Orpheus: the Harrowing, part 25
Nov. 4th, 2004 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassFor you, Kyn. Enjoy.
After much talking last session, the members of the Spectral Bane crucible decided to get a running start. They, together with Benoit in the form of Charles' old rotweiler Spike, piled into one of Ripley's cars and drove towards the Orpheus office, Stacey at the wheel.
They passed a police checkpoint, where Chet (somewhat more clumsily than normal) possessed the cop and allowed the group to pass through. It was a near thing, but all worked out in the end. (please note: Dude Dave, our guest NPC / asst. GM, playing the possessed cop was absolutely hilarious)
After passing the first checkpoint, the crucible members decided that it was probably too risky to continue to take the car through further checkpoints, since Stacey's name was now likely flagged in the police database. She parked the car, projected, and everyone continued on foot, stealthily avoiding the numerous cops, dogs, kirilian cameras, etc.
Finally our group made it to the rubble that was Orpheus. There, they witnessed spectres eating escaping souls, and another abundance of police. After a quick consultation, they decided to circle around the back, and then head straight down to the labs.
In the woods behind the Orpheus site, they encountered a huge dog-thing. It was just like Lakuna's vision: huge, black, and mean. Spike pounced it, and they fought it out while the rest of the crucible rushed onward.
At the edge of the rubble, they were met by a being encircled by knifes, hooks, and spikes, with light radiating from his face and hands. He spoke in a gasping whisper, telling us that we did not belong, since we were living beings, but that we were expected in an audience with the queen. Lakuna, for reasons not immediately clear, know that the being's name was Gabriel, and that he was increadibly old, the soul of one of the first murders.
Not seeing much else to do, the crucible followed Gabriel down through the rubble of Orpheus, into the old cafeteria, where they were surrounded by spectres, whispering and gesturing. None attacked us... yet. In the corners of the room, four haunters emitted an eerie blue glow. When they flagged, spectres gave them vitality and prodded them to continue. Gabriel left, telling us to wait, that the Queen would be seeing us shortly.
Meanwhile, the crucible huddled together and discussed what we had seen on the way down. Stacey had seen Dave, sneaking and presumably unnoticed for the time being. Charles and Chet had seen Spectres eating living human souls, and other terrible acts. Lakuna would not say what she had seen.
After a long time, Gabriel returned and told Chet that he should proceed to speak with the Queen. The rest of us were given free reign to explore the Orpheus compound, but under strict instructions that we were not to interfere with anything we saw. It became quickly clear that we were no longer welcome in the cafeteria.
The rest of us made our way to what used to be the main labs. Most of the files had been destroyed by fire. Some of the filing cabinets were warped beyond opening. We searched for what we could, but found almost nothing that could be useful. Nothing, that is, until Lakuna reached deep into her intution and Forebode, and found a stack of notes on the desk, hidden under a coffee cup and other random files. They contained instructions on how to make Chet's serum. Stacey quickly materialized, placed the notes in her bra, and projected again. To her relief, they stayed with her body.
At about this time, the crucible members realized they were not alone in the room. Bloody writing on the wall spelled out the words "Help Me", before sinking into the floor. At the door, a blast of dark smoke and ash shot in, quickly followed by a naked spectre. She gestured to Charles, telling him in a whisper that there was something he must see. After a fast consultation, Lakuna and Stacey were forced to let him go, and he went off.
Lakuna and Stacey continued exploring, but found little of any use.
Charles, meanwhile, was taken to an abandoned storage room, where the girl-spectre had various people chained up to the walls. Some were dead, some were dying. Among them, Dave. Dave was not in good shape. He was chained to the wall, his leg being torn off by a spectral hound. Charles couldn't help himself. In a flash, he inhabited and broke the ropes that held Dave to the wall. The spectre let out an etherial howl, screaming at Charles to remember his promise not to interfere. Charles, lamely, said, "But isn't this more entertaining", to no effect.
Dave was facing a losing battle with the hound. Charles gave him vitality, allowing him to gain the upper hand, but was soon faced with a raging girl-spectre, surrounded by 4 chains which she used as easily as extended limbs. They fought, she and Charles. Charles tried escaping into the wall, but was held fast by the girl's chains. He tried electrocuting her with Witches Nimbus, only to find the energy travel back along the chain and into himself.
After much struggle, Charles managed to fling himself into the wall and through it, to the next room, where he found himself face to face with Gabriel.
Gabriel led Charles back down to the cafeteria, where Chet, Stacey, and Lakuna had already been assembled. Towards the door was the Queen, a being whom (some realized sooner, others later) had a striking resemblance to Lakuna. The Queen informed us in no uncertain terms that our stay was over and it was time for us to leave, and that we would follow Gabriel out.
As we were about to depart, the girl-spectre who Charles had fought descended from the ceiling. She wailed towards the Queen, a cry of revenge and hate. None of us knowing what Charles had done, but assuming it was something foolish, tensed. The Queen looked at the girl, gave a wry smile, and the chains wrapped themselves around the girl's own neck and pulled sharply upward, wrapping themselves around a pipe from the ceiling. The Queen blew and kiss to Lakuna, and with that, we left.
As we neared the top of the rubble, we saw Dave crawling through a narrow opening. Without thinking, Charles blasted the top layer of rubble and Stacey materialized, grabbed Dave, and sprinted towards the woods. Gabriel seemed not to notice or not to care.
Once free of the rubble, Stacey shouted back at the others to ripcord back to the house. Lakuna, true to form, did. Charles, reunited with Spike, followed behind Stacey. Chet... Chet now had wings, exactly like Gabriel's. He flew back to the Casa.
After a fair amount of running, everyone not already at the Casa returned safely, and those who could began tending to Dave's mangled leg. Lakuna was crying in her room, Chet seemed distracted, though somewhat happier when he got his notes.
At length, everyone got together, and Chet told them the substance of his conversation, helped along by a guilty Ripley and Dave:
1. PLEs are mostly onto 3-5 years old now because a massive appocalypse happened at about that time, destroying most of them. These types of things happen ever several hundred years.
2. some PLEs manage to survive the apocalypses, such as Gabriel or the Queen.
3. there are some pet theories among the higher-ups at Orpheus that some of the surviving spectres and PLEs help create the Apolcalypse.
4. Spectres work as part of a hive-mind, like bees, except for a few who manage to remain independent (though they are watched closely). It had been assumed until now that Gabriel was one such independent.
5. The Queen does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Lakuna. Lakuna assumes this is because she *is* the Queen on some level.
6. The Queen has told us to leave town, as it is the major Orpheus / spectre headquarters. We now have to decide her true motivations: whether she wants to protect us because she has an interest in us, in which case we should indeed leave; or whether she wants to destroy us, in which case we should stay.
The evening ended with various plans to obtain medical supplies to Dave and Charles (who was badly hurt during his fight), and arguments among the Crucible (as normal).
Fun note of the night: towards the very end, realizing that everyone in the room had at least intelligence 4 (Lakuna, Charles, Chet, John, Dave?, even the absent Trish)... except Stacey, with intelligence 2. No wonder she always feels things are going over her head!
After much talking last session, the members of the Spectral Bane crucible decided to get a running start. They, together with Benoit in the form of Charles' old rotweiler Spike, piled into one of Ripley's cars and drove towards the Orpheus office, Stacey at the wheel.
They passed a police checkpoint, where Chet (somewhat more clumsily than normal) possessed the cop and allowed the group to pass through. It was a near thing, but all worked out in the end. (please note: Dude Dave, our guest NPC / asst. GM, playing the possessed cop was absolutely hilarious)
After passing the first checkpoint, the crucible members decided that it was probably too risky to continue to take the car through further checkpoints, since Stacey's name was now likely flagged in the police database. She parked the car, projected, and everyone continued on foot, stealthily avoiding the numerous cops, dogs, kirilian cameras, etc.
Finally our group made it to the rubble that was Orpheus. There, they witnessed spectres eating escaping souls, and another abundance of police. After a quick consultation, they decided to circle around the back, and then head straight down to the labs.
In the woods behind the Orpheus site, they encountered a huge dog-thing. It was just like Lakuna's vision: huge, black, and mean. Spike pounced it, and they fought it out while the rest of the crucible rushed onward.
At the edge of the rubble, they were met by a being encircled by knifes, hooks, and spikes, with light radiating from his face and hands. He spoke in a gasping whisper, telling us that we did not belong, since we were living beings, but that we were expected in an audience with the queen. Lakuna, for reasons not immediately clear, know that the being's name was Gabriel, and that he was increadibly old, the soul of one of the first murders.
Not seeing much else to do, the crucible followed Gabriel down through the rubble of Orpheus, into the old cafeteria, where they were surrounded by spectres, whispering and gesturing. None attacked us... yet. In the corners of the room, four haunters emitted an eerie blue glow. When they flagged, spectres gave them vitality and prodded them to continue. Gabriel left, telling us to wait, that the Queen would be seeing us shortly.
Meanwhile, the crucible huddled together and discussed what we had seen on the way down. Stacey had seen Dave, sneaking and presumably unnoticed for the time being. Charles and Chet had seen Spectres eating living human souls, and other terrible acts. Lakuna would not say what she had seen.
After a long time, Gabriel returned and told Chet that he should proceed to speak with the Queen. The rest of us were given free reign to explore the Orpheus compound, but under strict instructions that we were not to interfere with anything we saw. It became quickly clear that we were no longer welcome in the cafeteria.
The rest of us made our way to what used to be the main labs. Most of the files had been destroyed by fire. Some of the filing cabinets were warped beyond opening. We searched for what we could, but found almost nothing that could be useful. Nothing, that is, until Lakuna reached deep into her intution and Forebode, and found a stack of notes on the desk, hidden under a coffee cup and other random files. They contained instructions on how to make Chet's serum. Stacey quickly materialized, placed the notes in her bra, and projected again. To her relief, they stayed with her body.
At about this time, the crucible members realized they were not alone in the room. Bloody writing on the wall spelled out the words "Help Me", before sinking into the floor. At the door, a blast of dark smoke and ash shot in, quickly followed by a naked spectre. She gestured to Charles, telling him in a whisper that there was something he must see. After a fast consultation, Lakuna and Stacey were forced to let him go, and he went off.
Lakuna and Stacey continued exploring, but found little of any use.
Charles, meanwhile, was taken to an abandoned storage room, where the girl-spectre had various people chained up to the walls. Some were dead, some were dying. Among them, Dave. Dave was not in good shape. He was chained to the wall, his leg being torn off by a spectral hound. Charles couldn't help himself. In a flash, he inhabited and broke the ropes that held Dave to the wall. The spectre let out an etherial howl, screaming at Charles to remember his promise not to interfere. Charles, lamely, said, "But isn't this more entertaining", to no effect.
Dave was facing a losing battle with the hound. Charles gave him vitality, allowing him to gain the upper hand, but was soon faced with a raging girl-spectre, surrounded by 4 chains which she used as easily as extended limbs. They fought, she and Charles. Charles tried escaping into the wall, but was held fast by the girl's chains. He tried electrocuting her with Witches Nimbus, only to find the energy travel back along the chain and into himself.
After much struggle, Charles managed to fling himself into the wall and through it, to the next room, where he found himself face to face with Gabriel.
Gabriel led Charles back down to the cafeteria, where Chet, Stacey, and Lakuna had already been assembled. Towards the door was the Queen, a being whom (some realized sooner, others later) had a striking resemblance to Lakuna. The Queen informed us in no uncertain terms that our stay was over and it was time for us to leave, and that we would follow Gabriel out.
As we were about to depart, the girl-spectre who Charles had fought descended from the ceiling. She wailed towards the Queen, a cry of revenge and hate. None of us knowing what Charles had done, but assuming it was something foolish, tensed. The Queen looked at the girl, gave a wry smile, and the chains wrapped themselves around the girl's own neck and pulled sharply upward, wrapping themselves around a pipe from the ceiling. The Queen blew and kiss to Lakuna, and with that, we left.
As we neared the top of the rubble, we saw Dave crawling through a narrow opening. Without thinking, Charles blasted the top layer of rubble and Stacey materialized, grabbed Dave, and sprinted towards the woods. Gabriel seemed not to notice or not to care.
Once free of the rubble, Stacey shouted back at the others to ripcord back to the house. Lakuna, true to form, did. Charles, reunited with Spike, followed behind Stacey. Chet... Chet now had wings, exactly like Gabriel's. He flew back to the Casa.
After a fair amount of running, everyone not already at the Casa returned safely, and those who could began tending to Dave's mangled leg. Lakuna was crying in her room, Chet seemed distracted, though somewhat happier when he got his notes.
At length, everyone got together, and Chet told them the substance of his conversation, helped along by a guilty Ripley and Dave:
1. PLEs are mostly onto 3-5 years old now because a massive appocalypse happened at about that time, destroying most of them. These types of things happen ever several hundred years.
2. some PLEs manage to survive the apocalypses, such as Gabriel or the Queen.
3. there are some pet theories among the higher-ups at Orpheus that some of the surviving spectres and PLEs help create the Apolcalypse.
4. Spectres work as part of a hive-mind, like bees, except for a few who manage to remain independent (though they are watched closely). It had been assumed until now that Gabriel was one such independent.
5. The Queen does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Lakuna. Lakuna assumes this is because she *is* the Queen on some level.
6. The Queen has told us to leave town, as it is the major Orpheus / spectre headquarters. We now have to decide her true motivations: whether she wants to protect us because she has an interest in us, in which case we should indeed leave; or whether she wants to destroy us, in which case we should stay.
The evening ended with various plans to obtain medical supplies to Dave and Charles (who was badly hurt during his fight), and arguments among the Crucible (as normal).
Fun note of the night: towards the very end, realizing that everyone in the room had at least intelligence 4 (Lakuna, Charles, Chet, John, Dave?, even the absent Trish)... except Stacey, with intelligence 2. No wonder she always feels things are going over her head!
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 03:39 pm (UTC)That sucks.
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Date: 2004-11-05 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 11:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 12:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-05 03:19 pm (UTC)THANK YOU
Date: 2004-11-06 02:07 pm (UTC)now back to work
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Date: 2004-11-07 06:09 am (UTC)