Deus Session 9-17-05
Attending Players: Mike, Nate, Eva, and John Presiding GM: Curtis
Major NPCs: Bryant, Joseph, the hand creature, the new guy, Fjell, Myr, spear bearing woman (possibly Fjell)
Fauna: a bear-rat, some poisonous monkeys, hornless goats, a giant mountain cat
(Curtis and Nate go off to talk for a few minutes.)
The hand creature is still growing at an alarming rate. We vacate the cargo bay. The doctor and I drag the unnamed man out of the bay when we leave.
Bryant is reluctant to vent the creature into space but DEE convinces him that we should at least lock it in the cargo bay away from us. DEE tells us we have 15 minutes until the thing will not fit out of the bay door and an hour before it will out grow to fill the whole bay. Bryant is somewhat agitated. He did not expect anything this unpleasant and he is having a hard time dealing with it. He wants to take the creature back to the earth but realizes it will be difficult in its current state.
DEE says it will be much harder to calculate the return trip with the thing constantly growing. Bryant says he might be able to stop it from growing, but first off he has some information for all of us. He has a slight warped sense of priority.
Bryant tells us that he works for the Caretaker. He also says that it is very concerned about the recent events in the Laland system. I am guessing it has something to do with the echos, but I am not sure what he means. He seems to think I know more than I do, and he warns the others not to trust me. Gee, thanks so much...
He says the Caretaker told him to come get "a hand" here. Bryant obviously did not demand enough information from his employer before he came out here and now we are all going to suffer for it.
(DEE tries lowering the oxygen and heat in the bay to slow the creature's growth.)
Bryant says he brought us together. He was hoping something good would come of it. He apologizes to me and says he senses that I do not know what is going on or have any malevolent intent. I mention that I do not read the news so I am not sure what has happened in the Laland system. He tells us that Persepie disappeared shortly after the "Wandering Planet" left. Damn it! This is many kinds of not good.
People go on talking about this and the Caretaker's plans. Bryant seems to think that if he and Max work together they can stop the hand creature from growing and "seal it". But the seal will not last forever. Bryant hands something to Max and tells him he is not his enemy but they should work together for now and talk later. It looks like it was a cube of salt? Max angrily throws it at the wall, breaking it. Even though he is upset [not sure why] he seems willing to help Bryant deal with the hand. Max obviously has some sort of major baggage that is messing with his emotions.
DEE tells us that he has been lowering the temperature to slow the creature's growth. At least he is not a rude and _dumb_ machine. The doctor asks DEE if we can watch what is going on in the bay. DEE offers to show the inside of the bay on a monitor and lets Matt and the doctor "jack in". I go to the monitor room with DEE and Matt to see what Max and Bryant are going to do.
The thing is growing all sorts of tentacles and engulfing parts of the cargo. It is looking significantly unpleasant. As we watch, Max and Bryant enter the bay. Bryant begins to shift into a silver blob thing. Max shifts into a silvery, red amorphous blob as well and they begin to attack the creature by coating it with the silvery substance. The creature bellows and begins to shrink. Eventually it becomes very small and the silver blob breaks into two blobs and a hand. The blobs reform into Max and Bryant. I am not sure if they used some sort of magic that I have never seen before or some form of nasty strange tech, or possibly both. Gah. At the very least they both look exhausted.
The unnamed man is with me watching the monitor and he seems to think the whole scene in the cargo bay is familiar. He is still not remembering anything useful though.
Max and Bryant open up the trunk that Bryant brought on board earlier. It looks like its full of gold. What did Bryant think the was going to need that much gold for? They both reach into the box and hold their hands in the gold. They begin to look less exhausted and the level of gold in the box begins to go down. I guess they need it to fuel their weird silvery powers. Eventually they move away from the box and Bryant picks up the hand. He coats it in the silvery substance. I guess this is what he meant by sealing it.
Since things seem to be ok for now, the doctor and I start talking to the unnamed man trying to get him to remember anything. He says that someone gave him that hand. He says the guy who gave it too him had a short beard and wore a cloak all the time. The doctor asks if he was human, the man says yes.
The man asks Max what he is. Max says he is a "Royal". This seems to disturb the man somewhat. The man remembers something about StratCo, but he is not sure what StratCo is. He seems to think that StratCo is quite dishonest and manipulating, but can not remember why. DEE suggests that the man's clothing appears to be from the early 21st century before electronic clothing came into fashion. The man seems curious about electronic clothing and DEE starts explaining the history of fashion for the last 300 years... vaguely interesting.
The doctor gets the hand from Bryant and begins looking at it. It is covered in metal of some sort now. DEE says they can put it in his weapons storage locker, which does not have an airlock. When I ask, Bryant says they can subdue it again, but they is not going to have enough "source material" for forever. I suggest that we could reattach it to the man again, but people seem to be hesitant to try that, especially the man.
DEE says it will take about 22 hours until we can return to earth. Bryant thinks the seal will hold for this long. Hopefully it will be ok.
("I gain a level, I optimize my code." - Griffin)
(Curtis tells us about the new rules for how much magic you can use in lower gravity. There is a complicated formula relating the gravity of the world to the maximum number of sphere levels it is possible to use there. For example, on the moon we could not use more than 15 sphere's of effects, ever. We can look up this info on the wiki later if we want more details.)
Bryant tells the doctor that the Caretaker wants him to resume his research and that the Caretaker told him that he needed to take the doctor on this mission. Meanwhile DEE has wandered off with the hand, I presume to put it in the weapons locker.
Bryant starts asking me about what happened at Persipie. I give him a rough idea of what I know about the wandering planet and the creature that devours worlds. Sadly I do not have a lot of details that are going to be helpful in stopping it. I have implied I learned about all of this remotely with magic. No lies yet. Perhaps more truth later when I can trust Bryant and the others more completely.
Bryant says that the Caretaker does have a plan to stop it. I hope so... If I manage to survive all this perhaps there will be new hope for all of us.
I ask what Bryant's next step is. He says he wants to take the hand to the Caretaker. Bryant and the doctor get on the topic of the doctor resuming his research again. Max and I ask what the doctor was studying. The doctor says it was Artificial Intelligence. Judging from DEE that seems to be pretty advanced... not sure what would want to add. A sense of courtesy would be nice, but hardly vital.
The doctor starts talking to the man again. He really seems to want to know who the man is/was. When he mentions brothers or sisters the man seems angry for a second but does not seem to remember anything consciously. The doctor continues questioning the man. I ask about identifying features that might help to identify the man. Surely there are some sort of historical databases that could be used. I gather that Earth had pretty decent technology three hundred years ago, so there should be something. Bryant seems to think there are a bunch of ways to find out who the man is once we are back on Earth.
Matt seems to be curious about why each of us was brought along, but Bryant is being evasive and not revealing much.
"I don't have secrets." - Matt "Sure you do, everyone has secrets." - Bryant "The statute of limitations will cover what I did in fourth grade." - Matt
The doctor is still harassing the man about his brother. The man remembers something about coming into money, having it taken, and the cloaked man helping him. The man remembers his name is Joseph. He also says that his brother was behind his misfortune, that he took even Joseph's name. He gets quiet and sullen and won't answer further questions.
Bryant asks DEE if it would be alright if the doctor studies his logic to further the doctor's research. DEE seems to be alright with this and grants the doctor access to his logic but not his knowledge.
"I grant you access. It's read only by the way. Don't try to rewrite my brain." - DEE
I'm getting a bit hungry. I retrieve stuff from the freezer and go have lunch in the slightly crumpled cargo bay.
(Bryant and Matt go off to talk in private. DEE listens in and Max tries to sneak along to listen. Nate considers burrowing into the walls, but decides that going liquid form into the air vents may work well.)
("There will be nanite on nanite action, it's hot." - John)
(Curtis, John, Griffin, and Nate go off to talk in the other room.)
(Matt is filled with angst by the discovery that he is some sort of AI thing and he retires to his room.)
(The doctor continues studying DEE's brain. He tries to pry further into the areas DEE has made off limits, but fails. DEE is mildly annoyed and warns him to stop prying or he will remove all access.)
("'Where'd the royal go?' 'Oh, he took a walk...'" - John suggesting DEE would throw the doctor out of an airlock if he did not stop prying)
Max and Bryant talk about the group he works for in more detail. It sounds very large and unpleasant.
"The Illuminati compose only a portion of us." - Curtis
Bryant seems to be splitting his loyalty between the Caretaker and an organization that is self interestedly helping to protect the human race. I hope we do not get to see those loyalties challenged, because I am guessing it might get messy. Apparently "Harry Bryant" as an identity was created about 6 years ago. Bryant seems more able to deceive than I had thought.
Eventually DEE tells us we are ready to jump but he has a slightly larger margin for error than he would like. When we jump something goes wrong. Instead of snapping to the other side, I fall into blackness and my old nightmares. When I wake I am on a beach with blue water but green sky. The others are here but they're all passed out. There are two suns in the sky. Something has gone wildly wrong.
When I'm checking to see if the others are alive the doctor wakes up. Everyone seem toÊ be alive and there is one other man who I don't recognize. Max is not breathing, but I gather he didn't need to before. The hand is not here. Bryant is not here either and there is no sign of DEE.
The man I do not recognize is bald and thin. His head is covered in scars. He seems to be having some sort of nightmare, and is not yet awake. I wander what DEE did to bring him here. I hope he is not some strange form of the hand.
At the very least, perhaps the devourer of worlds won't be able to find us here. Not that I relish the idea of living on a world with just these people for the rest of my life.
Everyone except for the new guy wakes up. They all seem ok. Matt wonders off to see the inside of the forest... I do not think this is a good plan, but oh well. The doctor is trying to wake the new guy but is not having any luck.
(Matt wanders around in the jungle. He may be being stalked. He eventually turns back when the foliage gets too thick.)
"Is the ocean salty?" - Mike "Yes." - Curtis "And filled with neurotoxins. Thump." - John
Right after that Matt comes back and I fly off to do some reconnaissance.
"Gold filled dinosaurs would be quite delicious." - Nate
It looks like the jungle is about 10 miles across and beyond that there is some sort of wooded green/black terrain for a few miles and then a range of mountains curves around enclosing this area to both shores of the sea, though not completely.
(Back with the party, Matt handcuffs the new guy. Max and the doctor notice that there is no mystic energy on this world. Matt starts building a sandcastles.)
("You know what the sand is saying to me? Its saying sandcastle. I start making a sandcastle." - John "Does the sand say a lot of things to you?" - Mike ... "Is it a good one?" - Mike "Do you have craft sandcastles? I don't think so!" - Curtis to John)
I come back and tell everyone the rough lay of the land. Matt says that there are some critters in the jungle, so we should be able to catch food. We try to decide where to go and what to do. We try to agree on which way is East based on how the two suns are moving in the sky.
"What if one gets smaller and the other gets bigger?" - Rae (referring to the suns) "Then we have eaten the wrong plant." - Max
I break off two small saplings for a litter/stretcher for the unconscious guy. A vine tries to grab me as I am returning to the beach but I pull away. When I get back I warn everyone that the jungle may be sort of alive. Joseph offers his shirt to help build the stretcher. Between his and the one that Matt throws in there is a pretty decent stretcher-thing. Matt and Max carry the guy, who is still unconscious, on the stretcher.
After we've walked for some way something rustles in the jungle. As it emerges, it looks like some kind of bear-badger-rat. I think I'll call it a bear-rat. It seems to think we look like food and it advances on us, stands and roars angrily. Max lights him self on fire with his lighter. He seems to be ok other than being on fire. He moves towards the bear-rat trying to drive it back with the fire. I take off, since the best way to meet this is probably in the air. Max seems to be frightening it a bit, it backs off a step. Max yells and charges it. (We all roll initiative.)
The bear-rat takes a swing at Max with its razor sharp claws. The doctor shoots the bear-rat with his laser gun trying to deter it from attacking Max. The bear still hits Max with a nasty slash but its paw starts on fire. I try to slash its head, but it is thrashing around too much. Max punches it in the nose and it seems very unhappy, but as Max tries to back away from it it slashes him again and he falls to the ground bleeding. The doctor shoots the bear again and it turns to flee. Matt shoots it in the back and it collapses, burning.
"Shoot it! It's food!" - John "And its self cooking right now." - Nate
The doctor tries to help Max who appears to be bleeding to death. He manages to put out the fire and stop the bleeding with Max's shirt. Max seems to be out of immediate danger.
I land and look at the bear-rat, it is much too burnt to be useful. There is a rumbling in the distance. Max is put on the stretcher with the guy since both are unconscious now. I take an end of the stretcher, not a great arrangement but I will deal with it. We head off, quickly. After a few minutes it begins to rain, heavily. Lightening strikes the edge of the beach behind us, not so good. We run for the edge of the trees. We seem fairly safe under the edge of the canopy. The lightening strikes the beach again but it doesn't seem to be striking the trees at all. Strange. After about 20 minutes, the rain dies down.
As the rain ends I notice a bunch of strange eyes watching us from the darkness of the deeper jungle. They look individually small, but there are many of them and there is something wrong with them. I suggest that we back onto the beach. Some of them follow us, they are small and probably tree dwelling. They walk on all fours and have strangely cloudy eyes and long prehensile tails. I get the feeling that they are curious but also not friendly. As we move along they follow us along the edge of the jungle.
The doctor seems to be interested in them. I'm nervous about this, but I can't really stop him. He approaches one of the creatures and greets it. It hops towards him a bit. He holds out his hand in a non-threatening manner. It bites his hand and then runs back to its companions and they all chitter. The doctor seems to think he might have been poisoned, but he's not falling over right now. He looks dumb sucking on his hand. The creatures seem to lose interest in us and disappear into the jungle. Somewhat sinister.
We continue on. (The doctor starts hallucinating voices.)
("The party is defeated by a giant rat and some monkeys." - Griffin)
("We've only been an hour on this planet and we have one person unconscious and one hearing voices. This does not bode well." - John)
The doctor starts trying to convince us to go into the jungle. I scout that way, but all I'm seeing is lots of jungles and the darker woods further off leading to the mountains, nothing special. I land and tell folks this. The doctor tells us that a voice in his head alluding to someone named Fjell will help us if we go that way.
("Can I Sense Motive on the voice in my head?" - Mike)
The voice he describes seems too coherent to just be a hallucination. I agree that we can take a chance and go into the jungle, but I am not comfortable with this. The doctor says that the voice promises we will not be harmed if we do not harm any living things in the jungle. If its real it must have been angry about the saplings before.
We slog along for about 4 hours. It is difficult to carry the litter and keep out of the way of vines and such. Around this time we reach the edge of the jungle. The land beyond becomes much more swampy. This does not seem quite natural but I can not put my finger on exactly why.
(The voice tells the doctor that Myr will lead him now.)
The doctor says that he is being lead and we should follow his steps through the swamp. The doctor does seem to know where the safe patches of ground are. It is still slow going but at least no one drowns. A few times I think I spot large creatures lurking in the murky water but they do not approach or attack us.
(The doctor hears a darker voice directing him through the swamp.)
After another 5 hours or so we reach the edge of the mountains. There is a path up into the mountains. I think it might be a game trail used by some sort of larger animal. We follow the trail for about 20 minutes.
There are some decent sized plant eating creatures around here but they are not overly aggressive. A group of them are attacked by some sort of giant cat but it lets us go past with a growled warning as it feeds on the one it caught.
We haven't reached the top of the tree line yet. As we head around a bend in the trail the doctor stops. He is looking up into the trees. A human looking woman with milky white eyes leaps down from the trees in front of us. She carries a spear and a sling and is clothed in hides.
End of Session