Session started at 2:20 pm on 1/21/06
Attending players: Nate, Eva, John, James, Mike
Presiding GM: Curtis
Major NPC's: Adana Cassenti, Harry Bryant, Ivan, Merlin Huntington, Dana
Back at Matt's apartment, we are trying to figure out what to do with the crown. I think we should try to figure out what it is before we decide. I suggest that we should get a hold of the doctor to let him know we are not dead. Matt sends something off to him and then orders pizza. I guess that is a comfort thing for him.
(Vadril has returned to his home to find a priority email waiting for him. It is from the Royal ministry asking him to come and visit them. When he arrives he is told that he is to speak to the Caretaker, immediately... I stopped paying attention for a while... While "speaking" with the Caretaker Vadril sees a vision of William Moss awakening Cane, maybe? Then he sees a group of people who are holding Cane's body in custody until the rite can be performed. There is a short woman, a slimy man in a business suit, a mid teens boy with a walking stick, a seven foot monster with a mismatched patchwork of claws and scales, the void of deep space wearing the skin of a bland looking man, and the ship droid who flew us out to the astroid. Somehow they are keeping Cane safe, but it will be weeks before the ritual can be performed. The Caretaker is building a structure to augment Cane somehow. It will infuse him with enough power so that he can be merged with Luna. This will allow the Caretaker to drive the Great Machine, which it wants Vadril to program. The Great Machine is currently being built by the other Royals, but with out programming it will never work. The Caretaker is relying on the Royals to find the inspiration needed to complete the machine, as it is far from complete. Vadril tells the Caretaker that we are currently questing for the crown and asks if the Caretaker can tell him a bit about it. The Caretaker gives him visions of the seven artifacts, of which the crown is one, that were used to give birth to the Caretaker over 300 years ago. The Longinus's Spear (Excalibur, Mjollnir, etc.), Nebuchadnezzar's Crown (Crown of Swords, etc.), Babylon's Horn (flute, etc.), Ambrosia (forbidden fruit, Snow White's poison apple, etc.), Pandora's Box (Ark of the Covenant, the Obelisk, etc.), Shroud of Turin, and Odin's Eye (Cain's Hand, Medusa's Head, etc.) were all used. The doctor asks about what the individual artifacts do, but the Caretaker is not entirely sure. Lately some of the artifacts have awakened from dormancy and are confusing the Caretaker's predictions and prophecies. "The crown will be required for the rite." The Caretaker does not think that the other artifacts will be needed, but it cautions Vadril that the crown is unpredictable and dangerous.)
While we are discussing the crown and the anti-matter warhead we have, Vadril appears. Matt says that he has invited his mom over. So at least we can give her the warhead. Suddenly Matt's mother and Adana Cassenti appear.
Matt offers them the warhead. Cassenti is, reasonably, annoyed that we brought it back here. There is a knock at the door. Matt is agitated about it. I bet it is Bryant. Yup...
Bryant says that he has come for the crown. Cassenti claims that the Caretaker's plan is ludicrous and the Caretaker is behaving insanely lately. Bryant says that we could talk to the Caretaker to understand its plans but Cassenti thinks it would crush our fragile minds into submission. I try to get some useful information out of them but eventually they devolve into a shouting match.
I can only stand that for a minute or two, before I yell and shut them both up. Obviously they just do not want to find some sort of compromise here. Bleh. Merlin seems just as disgusted as I am with them. He chastises them for acting like children and advises us to ignore them both and make our own decisions. He has to return to the General now. I wish him luck and Matt offers some scant advice. His return will probably mean all out war, but there is little we can do to prevent it.
I try one last time to get Bryant and Cassenti to behave in a less stupid way. Surprisingly Cassenti agrees to try to work something out if we can get the Caretaker to talk to her. I agree to try. At the very worst it will refuse to speak with her and we are back to square one.
Max is giving Bryant a look that would kill him if it could. I think they might be speaking electronically.
Cassenti moves into the kitchen. She still seems very angry. Matt offers her something to drink. She declines. Matt asks Vadril if he can set up a meeting between Cassenti and the Caretaker.
(John and Curtis go and talk about something in the other room for a few minutes.)
(Curtis and Mike have a discussion about the succession of the Royals.)
(Nate and Curtis go off to have the Max/Bryant Mercury Souls discussion in private.)
Bryant is about to leave and I ask him when his plan needs the crown by. He says that the rite will be in a few weeks but the crown might be useful in capturing Cane now. Bryant is still agitated, but I think we can work this out eventually.
Cassenti says that she is willing to wait for the time and place of the meeting we will arrange and she asks that we surrender the bomb as a gesture of good faith. I am glad that she is taking it away.
The doctor asks for the crown. He is willing to promise that he will give it back, so I let him look at it. Z is interested when I take it out of my bag. When I hand it to the doctor it becomes a thin golden band with some archaic script on the inside. I make out something about "divine providence" and the "right to rule" before the doctor turns it to examine it more carefully.
After a bit I ask the doctor what he has figured out. He says that the crown has a strong aura of mind control. That seems to make sense with its suggested ability to control Cane.
Z is still very interested in the crown, although he seems afraid of it. When I ask him what it is, he says that it seems dangerous. He reaches to take it and I let him. It slowly shifts to be a burning wreath. When Max reaches to take it back from Z it melds into Max's hand and a new rune appears on his forehead. Crap.
Max is no longer allowed to hold anything. I ask Max if he can let go of it now. He is either unwilling to or can not. What a mess... Max says that he is trying to let go of it but can not get it out of his body. Argh.
Max is annoyed that the rune is showing on his head. I suggest a hat. He puts on a baseball cap, but the rune appears on the front of it almost as soon as he puts it on.
(The rune is the winged staff with snakes circling it. http://www.yourdictionary.com/images/ahd/jpg/A4caduce.jpg)
I manage to send an email to Noun and Pronoun with Matt's help. Hopefully they will know what is going on with Cane.
"Hi. I do not know if you have met me yet. But I met you on the morning of June 26. You mentioned that your friends were on Mars trying to stop Cane from making a giant mess of everything. We now have an artifact that might help if they are in dire straits. Did you manage to get back to Mars? Do you and they need help? Also Z is still very interested in the meaning of the universe information that you gave him. You might want to talk to him about it when you get a chance and see how much he understands. Please write back soon. Thanks, Rae"
Matt and the doctor are working on some sort of program. I read for a while and then steal some food from Matt's freezer while the others are eating pizza.
About an hour later I get the reply email from Noun and/or Pronoun.
"Oh, don't worry, we remember you. Things here seem to be more or less wrapped up. Kain is going back to the Caretaker, and we're in charge of William Moss, who seems to be dying. Other than that, things are fine. I don't think we'll need your artifact, but thanks for offering, it's good to know where in the universe this stuff is. We'll try to get through to Z." A smaller message is attached for Z ("I hear you've made some strides in understanding the nature of the universe. I'd be interested in hearing what you think."), I send it on to him.
I tell the others what the email said. The doctor makes a weird comment. He definitely knows more than he is saying. I confront him but he unconvincingly plays dumb. People are stupid. Why do they have to be secretive and stupid? Damn it.
(Meanwhile Vadril is emailing the other Royals about what happened to the crown. They tell him to watch Max. On the up side, they are willing to let Adana speak to the Caretaker, if it is willing. He runs email messenger.)
Max says that he is going to go visit his father in Israel, which is on Earth. He says I should let him know if Matt gets back.
(Max visits his father, who is in a coma. His father seems to be getting a bit better, but is still a mess. Max tries using the rune/crown to order his father to wake. He manages to channel the power of the crown without letting it subsume him. His father sits up but his face is still that of a man sunken deep into dreams. He turns to look at Max and there is a vague look of recognition in his eyes. He says "McKlean" and falls back down on the bed in a coma again.)
Boy is this ever boring. I tell the doctor I am going to wander the city for a while. I think I might look for Joseph, though I doubt I will find him.
(Meanwhile Matt is off at MagiTech. On the 75th floor he finds a machine laboratory and a woman who he does not recognize. She directs him to sit near an android. She scans him for about 15 minutes, comments on how entangled things are, and then goes back to scanning. Matt gets bored and plays chess with Ivan. Ivan crushes him. After a while Matt teaches Ivan how to play random first person shooters to alleviate the boredom. Matt is scanned for another hour and a half.)
(Meanwhile, Max is going to go do something bad...)
I am not having much luck finding Joseph's trail, but at least the city is interesting.
(The woman tells Matt that he and Ivan are too intertwined and can not be separated. If he had come to her sooner, it might have been possible. Matt and Ivan have a heated discussion about what they are going to do.)
(Vadril is still researching the crown and the other items. He gets some general historical background. He tries to direct his research towards MagiTech's internal records.)
("You remember the last time you tried to hack MagiTech?"
~ Nate
"This is different."
~ Mike
"Wait... how is this different?"
~ Nate
"That was from the inside. This is from the outside."
~ Mike)
...
"Greetings uninvited user. I believe this is the second time..."
~ Curtis, to Mike right after Mike rolls to hack MagiTech(After being expelled from MagiTech's system, and probably spywared, Vadril hacks some random guy's computer just to make in order to make himself feel better. He patches the web-server that he got in through so that it is safer. He continues trying to mediate between the Royals and Cassenti. He asks if they could perhaps meet on neutral ground or speak through Vadril himself. The Caretaker is willing to speak through Vadril. Cassenti is ok with that, so the meeting is set for tomorrow morning.)
(Meanwhile, Max has gone to visit Bryant. The secretary says that Bryant is busy, but Max requests that she contact him. She does and Bryant agrees to see him immediately. )
("There's a percentage chance I could take out all of Luna."
~ Nate)(Max enters Bryant's office and demands that Bryant "Submit" to him, using the crown. Max loses control of the crown, but the OL(?) takes the power and bends it against Bryant. Bryant is knocked back out the chair. As Max watches, Bryant dissolves into liquid slides under the desk and launches himself at Max. The two of them grapple, entangled in a battle of wills. Max unconsciously accuses Bryant of causing his father's coma. Max sees a vision of his father refusing to fund McKlean's work and McKlean injecting some chemical into him when he shakes his hand. Then he sees a vision of himself when he agreed to fund the research. McKlean/Bryant says that it was necessary and he will always do what is necessary. Max says that it is not anymore. Max can see that Bryant is the Caretaker's creature but he has gone further than the Caretaker would have ever asked him to. Max sees the presentation before the accident and knows now that McKlean unleashed the power of the runes fully of his own accord. With the full knowledge of what was done, the Max of the past confronts McKlean in the liquid hell of Mercury but he is not strong enough and McKlean fragments and suppresses his memories to use him. The Caretaker is not pleased with what McKlean has done, but it is too late and it accepts what his deeds without retribution. Max sees flashes of the other people that Bryant has killed because they were in the way. He sees McKlean killing Vito because he had learned too much and tried to stop McKlean. McKlean thinks of them as all the "problems that he has solved". In a final effort, Max tries to oppose McKlean and subsume him. McKlean is too strong and he rips the crown and the shard away from Max.)
(The next thing that Max can feel is a tentacle grabbing him and dragging him into a gaping maw. He tries to resist, but he is not strong enough and his soul is consumed.)
(When Matt returns he finds Vadril and Z. He asks where Max went. Vadril says that Max went to visit his father. Z says that he is not coming back. Z also says that something happened, but they can not get any more information out of him. Matt searches for information about Max's father and can only find a press release that says the man fell into a coma.)
After some hours, I get an email saying that Matt returned and port back to Matt's apartment. Matt seems agitated and asks me if I know where Max's father is. I guess Max is missing somehow... not a good sign. Vadril emails Max but there is no reply. Matt can not find the exact hospital that Max's father is in. Damn it! I never should have let that idiot get out of my sight with the crown!
(Matt gets an email telling him that we are all wanted criminals and the Luna government is going to take us in if we do not lay low.)
Matt is upset all of a sudden. He says that we need to lay low, now. When I ask what is going on he tells us that we are all wanted criminals now. We have been tagged as spies because of our involvement in the Wolf system and Luna is going to round us up and turn us over to the General. Ah, the joy.
End of Session