| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Nace stands by the fence, slightly disheartened that no one needed a boost.
Ahem.
His grip falters a bit and his climb requires a second try.
"I guess I'm a bit out of practice at the old breaking-and-entering," he muses to no one in particular.
Miren squints in Nace's direction. "Aren't you a cop?"
Miyuku chuckles softly to herself.
John leads the group towards a small group of stones clustered in a far corner of the cemetery. Fortunately the funeral home seems to be far away from it. There is little to see other than the crushed bluestone gravel of the path they navigate through the mostly-empty space.
The cemetery is very modern in feel. Thee are no old white marble or ancient shale stones like so many New England cemeteries sport. There also seem to be a lack of crypts or mausoleums. Nothing but granite headstones of a fairly regular size, laser etched with names and dates of a fairly recent vintage. The occasional flash of lightning illuminates the scene in stark relief.
John leads them to a grey granite marker. It sits apart from any other stones. Unlike the other stones, this one is disheveled: it’s granite surface spray painted and daubed with dried brownish liquids. The hard surface is chipped in places, and a collection of used hypodermic needles are arranged on its top edge. A collection of whiskey bottles, broken and unbroken, lie piled at its base.
John nods and begins unclamping his guitar case
“I don’t know what to expect, so just be wary”
"Seems like it draws the type who are likely looking for trouble, or trying to forget it." Miyuku says quietly, her eyes roaming the area for any sign of trouble, first normally, then peering into the supernatural spectrum.
"A moment before you begin, John, if you please." Miren moves to the approximate foot of the grave, leaving a barely-visible translucent child form in her wake.
The child begins to draw substance from... somewhere?... and absorb it into her form, which becomes more solid and visible as she does.
In the meantime, Miren closes her eyes, takes three calming and centering breaths, raises her palms to the air, and chants softly, anáá zhjíí, anáá zhjíí, anáá zhjíí.... After a few seconds, she opens her eyes and gazes around, focusing mostly on the grave before her.
Nace looks about warily, as if waiting for something to jump out from behind headstone, or perhaps drop from a tree limb.
Miren notes that the gravestone itself glows with significant light. There is also a small glow among the broken bottles.
Miyuku and Nace see a very odd sight when they open their Sight. Where the grave is a translucent doorway shows. A faint sound of jarring music can be heard eminating from wherever it leads
Nace's eyes widen as he beholds the doorway. He looks to Miyuku. "You can see that, right?" he says in a hoarse whisper.
Miren carefully kneels near the broken bottles and gently pokes through the glass to find whatever is glowing.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mirren funds a small round button, the kind that used to be fashionable to wear in bunches on coats. This one is emblazoned with the anarchy symbol
Unlike traditional fantasy games, characters in Bloodlines & Black Magic do not gain wealth solely by picking through the treasures of fallen enemies. Instead, player characters collect dosh.
Dosh is a common term for a complex idea and can be best described as ‘the physical manifestation of a thing.’ In Bloodlines & Black Magic, dosh is all of the little, sentimental things that have accrued power and special meaning through their use. From a sympathetic perspective, most dosh can also be used as a focus for one’s magic, especially when that dosh is attuned to one’s target.
This fact alone makes items of personal significance important in Bloodlines & Black Magic. An occultist armed with their target’s favorite coin, a little of their hair, or one of their memories (distilled and consumed) can easily gain the upper hand in a conflict, setting higher DCs for their spells, or worse – lengthening the effects of their spells significantly.
But dosh is also treasure, and player characters who defeat a lot of foes will eventually accumulate dosh of their own, which they can use to empower spells, craft into magical items, or can trade for items of similar value. All dosh is assigned a ‘gold piece’ value to help guide GMs who want to incorporate fantasy treasures or magical items into their Bloodlines & Black Magic campaigns.
Dosh is all of the magical components, good-luck keychains, blessed athames, and occult objects you’d expect from the occult world, but with a lot of little twists.
"Yeah..another doorway....hear the music?"
Miren takes the button and rises to her feet, then moves to where John is tuning and shows it to him, shining her light on it. "You knew him. Would this have some meaning to him in life?"
John looks at the pin
“I only knew him by reputation. He died when I was an infant. But perhaps that was left as a memento by a fan. Maybe he wore it. “
John extracts his guitar
“I can see the doorway. I can open a path to it, if you all are ready. We go into the Lions Den my friends”
Nace looks at the others and then nods at John. "Let's see where this leads."
John strums his guitar in a complex medley. The silver strings sing sweetly over the thunder grumblings
“Open a way
Back to places I knew
Open a way
In my heart
Bring me a passage
A way to get through
Join that which now stands apart “
The entryway they see glows brighter, and gains substance. John keeps playing and walks towards it, his form shivering a bit as he reaches the last few steps before it
Quietly drawing Kagekiri, Miyuku follows John through the doorway, stepping aside and pausing to scan the area for any immediate threats as soon as she passes through.
Doorway? Miren is momentarily puzzled, then shifts her vision to the beyond. She approaches the tombstone with the others, button in hand, and waves to the ghost child to accompany her.
The group walks towards where John has gone. They feel an odd waver, similar to what they felt at Santa’s Village. The entryway looks like a warehouse door, the door open and pinned to the side. The lighting is dim, but the music swells as they enter. Tattered concert posters paper the sides of the entrance hall. They walk forward, led by John.
Suddenly the arrive at a large space. It looks as if it was a factory at some point, but the machines are long gone. There is a crude stage erected at the far side of the space. A crowd of perhaps fifty people surround it. A bald man covered in crude tattoos and wearing an American flag loincloth screams out a cacophonous riot of sound accompanied by jarring instrumental accompaniment
“ When I die put that bottle in my hand
All these years on earth, it was my only friend
When you dig a hole and gonna bury me
Put that bottle of Jim Beam to rest beside me
All my life I've been living on the run
Hanging out in bars and hotel rooms annoying everyone
Living on the road running from coast to coast
Spending many nights in jail, like a gunman at his post
When I die, you don't have to cry
You don't have to feel no feelings inside
Never cared or had no feelings for no one”
Miren peeks through the doorway.
*I don't want to go in there.*
We'll all be there this time. You won't be alone. Unless you stay there. Then, you'll be alone in a cemetery.
The ghost child hurries after.
The industrial concert scene jars Miren, being completely alien to her experience. Feeling sheltered and naive, she quickly puts a hand over the child's eyes.
You're too young to see this!
*Am NOT.*
Despite herself, Miren's focus is drawn to the, uh, flag. "Long may she wave," she says softly.
Nace looks about with wide eyes. Large crowds always set him on edge, even when, as a uniformed officer, he had to patrol concerts and events not unlike this one. Well, not exactly like this one.
He tries to spot anything out of the ordinary, or any notable dangers. "So, once we're here, what next?" he asks of John, speaking loudly over the music.
John gestures at the crowd
“I’m not sure who or ... what they are. I’m going to start my binding. Just try to keep them from interrupting me”
"Will they react to having weapons drawn, or... gunfire?" Nace asks cautiously.
Miren gestures to her ghost child and they both move forward to stand between John and the crowd.
"Will they react to having weapons drawn, or... gunfire?" Nace asks cautiously.
John grimaces
“Depends on what they are, most like. They might just be illusions that GG is manifesting. They might be actual souls. But either way I have to try”
He begins a low sweet instrumental song. Considering the din coming from the stage, it isn’t really audible at first. But somehow the acoustic guitar begins to swell over the cacophonous song
There is a tragedy
Deep within this soul
A dark aura
Made of stones of sadness
And vast void of longing
On songs of sorrows feasting
The souls drown in grievance
On silver waters springs
This despair he sings;
" In oaken chest they keep my grief
Under the thousand tombstones
Lies a thousand dreams:"
Forever lonely to wander
These landscapes
Of the desperate dreams
There is nothing
That can fill the void of longing
Immortalized by grief
"In oaken chests
We keep his grief:
Binding his spirit onto earth"
The crowd slowly turns to face John. The party can see that whatever they are they seem to be dead people. They died of many causes. Several look beaten to death, a few strangled. Some have needles hanging out of forearm veins. They silently regard John, milky eyes trained on the bard.
The singer on stage halts mid song and screeches
“WHO THE FNCK ARE YOU!!??! FNCK OFF YOU FNCKING TWAAT!”
He begins to sing again, this time louder and more discordant
“Always gonna fight, even after death
No laws or limits will stop me, even lack of breath
Don't get in my way, unless you want to die
I'm evolving fast and hard and I accelerate on high
I listen to my urges, use who I got to use
Don't ever try and get too close, 'cause I'm a burning fuse
Everyone around me is someone I will play
Try to stop me fnucker, and you’re the one who’ll pay”
The crowd begins to get agitated, and a couple begin pushing each other. A mosh pit breaks out, as blue-skinned dead junkies slam into bruised violence victims
John keeps up his guitar
“Can you distract the crowd? I’m pretty sure he’s drawing power off them”
Sweat beads his face as he continues
“There's a peace far beyond all understanding
May it ever set your heart at ease
Dare anger come, please remember
That peace is a promise we keep
Peace is a promise we keep”.
Miren motions the spectral child next to her and kneels to look at the crowd from child-level.
What do you think they are? How can we distract them?
* Ummm...*
The crowd looks as if they are spirits, but not independently minded. Miren is reminded unpleasantly of the group of captive children the evil spider Santa had kept in thrall. These souls don’t seem like they’d be a threat, and might even try to escape if GG’s control was broken somehow
After a moment of study, Miren looks up at her companions, face filled with pain. "These are reals spirits. He's keeping them under control as well as drawing power - like the spider Santa. They can't even leave if they want. They're not at fault. He's using them. Like the children, they're probably weak. Look at them. They succumbed to the temptation of drugs and violence."
With an approving pat on the child's shoulder, Miren rises to her feet and displays the button to the others. "How do we cut his control without harming them? This button I found represents anarchy. Nace... do you have your badge? It's a symbol of lawful authority. Can you exert your authority, try to break this up like you would a party that's gotten too crazy?"
"I don't know," Nace says loudly over the music. "Only one way to find out. Be ready for anything."
Nace moves on the crowd to get them to disperse. "Hey folks, show's over. Time to move on." He attempts to herd the crowd away from the stage.
"Maybe flash your badge at them?" Miren suggests quietly, while she and the phantom child move up to support him, like a police line.
"C'mon, folks, move along home. Time to move on. This isn't where you belong. Move on. Move on. Time to go home," she chants in her best imitation of a police officer.
”Hmm. If you think...” Nace displays his badge as he continues to try to disperse the crowd.
The sight of Nace brandishing a badge has an electric effect on the crowd. Their faces become panicked, and they scatter. As they run, they fade out of existence. The singer screams
NOOOOOO!! YOU’RE RUINING MY GIG!!!!!!
He leaps off the stage and begins running at the party. As he does, his form morphs into a whirling cloud of darkness. Red flaming eyes and a fanged mouth appear as the apparition advances
John is taken aback by this, but he switches his song quickly
“As you walk through the shadow
Feel your weight on solid ground
As you tremble in the darkness
In the midst of silent sounds
As you search for your answer
And no answer has been found
May you stand, stand your ground”
[dice=Initiative]1d20+3
[dice=Knowledge (Planes)]1d20+8+1d6
Nace: 17
John 14
Miren 7
GG 6
Miyuku
The thing that had been GG swirls towards them, two skeletal arms emerging from the dark cloud and reaching towards them
Nace remembers reading a book about hauntings that talked of spirits trapped between worlds. It spoke of people who died of insanity who took their madness with them into the next realm, feeding on it and infecting the living with whispers of madness
"Alright guys, I'm the blade here, can't do much in the way of exorcisms and the like. I'll try to avoid hurting innocents..." she says looking over at Miren.
Drawing the sword she focuses as a shimmer of violet energy spreads from her hand to envelop the length of the blade. "I know you want to put him to rest, but if he isn't going to make it easy...this might get messy" she says to John with a shrug before slipping into a combat stance.
John looks at the whirling cloud of darkness
“This is a bit more than I expected. I think he is already past a simple binding. “
With quick reflexes, Nace attempts to seize an early advantage, stepping back from malevolent spirit while drawing Soul Shot and firing at the creature.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The ghost child screams, high and shrill, and ectoplasm sluices from her form to puddle on the ground, leaving her insubstantial and nearly translucent.
Miren chants 'tsisteeł' repeatedly in a monotone and touches Miyuku's shoulder, causing a vague shimmer to coat the warrior. She steps aside and draws her kukri.
Nace: 17 [MISS]
John 14 [Inspire]
Miren 7 [mage armor]
Miyuku 6
GG 6
As the GG creature advances the party begins to hear a babble of sound
Miyuku races forward bringing her blade in a swift upward slash at the raging spirit.