Eldritch: NetherWar (Inactive)

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Expertise: Magic: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (10) + 20 = 30

Eldritch and Cesarina appear in the observatory chamber, the smell of the swamp falls away.

For the moment, things are peaceful...

Cesarina's shoulders slump as she relaxes her grip on the light, a faint glow suffusing her form as it returns to her.

"Thank you, Eldritch. Now, let's see about finding a more permanent solution for these ashes..." she says, rummaging around for that urn she dropped Dracula into at the start of the fight.

Is everyone else in the observatory chamber, too? Does it appear to be a few seconds after they left? It feels like we're in clean up mode now. Do you want Eldritch to attempt to attune the Nexus to the team locking it from the villains? Then, we can start using it when we invest points to activate it?

Yes, the people you left there are still there. Sandstone, Gracie, and Oz. Everything looks like when you left. We are sort of in clean up mode, but there are some lose ends to tie up. What do you do with Devil Ray? What do you do with Sandstone? How do you want to handle the Nexus (in character) ? What's up with Sallah? And probably most up in the air, Gracie still has the issue of the spear and Gwyn ap Nudd. Cesarina has Dracula in an urn, and Oz might need to process some things. Soon, I will post some things in discussion for wrapping up this adventure.

"Right. If we're sure Medea's gone... what did she want? She said she got what she came for. Can we figure out where she went? Can we find a cure for Sandstone? Oh god, what time is it?"

Gracie unsummons her armor and sword, and the awful battering marks on her face given her by Cypress start to fade. Then she remembers she is still in the Dragonborn costume and isn't wearing her watch, and fishes for her phone to check the time.

"Well, Medea said she needed this Alternity Atlas. Presumably, we will find out why she needed when her next plan is revealed to us. I might be able to determine where she went from here, but if she moved again I would lose her. It would take some time." Eldritch starts answering Gracie.

"As for Ms. Sandstone, I promised to work on a cure. That will take even more time. The only thing that has more priority than that at the moment is securing the Nexus. We probably need to give Devil Ray to the authorities. We need a secure location for Dracula's ashes. And, didn't you make a deal with an ancient fey about a spear?"

"Then, Sandstone and I can get to work. Good?" Eldritch looks to Sandstone for agreement.

The blurred darkness peels off of Oswald's sweaty, sickly skin. His eyes, wide and reddened, his breath short and pained.
"Woo... ok now. This hero thing... is it always this tiring? I feel like I got my butt handed to me."

Gracie has no signal inside the Nexus, but assuming time flows the same inside and out, she still has a few hours until dawn.

Flavorwise, Cesarina is a hero who represents (a much more benevolent and righteous than the IRL version of) the Church. Rules wise, she has Connections. The Nexus has could secure the Dracula urn if you wanted to go that direction, or the Church could guard it.

Without an immediate threat or goal to face, Sandstone seems antsy. Dirt and sand roll toward her, rocks roll away as though she is breathing geology. "Whatever, what say we go back to that museum type place and dig around. Surely something in there will help me. Looks like the Eldritch guy piled up quite the dragon's hoard."

"I hear you, Sandstone. But those items are there for a reason. They are much more likely to make your situation worse than better. After we secure the current situation and find Sallah, you and I can camp in the library. It's there that we are most likely to find the recipe or instruction manual of those magic items which could restore you. Then with a plan, we find the ingredients. There won't be a silver bullet. Agreed?" Eldritch replies to Sandstone and starts to find Sallah.

"Can I go back with you to the library? Want to see if I can find anything on this spear, before I go back to fight with Gwyn for it, and I think I have a few hours." She looks at Sandstone. "I'll help see what might help you, too. You mind telling us your story? That might help."

Once Cesarina has secured the ashes, she bustles around to eeveryone, laying on hands and soothing injuries.

"Apologies for the delay, but I couldn't help but be afraid something had happened to the ashes. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. We could be rid of Dracula for good!"

"Now...research it is then? I'm not as familiar with the Nexus' resources as Eldritch, but my own knowledge of the occult is naturally quite extensive, given my profession. I'm sure our heads together can turn up a satisfactory solution?" Cesarina says, seeming more pleased than you've ever seen her before.

"We defeated THE Dracula. We're like REAL legit superheroes. Wait til I tell the boys about this one, they're going to be SO stoked. I hope I can learn to use my... uh... gifts... as well as you all and make you proud."

Gracie smiles at Cesarina, glad to see the stern woman in lighter-than-usual spirits. "That's great. And on Halloween, no less."

She then nods at Oz. "Eldritch, Cesarina, can we ask Oz to join the team? We couldn't have done this without his help. And he's gonna need to work with magical folks to understand his gifts."

Grace is going to work for about an hour and then go out and meet Gwyn. Just bantering while I can. :)

Sandstone follows you into the corridors of the Nexus as you move back toward the library. "Not sure what details are important. I was in the sandbox, right, northern Iraq, my team working with some Kurds to take out an ISIS camp. We are in the back of pickup, covered by a tarp, and something hits the truck, sends it flying. I black out. When I wake up, sand is pounding against my face, my dome of obedience has gone missing. It's a hell of a sandstorm. So I'm wandering around, can't see anything, nothing on the radio, no sign of my team. I find a wall, stone, like, and I figure this is some ruin and maybe I can find some cover. There are pillars, bigger than you can wrap your arms around, and the wall has some sort of writing, that Mesopotamian stuff, just lots of lines put together, not pictures like in Egypt. Anyway, I feel my way along the wall, and there is something warm there. A stone or something, looks like of like amber, but darker, not that honey color, more like maple syrup. And it is glittering, even though everything is dark in the sandstorm. Anyway, I figure if I live, at least the stone is worth something, so I pry it out of the wall and I'm holding it in my hand, and then I black out again. When I 'wake up', if that's what you want to call it...I mean, I can feel myself, and I'm myself, but I'm sort of...everywhere. Spread out, like. And I started to put myself back together. I'm not sure how long that took. And the rest is history. I'm here, I can build a body out of whatever dirt and stone is around."

When you make it to the library, you find that Sallah is there, tidying. "It seems that, for the moment, you have driven out the various invaders of the Nexus, assuming that Ms. Flint has agreed to behave herself, which I assume from the fact that she is accompanying you. Now that the Nexus is no longer sequestered, it will need someone, or someones, to serve as its keepers. It would seem that you lot are well suited to master the Nexus."

Studying the Atlas and interacting with the Nexus, you can determine how to take control of the Nexus if you wish. Adrian Eldrich left the Nexus prepared for someone to succeed him, and you fit the bill. Rules wise, you will be getting 4 power points, and the Nexus is a 20 EP headquarters, so each of you will have to put one of those power points toward the headquarters. When Eoten rejoins us, if he joins in you will have 5 more EP to spend on the Nexus, or someone could take Sallah as a sidekick if you wanted to keep him around as more than a caretaker of the Nexus. The Nexus has the personnel trait, so you could keep Sallah in that capacity.

"Hi, Sallah! How are you doing? I'm so happy that we were able to secure the Nexus. I believe with the Alternity Atlas that I'll be able to key the Nexus to us. Is the ritual room the best place here to do that, Sallah?" Eldritch's mood visibly improves at the sight of Sallah.

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After creating a plan for the Nexus, Eldritch starts researching Sandstone's issue. After awhile, Eldritch declares, "Aha! Ms. Flint! Here it is. Apparently, you have been transformed by the power of some sort of ancient god. Vhoka fought a battle and, even though he won, shed 5 drops of blood that became Bloodstones. The power of one of these Bloodstones could be used to restore a flesh and blood form to you. The Nexus happens to have two of these Bloodstones of Vhoka."

"Are you sure you don't want the powers of a god, Ms. Flint?"

Eldritch can hit the DC 30 without rolling, but i don't want to monopolize the research stuff. So, someone else can find the spear stuff, or Eldritch if all else fails. Cheers

"I want to touch a man again. Taste a burger. Burn the roof of my mouth on a cup of coffee."

I don't want to get too disconnected from Gracie's plot of the spear, in case we need to act together.

"Well alright then. Let's go find one of those Bloodstones of Vhoka. But, you have to promise me to wait until after we perform the ritual to secure this Nexus. We don't want to encourage an ancient god to take back the powers that you are giving up and wreck this dimension. Alright?" Eldritch replies seriously.

Sorry, busy couple of days and forgot to post

British Mythlore: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30

Much as I'm pleased at a success, where were YOU in the various combat scenes I've been in around the boards?

"Interesting. I can't find anything about its story other than it's old... where it comes from, who made it... but the spear... 'Slake'... senses blood and draws blood from its victims. No wonder Dracula wanted it. It'd be good in the hands of a hunter too..." She looks up at Eldritch.

"Anyway, you know where these Bloodstones are? If not, you reckon I could use this to find them?"

"I'd imagine the Bloodstones would be in the treasure room. Maybe your spear can help find them."

"So, let's find a Bloodstone, so Ms. Flint that we're one step closer to her dream. Then, we head down to the ritual room. First, we secure the rooma and Nexus. Then, we perform the ritual for Ms. Flint. Then, we deal with your spear fey. Sound like a plan?"

From a rules perspective, among other possibilities, Dracula has a limitation on his blood drain that the victim be grappled or willing. Slake would remove that limitation. From a meta perspective, the origin of the Slake could be a hook if you are intrigued.

Sorry for the delay, been a busy week. Looks like everything was handled though.

Cesarina aids in the research, but doesn't have much specific to add to Eldritch's wealth of expertise, save to point out a few details he may have missed.

Eldritch follows Gracie who uses Slake to locate one of the bloodstones. Since Gracie's player is out a bit, just posting to push the story.

1. Use Slake to find one Bloodstone. 2. Perform ritual to key Nexus to Eldritch team including Oz. 3. Perform ritual to transform Sandstone

Agree with using slake to find stones

We need to deal with 3 scenes here:

1. Once you find the Bloodstone and study it, you could craft something to hold it and channel its power. Each Bloodstone appears to be a ruby the size of a walnut, so an amulet is probably the best bet. It would be too big for a ring. Maybe a chunky bracelet or bracer would work. In any case, if she were to wear it, such a device could allow Sandstone to return to a flesh and blood form. Whether you want to give such a powerful item to a mercenary who has frequently worked for villains, I will leave to you.

2. As for the Nexus, you will need a ritual to introduce each of you to the Nexus, which has a sort of rudimentary intelligence.

3.Gwyn and the Spear at Dawn

Using the magical spear point Slake, Gracie easily finds the Bloodstone NOT in the vault of the Nexus. After Eldritch opens its box and examines the loose red stone, he concludes, "Alright, we've got the Bloodstone. Now, I need time to prepare the ritual for the Bloodstone and the Nexus. This will take me quite a bit of time. Let's go find Sallah, so I can get some components for the ritual and food. And, you guys can get comfortable to wait."

Eldritch is out of hero points for the ritual not to take time. Now would be a good time for Gracie to deal with Slake. Maybe Cesaria and Oz can make Sandstone an ally.

Performing the ritual for the Bloodstone and the ritual for the Nexus aren't quite the same as using the Ritualist feat, but those rules are a decent approximation for how long such things should take. The ritualist feat lets you create a device/ritual that gives you a power for a single scene. Since these will be permanent changes that characters will pay for with power points, it isn't exactly the same thing.

Using the rules as a guide, you are basically giving Sandstone a 1 point addition to her Alternate Form array, or maybe even just a 1 point feature. It doesn't cost much to be able to turn into a regular person.

For attuning the Nexus, you are talking 4 power points, so 16 hours to research and 40 minutes conducting the actual ritual. That feels about right to me. There is no time crunch at all. Sallah can be part of that research, as he knows the Nexus very well and has been trapped in it for 7 years.

Sallah responds to Max's greeting (which I missed above) in the trophy room. "Indeed, the ritual room should serve well for whatever spells you wish to craft. I have made little use of it while I was sequestered. I had little need of it, and our connections to other realms were cut off, so I could not use it to gather information. You are welcome to read here or in the library. I can bring all of you some refreshments. As I have been the only inhabitant of the Nexus for several years, I fear that most of the food will be to my liking, but perhaps now that we have rejoined the larger world I could find other items that you would prefer."

"Thank you Sallah. Thank you very much for the hospitality. It will take me a whole day to prepare for this transfer ritual for the Nexus. Everyone can stay here or come back tomorrow. Ms. Flint, I should be able to prepare for your ritual in parallel, so we can do your ritual right afterward. Sounds like plan? Maybe some of you can still enjoy Halloween."

aw damn, I lost my post

"So uh... Sandstone.." Oswald says sheepishly. "My name is Oswald.. but everyone calls me Oz. Unless you're my parents, but even then only when they're mad at me, or disappointed. I don't have a cool superhero name yet. I JUST became a superhero, like just now. You were there. It was weird. Did I do alright? I haven't really thought about a name for myself yet." He finally catches his breath when he realizes the stares he's getting. "I'm sorry about what's happened to you. I know we can't give you that time back, but I know Eldritch is going to turn you back to flesh and blood. I just met him, but he seems like a high enough level wizard to have 'Stone to Flesh' prepared today. I'm doing that thing I do when I get nervous again. I just keep talking and making awkward jokes. I guess it's because I'm kind of intimidated. Not because you're scary or anything, but because everyone here has so much experience with their abilities, and I can barely remember what happened when the shadows wrapped me up."

"Oswald, if I'm going to have hands again, I guess you can call me Alex. If I'm honest, you were a bit of a mess, but with some practice, you will get the hang of it. When I first became...this...I couldn't even keep myself from falling through grates in the street or blowing away in a stiff wind."

Oswald takes a second, mulling over whether she's an Alexandra, Alexandria, or just an Alex. "Pleasure to meet you Alex. I might not know what I'm doing, but I know 100% you're gonna have hands and then some! oh uh wait...that didn't sound right... I meant you'll have your whole body back." He gives pause as his stomach lets out a minor rumble. "What's your favorite thing to eat, Alex? When we get you back to normal, we'll have to hit the town hard and celebrate our victories or whatever heroes do."

"I am not sure if we can truly celebrate just yet. The night is still young, and full of terrors as they say. Medea and Dracula are but two of the many monsters which can come out on this cursed night, even if they are some of the greatest monsters on the world."

She pauses, then relents.

"But perhaps, come morning, we can have a nice brunch?"

Gracie is unusually quiet, thinking on what still is ahead of her. "Cheers to that," she says to the direction of the conversation, "If my fight with Gwyn goes as I hope."

Grace will assist with whatever she can until about 4 a.m., and then she goes out to meet Gwyn. If anyone asks her to remind them what she's doing she will re-explain that Gwyn wanted the spear, and in exchange for keeping him out of the Nexus until dawn, she said she would find it for him and then she would meet him and he could try to take it from her by combat. She plans to go alone but won't stop anyone from joining her if they come with her, but notes it has to be a single combat between her and Gwyn. I will be offline for much of this weekend so I am prepared to engage in this storyline early next week; assume in the meantime Grace is just working in the background.

Sandstone raises two mallet sized fists toward her head. "It's funny, ya know. You'd think you would miss the big stuff, right? Filet Minion or lobster tail or something. But nope. What I miss is a greasy burger, a margarita, drive thru fried chicken. It's all of the crap, the simple stuff. A twinkie. A Dorito. Hell, I'm trying to put my hands on my head right now as if I was emotional, but when my "hand" touches my "forehead," I can't even feel the difference!"

"Brunch. My dad was never much interested in brunch, but I could get hyped for it."

Gracie, we will pick up Gwyn when you are ready. No rush.

"So Alex, what type of work to do you take where you can use your powers? Do you think it will change if we can get you back your human form?" Eldritch asks while closing one tome and pulling another one closer to read with delicate Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.

"BRUNCH!" Oswald jumps with excitement. "I know this kickass brunch spot Parkside with bottomless mimosas and the best bloody mary bar I've ever seen! They've got fried pork belly and this ghost pepper mix that will bring happy tears to your eyes, I SWEAR IT. I can't wait to take you there, Alex. It overlooks the park and when the sun hits the water it's so beautiful."

Oswald's excitement fizzles at the mention of work. "Hah, uh.. work. Don't remind me."

"Work where I can make good use of my talents is mostly, ya know, hurting people and breaking stuff. Fought some angels is Iraq, helped Medea recover some dragon's teeth from Georgia. Fought some guy named Coldiid in Ethiopia while I was working for some pirates there. I was pretty good at hurting people even before, about the only thing I was every good at."

"Hurting people?" Eldritch arches his right eyebrow at that phrasing.

"I suppose we hurt people, too. But our first purpose is to protect people. So we hurt a few people to protect the many."

[b]"Yes, we can have the conversation of police corruption or government problems, because we operate as Eldritch together outside those jurisdictions too. But, I hope you get where I'm going without me being on high horse or soapbox."

"Guess I never had much of a moral compass. More of a moral GPS, like. You know, someone programs the destination, and I follow the directions. It's funny, I spent most of my time growing up hungry, enlisted for two reasons, to get away from home and to get three squares a day. But I'd pay dearly now to be hungry. This hero business, how's the pay?"

"Excellently; so long as you're content with the greatest payment of all: joy in a job well done and the gratitude of others." Cesarina says, half-sarcastically.

"Pays enough. You won't be Bill Gates. But, there are several teams, agencies, and foundations that would love to sponsor you."

Gracie straightens. "Just a reminder, I made an agreement with Sandstone. We'd research her a cure for not siding with Medea. We need to make good on that even if you don't agree with her being a mercenary." She frowns. "Not everyone finds an easy way to survive. If things like, oh, your church, Cesarina, were as charitable as it claims, and more money could go to charity rather than sex abuse lawsuits, there might be fewer feeling they have to take dangerous work just to fill their belly--and more compassion to go around for the hungry to begin with."

She turns to Sandstone. "I can't promise anything, especially as I don't know what your record is, but I've a friend who works with UNISON. They might be interested in hiring someone like you. It'd be steady work with decent pay and bennies." (I'm assuming UNISON is sort of like UNIT in Doctor Who and has a military enforcement branch.)

"Excellently; so long as you're content with the greatest payment of all: joy in a job well done and the gratitude of others." Cesarina says, half-sarcastically.

You aren't sure how a person made out of sand who doesn't need to breath snorts, but somehow she does.

She turns to Sandstone. "I can't promise anything, especially as I don't know what your record is, but I've a friend who works with UNISON. They might be interested in hiring someone like you. It'd be steady work with decent pay and bennies." (I'm assuming UNISON is sort of like UNIT in Doctor Who and has a military enforcement branch.)

UNISON, The United Nations International Superhuman Oversight Network—UNISON—is the world’s front line against supervillains and similar global threats. In the United States, AEGIS may get all of the press, but in other parts of the world, it’s UNISON that takes the risks, putting their lives on the line against supervillains, often without well stocked arsenals and bases (or even a good medic) at their disposal.

Exceptionals)UNIQUE (United Nations International Quorum of Unaligned Exceptionals) is UNISON’s superhuman branch. This is a Special Forces regiment of superhumans and support staff at UNISON’s disposal. These brave men and women specialize in handling crises in the Third World, but they sometimes perform bodyguard duty at important UN functions and conferences.

Most of the crimes (she would call them actions) that Sandstone has been involved in would have been covered by UNISON's charter. They are essentially akin to UN Peacekeepers, though UNIQUE in particular mostly deals with superhuman incursions from one nation to another. She doesn't have too much of a public profile, though UNISON would be aware of her, certainly.

"UNISON, huh. Sounds like rough work in the desert or the jungle. If that is a legit calling, I'll give it a shot."

"I'll see what I can do. Now, maybe I better not keep Gwyn waiting any longer." She hefts the spear, takes a step, and then pauses. "How the heck do I get out of here?"

"A strong enough exertion of will should see you to the door. Just focus on your desire to leave."

Eldritch looks up from his research finding that he had smiled at Alex's answer.

"Gracie, you need any support with Gwyn?"