lecht might've liked him, if they'd had the chance.
Lecht remarks they at least got to know the thing that thought it was him. That gets an eyebrow raise from her. She says she does owe them one, and this whole mess has been a shambles, but if they ever want to do business again, her office should be back up and running in a day or two.
Lecht just takes their leave.
The others have spent their downtime watching the town recover -- Stray Dog's been partying, and enjoying his recent celebrity. The people don't realize exactly what he saved them from, just that he put on a hell of a show that seems to have had an impact on things. Wandering Dawn has been training with Tepet Jarin, better attuning to the Piercing Gaze of Hesiesh, the red jade direlance he claimed after the fight with the cockatrice. But after a few days, they get back on the road, headed south.
A couple of nights later, in the middle of a nasty windstorm, is when things get strange. Lecht, out on guard duty as they don't need to properly sleep, notices a strange cloud drifting up in front of the full moon in the middle of the night, and gets a weird feeling. Shortly afterwards, a woman comes staggering out of the dark towards the caravan's fire. She's shivering, like she's freezing cold, but the wind aside it's actually not nearly as cold as her reaction suggests it should be.
As she comes closer, they can sense she's possessed by something. They move to get her closer to the fire and ask her her name. She says it's Gillian, as her teeth chatter. As Lecht brings her closer to the fire, they bang the Grave Warden against Wandering Dawn's wagon wheel to get his attention (only getting a sleepy "No thanks, I'm fine" in return).
Stray Dog is by the fire, who cheerfully asks Lecht "What the fuck is this?" Lecht explains that she came down from the hills and needs help as they get her by the fire. Wandering Dawn finally catches up and they fill him in, and then they cover Gillian's ears and say that she's also definitely possessed, which gets an exasperated groan from Stray Dog.
Wandering Dawn asks her name, and she repeats 'Gillian,' though she stumbles over it a bit like she's not sure. In the background, Lecht makes a remark about having to do an exorcism as Wandering Dawn asks her what she remembers. She says she came from the mountains, and points in the direction where Lecht saw that cloud earlier. She says she was exploring a ruin, but then she interrupts herself to say she lived there and then goes back to saying she was exploring -- she's confused, and can't keep it all straight. There are obviously multiple sets of memories in her head.
She says she and her group were attacked by something, and Wandering Dawn asks if she knows their names, and she does -- Anton, Carl, Tova... she starts stammering at that point, partially because she's still freezing cold. Wandering Dawn warms her up some broth, and she says she's starving -- they had to leave their supplies behind. Lecht asks her if they're talking to her, or the possessing entity. She's confused but insists that it's her, just before she adds that it was so cold and dark and so loud 'when the thing crashed.'
Wandering Dawn, naturally, asks what crashed. She says they didn't see it, and she's not sure how she remembers it because it was dark and then they were in the ruin, and... she trails off, chattering and sipping broth. Wandering Dawn, thinking aloud, recalls a story about a nearby mining town called Echo Gorge, in the mountains nearby. It was wiped out with no survivors about 600 years ago in what was presumed to be an avalanche. Now it's a ghost town, he mentions as he himself trails off.
Lecht says it could be a shadowland, that'd be perfect to explain what happened to her. The Solar asks Gillian what happened when the thing fell from the sky, if they ran, or... but she doesn't remember clearly, and she's getting frustrated. She remembers a shadow like a cloud coming over them and... then it's all over... and she starts rocking back and forth.
Lecht gives her a quick examination with both their medical and occult knowledge. They get a ridiculous number of successes on the roll, and determine two problems. The first, simpler problem is the cold -- there's a type of phantasmal creature[0] called a 'frostbite.' They travel in swarms and if one splats on you, it freezes you to the bone -- not dangerous in of itself, but it can weaken you and make you susceptible to other things. Fortunately, a few hours by the fire will clear that up.
The second, bigger problem is the possession. Not only is Gillian possessed, but between certain behaviors and tics she's been showing, as well as the circumstances under which she was possessed (in which a town full of people suffered a sudden traumatic death all at once), Lecht is sure she's being possessed by a susurrus -- a patchwork amalgamation of incomplete ghosts desperately trying to become whole by possessing people and consuming other ghosts.[1] They're usually not inherently dangerous to the living, but one possessing someone can be a real problem.
Lecht wants to do an exorcism, and says they need salt and iron filings. They ask Stray Dog to dig up some 'earthy' incense, and so he naturally goes to Oguri -- sort of the signature NPC of the caravan, who trades in spices, teas, medicines, and incense. He explains the situation and she gives him some incense cones that should do the trick. Mahi, Oguri's mysterious foreign bodyguard, asks about the entity. Stray Dog says that all he knows is that it's a susurrus. The Southeastern stranger suddenly displays an interest and asks Oguri if she can assist. Oguri, a little surprised, agrees.
Stray Dog returns with Mahi in tow, and she says she has some experience with this sort of thing. Lecht doesn't mind her participating, if she can handle herself. She clarifies that she doesn't have a lot of experience with exorcisms, specifically, but she has some experience with ghosts.
Lecht gets everything set up for the exorcism, arranging ingredients in appropriate circles and setting up the incense, and Gillian asks what's going on. Stray Dog just tells her outright that it's for an exorcism, and she starts to freak out and get up to leave. Wandering Dawn grabs her and holds her still. He apologizes and tells her this is for her own good.
Mechanically, we treat this as a magical working. Among the steps are making contact with the entity and making it leave, successfully binding it, and making sure the strain of the exorcism doesn't kill or seriously injure Gillian. Lecht manages all of those except for ensuring Gillian's safety, so while they manage to trap the shimmering, ghostlike, vaguely-humanoid entity in a glowing column of light, they have to quickly treat Gillian as it babbles and thrashes around in the column.
"I take it you can't communicate," they ask it.
"I will be whole," it insists in an amalgamation of at least half a dozen voices.
"I take it there's no negotiating with you," Lecht corrects themself.
"We are everyone and no-one. Free us!"
"I might have to leave you there until sunrise," they say, more than willing to leave it trapped there and let the sunlight destroy it as it does most ghosts. Then they take a closer look at Gillian's condition, and think about the frostbites, and then they realize the true nature of the 'cloud' they saw earlier -- just before the swarm descends on the caravan, attacking. Fortunately, most of the civilians were already holing up in their wagons and tents because of the dangers associated with the susurrus, so the characters outside only have to worry about themselves.
Lecht tries to ward them away with Grave Warden, but the exorcism has taken a lot out of them and the small blue worms 'splash' against their body and dissolve, infusing them with the chill of the grave. Stray Dog uses the telekinesis afforded by Mind-Hand Manipulation to crush a bunch in a sphere of force, and Wandering Dawn uses his charms to create a firewand out of pure sunlight to blast them.
And then there's Mahi, expertly dodging them with the speed and grace of a trained acrobat... which shouldn't be a surprise, given that she's a swordswoman with a mysterious past. The surprise comes, however, when Stray Dog and Wandering Dawn discover the nature of one of those mysteries when they can see a Caste Mark on her forehead. It's a sunburst symbol, like Wandering Dawn's -- except, whereas his glows with the comforting light of the Unconquered Sun, hers is black like a brand, and bleeds a little bit.
For those of you at home, that's right. She's an Abyssal Exalt.
(Feel free to go back and read this with that info in mind.)
Everything slows for a moment so the audience can see the Caste Mark of her forehead, as a 'caption' appears at the bottom of the screen:
"Mahi"
(Real name ???)
Dusk Caste Abyssal
Employee of Oguri, and perhaps servant of others?
The caption melts away like ice as the action gets back up to speed. And Stray Dog and Wandering Dawn have a moment to process what they saw -- as well as the fact that Mahi clearly met Wandering Dawn's gaze, and so she knows that he knows -- but not enough time to say anything before the chaos disrupts the binding, and the susurrus gets loose!
To be continued...
[0]-- An earlier edition called them 'plasmics.' They're also known as 'phantasmal beasts.' These are wildlife native to the Underworld -- not ghosts, but ghost-like things that just sprung up there. Sort of like how Creation has elementals and gods, which are different but both count as 'spirits.'
[1]-- I had a unique variant of one of these show up back in the Lunars game, if it sounds familiar.
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