Session started at 2:48 pm on 4/15/06
Attending players: Paul, James, Eva, John, Nate, Andy R.
Presiding GM: Curtis
Major NPC's: pretty much every person we've ever met, a few we haven't, a whole mess of dragons, and the Void
(Curtis talks about how we are going to use destiny tokens and how we are handling the upcoming joint session.)
I have spent some time trying to calm Eddie down while the others are fussing about the ambrosia and Bryant. I managed to get him to calm down enough to be more coherent. I can not really blame him for being afraid. The fact that the doctor is going to rip his personality to parts and assemble something else is hardly reassuring. The doctor has a few ideas for how he can fix the damage he does to Eddie, so perhaps things will eventually turn out alright. Poor Eddie.
(Meanwhile Max is talking to Bryant and Ti-Lung is talking to the the Oversoul in the sun. Bryant apparently wants to merge with the Oversoul and try to make amends for what he has done. But first he wants to talk to the Caretaker and see where he stands after his previous blatantly bad actions.)
I have spent some time talking to Ti-Lung about the state of Glaurung. Since she left long before I was born, I am only able to tell him some of what has happened. I do tell him that Shen-Lung has not taken a new mate. I do not know if that means anything to him at this point, but I felt like I should at least say it.
I am spending quite a bit of time talking to Eddie, but I am still more idle than I would like. I have tried to keep up with the news and continue learning about human history.
On the twenty second we are all startled by the reports that over 500,000 people, many families, committed suicide across the human colonies. The reports suggest that they all died around midnight last night and the authorities have not been able to find any connections between the deaths. Nasty. I am sure there is something sinister that caused this, but I do not have a clue what yet.
I help Ti-Lung look into it via the net and he uncovers the fact that many of the people who died seem to have had some link to organized crime. No one seems to think that Bryant did it because of his super messed up state until recently. I have a suspicion that Vitto might be involved somehow. Ti-Lung emails him but only gets a rather vague reply.
(Max remembers Harry Bryant's true name, Pippurforth Pennington Pebbleson Jr. All the players are like "HOLY CRAP!" out of character.)
The doctor emails and says that tonight is the night that it is all going to be going down. He tells us to gather in the throne room of the Royals in six hours.
(Max goes to visit Huntington. Huntington is still coming to the ritual, and bringing the crown. He is somewhat nervous about the state of the crown because sulfur could have left some taint on it that he could not detect.)
As the time of the ritual draws nearer I start having fragmented flashes of the same old dream. I rub my eyes and try taking a short walk to clear my head, but they keep coming back. I am sure I am awake. What is going on? Is it the Beast getting closer?
I am still worried about the dream I had where the Beast became Glaurung. I have ignored my dreams for far too long. Maybe Ti-Lung will understand. I am not sure any of the others could take this seriously.
I eventually find him in the middle of the arboretum among many people. I ask him to come to somewhere less crowded so we can talk. He seems to be a bit off balance, but still mostly coherent. He is willing to talk with me.
We find a quiet hallway and I tell him about the dreams and the flashes. He asks if he can read my mind to see the flashes. That is fine with me. At least then he will believe me. He thinks for a minute and in a slightly more disjointed way he comments that it is the Void. I had assumed it a given that the Void and the Beast were one and the same.
Ti-Lung thinks for another minute and then he says in a somewhat confused voice that the Void is afraid of me. I can not imagine why, but he seems very sure. He is not sure if it is afraid of all dragons or just me. I can not imagine any reason it would fear just me.
I thought the dream might be getting worse because the Beast is so much closer to catching me. But the dreams started back when I was safe on Glaurung and they did not get worse before it took Percepie. I do not know what to make of all this.
Ti-Lung wants to go and talk to the ruling council. I picture a place in the capitol for him, but when he tries, his portation fails. Perhaps they have set up some sort of shield, because they know that so many humans know about Glaurung now. Or perhaps it is moving. I do not know how that would affect portation.
The only other way I can think of to get a hold of the council is to use magic to contact one of their minds. Ti-Lung tries, but he is unable to bridge the gap between the two worlds. He seems certain that we should consult with them before the ritual and somehow I agree with him. I am not sure why, but it seems important to do so.
We can not think of any other way to contact Glaurung. I hope that I am not overlooking something, but I feel like I must be. I fear that I will discover what the dreams mean far too late.
We arrive at the throne room a bit early. There are a number of Royals here as well as an old man in a rough tunic with long braided hair. He is barefoot, which is strange for a human, I think. Huntington is there as well. He brought the crown as he had promised.
The barefoot man introduces himself as Seeker. He seems very serene, but something about him, or perhaps our previous conversation, has upset Ti-Lung's balance.
At exactly four, Alphadere arrives, announced by two dwarves. He proclaims that "the time of the rite draws nigh." Apparently they have not told many people. It is probably good since the folks on Luna might object.
We are all going to be taken to the place where the rite will be held. The king tells us that the preparations are not complete, but that they should be finished in the next hour or so. Also, someone will be delivering Cane there. I guess the others were able to find where DEE had abandoned him, though we have had no word from them in weeks.
When the king mentions that our transportation has been arranged, a rather serious gnome strides into the room. The gnome outlines a door in the air with his hands in an overly showy way and a glowing portal opens. The king directs us through the portal to the site of the ritual.
As we all turn to head through the portal a rather gruff voice behind us proclaims, "I hope you weren't planing to go through without me." Seeker greets the speaker, a rough looking dwarf, as Gerald and seems pleased to see him. Gerald has an entourage of two dwarves and a gnome. The gnome who opened the portal falls into formation with them as well. The king does not seem disturbed by Gerald's appearance, but also does not tell us who he is, bleh. We all head through the portal.
As I step out of the portal, I find myself by the heart tree on Luna. The tree has an enormous scar across it and the Royals have installed metal plates across parts of the surface of the tree. The doctor and three other Royals are here as well, tweaking some of the machinery at the base of the tree. I guess they will be using it to tap into Luna somehow.
As I turn to step away from the portal, I notice there is a huge metal arch standing by the tree, framing it against the sky. The arch is strangely twisted. I almost can not follow it with my eyes and it bends in ways that my mind does not want to accept. It makes me very uneasy that such a monstrous thing is required for this rite, but it is far to late for me to be able to stop it now.
When I finally tear my gaze from the arch and I see that Adana and another elf are here as well. A halfling woman is standing with them. I am some what relieved that Ti-Lung was right about Adana. She is looking somewhat distraught right now, so I will not bother her.
Gerald asks Alphadere if he has really been able to keep our arrival a secret. The king is not really sure, but he suggests that Gerald should go and meet their "other guests". That sounded rather ominous.
Seeker comments to me that he rarely sees a dragon. I am beginning to come to the conclusion that my illusory form is totally useless.
After some discussion I learn that he is from the time of ancient Rome. How strange. He does not sound insane. He says that about two hundred years ago he encountered a skeletal dragon and was forced to destroy him. He apologizes but I hardly think killing a necromantic abomination is something he needs to apologize for. I ask him about how he could be from thousands of years ago and still be alive. He says that he has lived on another plane of existence for much of his life. Er, the plane where the Caretaker lives. Weird.... I am not sure if I believe him, but it would be interesting if it was true.
Seeker and I have a short conversation about how how the humans have colonized the other worlds and how spaceships work. Seeker seems kind of fascinated by mechanical flight. He takes the workings of birds as a given, but wants every detail of planes and spaceships. Bizarre.
The visions are distracting me, but they are not becoming more frequent. I hope the void is not getting closer.
(Meanwhile, Ti-Lung is remembering responding to a call for help and being attacked and corrupted by the wraith of James Rex. He has vague flashes of memory after that and remembers being attacked by Seeker and others. He feels gratitude for Seeker's help but also a strange rivalry with him.)
Ti-Lung comes back to our world and surprisingly drops to one knee and bows to Seeker. He thanks Seeker and apologizes for the trouble that he has given him. Seeker does not recognize him, but Ti-Lung says that he was the skeletal creature that Seeker was speaking of. Interesting... So I guess that is how Ti-Lung's original body died. I am still surprised that she was reborn. Seeker accepts his apology but does not seem greatly disturbed. He helps Ti-Lung stand again.
(Ti-Lung is distracted by the archway and realizes that Noun must have constructed it.)
As I am speaking to Seeker, Ti-Lung begins muttering to himself. He seems far more fragmented than he has for the past few weeks. His behavior is making me feel even more ill at ease.
(Ti-Lung is having visions. It sounds like his human childhood or the experiments on him.)
Seeker is talking about how strange it is to see the elves all around again. I ask him a few questions and he begins pouring out a veritable fountain of information about the history of the elves, their deaths, and rebirths. It sounds like the humans and the elves hit the oldest and stupidest version of us verses them. It is sad to hear that they could be so blind and stupid. Seeker says that the elves faded and died after the magic of Earth was sealed away. Apparently something about the magic was becoming corrupted by an ancestor of the Caretaker. Ancestor is not the word, but I am not sure what is. Apparently the king of the elves survived somehow, but he became dark and hateful, wanting revenge on the humans for what they had done to his people. Apparently he caused no end of unpleasantness after that and was only stopped several hundred years ago.
My discussion with Seeker is interrupted when an elderly gentleman comes walking over towards the tree flanked by Brice and a short woman (Jasmine). The man looks old and very strange. I think this might be Cane. Adana seems to recognize him and seems very irritated by his arrival.
Seeker comments that Cane is the first human ever to kill. How strange. I wonder how old the myths surrounding him are. As I watch him more carefully I notice that there is a slightly discolored splotch on his forehead.
The king announces that all necessary parties have arrived and there is a loud crack in the air. A wall of energy has instantly sprung up around all of us and the tree. The king says something about protections being put in place. I guess he means the field.
I can feel the presence of the Caretaker pressing in on my mind. He is not just here, but he is paying close attention to all of us. I try to still my mind and be small and quiet, but the visions are not helping.
The king declares that first Cane will be empowered by souls that have been gathered. Then Luna will be summoned and the two will be merged. Once they are one, they will power the great machine. Gee, not ominous at all.
The king comments that some of us are here as a last line of defense should the barrier be breached. He looks at Max, Matt, Seeker, and Ti-Lung. He does not look at me. That makes me a heck of a lot more nervous about all of this. Oh no... no... am I bait? I hope I am wrong. Do not panic. I am just nervous and reading to much in to this. I hope.
The king ask Merlin for the crown and he hands it over, but he says he is still worried that something may go wrong with it.
The king turns to the other elven woman and asks her if she has brought her "keepsake, the stone". She nods and pulls out a large onyx stone. He asks her to give it to Cane now.
She approaches Cane, looking uncomfortable, but hands it over to him. He considers it for a minute and then the king tells him that he must ingest it. Cane opens his mouth far wider than I think a human should and swallows the stone whole. Merlin angrily says "I don't think so" and a bubble of force captures two motes of light that were streaking towards Cane. I did not see them before, but it must be the occultem lappidem. The damn nasty thing. Why will it not die?
Ti-Lung gestures and the bubble becomes more clear. He staggers but remains standing. The spell must have backfired somehow. I feel the need to announce the obvious and say that it must be the occultem lapidem. Merlin says that they were trying to join the Oversoul. He fumbles with his bag and says something about one stone not being enough.
Merlin gestures and the onyx soul appears in his outstretched hand. It is empty somehow. Now that I look, Cane is glowing with a faint blue light.
Merlin looks at the stone, says "yes" in a rather ominous way, and begins chanting. He is using some strange archaic bastard form of draconic. He seems to be preparing some sort of trap. He asks Ti-Lung to take down the field. Ti-Lung nods and the bubble disappears. The two motes are sucked into the stone and stay there. Merlin is overjoyed.
I comment that the third one might still be around. Merlin is saying that perhaps it is different because it was destroyed with a weapon of destiny. As he is in mid sentence, the air next to him begins shimmering and one of the evil top-hat wearing psychos appears. Damn it!
(We go on to initiative and Curtis has to spend a few minutes rolling initiatives for all the NPC's.)
Before I can react, he top-hat creature grabs Merlin and the begin to shimmer and fade away. Matt tries to shoot the top-hat, but misses. He drops out of the tree he was in and heads towards us. I throw all the portation and destruction I can at the teleport affect to stop them from getting away. It is the most magic I have ever used at once. I do not know why the top-hat's portation effect did not go immediately, but my magic is able to break it. The effect fizzles and the two come back into phase here.
The top-hat and Matt both burst into flames. The top-hat is almost immediately consumed in flames. Matt collapses. (Inside Matt can hear Ivan's soul being destroyed in order to fuel his healing.) He looks like he has passed out, but his wounds are closing. I do not know what just happened. (I have to start taking that Mystic-Craft thing I keep hearing so much about... :P )
Merlin is stunned, but he seems to be alright. He is still holding the stone, so I think everything is okay for now. Now that I am not focused on the top-hat I notice that Max is becoming transparent. Weird. He does not seem to know what is going on and looks a bit freaked out.
Matt is saying something about Ivan being gone. Max says that it seems like Ivan's soul was consumed. What? How terribly exciting, and disturbing. I am going to stand further from Matt in all dangerous situations now.
Brice exclaims unhappily and says that someone called Mordred is here. Where have I heard of him?... I know! He was the other big bad in MagiTech's basement. Damn them and their insecure vaults.
(Brice is telling Gerald about Mordred and where he should be. Unfortunately the sensors have been partly disabled so Brice can not attack Mordred with them.)
Seeker addresses Merlin and tells him to protect us. Merlin nods and Seeker, who seems to have been waiting only for that, vanishes. It did not look like a normal portation.... Brice says "I'll be back in a minute" and the woman with him demands to come along. They both vanish.
(Meanwhile Brice zaps into the sensor grid and throws some fireballs into the fight to help Gerald get over to Mordred.)
Cane says "I am ready" and the glow around him begins to shift.
Apparently we are proceeding to the second phase of the rite. The further this goes the worst I feel about it.
Suddenly my surroundings fade and I can feel the Caretaker's presence all around me. How dare you! I demand. You did not even ask me and now you are going to give me no choice! The Caretaker seems vaguely surprised at my anger but it conveys that I am wrong; that it does not want me to be bait. It says that it has only just come to realize that there is a task that must be done and I am the only one who can do it.
The Caretaker tells me that there is a place deep beneath the earth that it had forgotten and that in that place is a door, which can not be opened. But it says that I can open it, and it must be opened now. I do not know what to think. The Caretaker says that it does not know anything about what is behind the door. So I have no guarantees of what it might do to me. Why can only I open it? The Caretaker responds that I can open the door because it is of the dragons. How could that be? It has no answers to fit my questions.
If this is the only way to stop the Beast, then I will have to try. I do not like it, but I will have to try.
(I vanish away from the scene with the tree, far more quickly than the top-hat could.)
Faster than I can blink I find myself in a dark cavern. I can feel the weight of all the earth over me and there is an ancient door before me inlayed with the symbol of Glaurung. It is immense, large enough for even the largest of the council members to enter.
The door has no hinges. I approach and touch it but it does not open. It is too heavy for me to force. In desperation I demand that the door open. As soon as the words have left my mouth, the massive door begins to swing slowly open. I step back and try to get a look inside.
The light from inside spills out as globes near the ceiling alight. Along the walls I can see tables strewn with many things and written on the walls are ancient diagrams and draconic writing.
I step inside to get a better look at the walls. They are filled with dragons and pseudo-dragons, creatures of myth and legend. All the creatures in the illustrations are coming together to accomplish some great task. On the tables great gems glitter. I am pretty sure that they are records from terribly ancient times. There is also a device much like the one I used to get to Percepie sitting in the back of the cavern.
The illustrations depict some sort of psionic link between the dragons. I try to understand the script on the walls and I eventually get something about "coming together to save the earth mother". It is not enough. There has to be some other way to figure out what I must do. I am sure I remember something about the gems. Yes, I only need to look into them and I will be able to see what they record.
I move to the first gem and peer in. In ancient draconic it describes the coming darkness that the dragons and the "earth mother" must flee. It talks about how they dragons plan to escape by creating the great mobile world. It ends with "we the first children must sacrifice ourselves to save the earth mother".
It is all making more sense now, but I still do not know what I need to do. I look in the next gem. It talks about how the mobile world was created and how many dragons died contributing their souls to the making. Most of the surviving dragons fled to the new world, but one stayed to chronicle what happened. The writer says that the room will be sealed and and none of dragon kind can ever return to this world or the darkness will return and consume it. Damn it! Way to go Rekari. See the universe and accidentally draw down destruction on your ancient home world!
Just as I am about to turn away from the gem I catch the last line, written in a smaller script. It says that if any one of our kind should ever return here, the device will return them to their rightful place on our world. Lovely.... so my ultimate task will be to go home and die.
(Meanwhile, back on the moon, the king calls Luna. She steps out of the tree in the guise of a very young girl. She chastises Adana for allowing this to continue in a rather petulant, childish way. The king calls Cane to come forward and he advances on her. She begins to cry. All of them find themselves in the shimmering bubble but everything, the tree, the forest, is gone. Luna is still crying and the king commands her to stop. She does and like a zombie she advances to face Cane. He embraces her. Their bodies begin to shimmer and the blue glow intensifies around Cane. Their bodies begin to merge. In only moments the merging is complete and there stands a vague indeterminate form. As the form coalesces their surroundings return. In the place of Luna and Cane, there stands a 8 year old girl, with black hair and pale skin. She is crowned with two short horns and she is garbed in a shimmering cloth of moonbeams. On her forehead is a glowing orange mark. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be unconscious. The king says that they must revive her quickly and begins channeling healing into her body. Ti-Lung also assists in reviving her. Then the echos begin.)
I can feel the echos beginning. I have to go. Now. It is almost here.
(The girl sits up with a gasp. Curtis tells us out of character that her name is Lillith.)
I sweep the gem into my bag and dash over to the machine. I can remember some of how the other device was used long ago and I flip some switches and push some buttons. The force of the machine lashes out and grabs me. I can feel myself being pulled apart as before and I streak across the stars and reform in a mirroring stone chamber beside a similar machine.
The echos are gone. I guess I must be home.
I do not want to die, but I feel like time is slipping away and my friends on Luna may be dying even as I hesitate to open the door. I drop my illusion, steel myself, and command the door to open. As the other did, it swings slowly open, revealing an ornate hallway. There are two guards, reds, standing looking confused. One of them is babbling something about prophecy and the door not being supposed to open. So I have just fallen face first into another prophecy, just what I needed. They do not seem to recognize me as the exile, so I demand to see the council and hope that my luck will hold long enough to get me there.
One of them runs off to let the council know that the door has opened and the other leads me more slowly towards the council chambers. Now that he is looking at me more clearly he recognizes me, but whatever the prophecy is, it stops him from killing me long enough to get clear orders from the council anyway.
As I enter the council chambers I can hear that they arguing about why the Beast is no longer following them and what they should or should not do. I interrupt, surprising them and begin to tell them just where the Beast has gone and why. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am stunned that they allow my insolence. I show them the gem and as they are examining it, Glaurung's dragon form appears on the long vacant column. He demands to see the gem as well. Part of me can not understand. If he is the planet of this legend, why does he not remember himself? Surely his own birth and the beginning of our perilous flight should leave some mark time could not wipe away?
He examines the gem, and he seems to have remembered, at least a little. He says that he has decided; that we will not return to Earth if it means that we will finally be free of the Beast. Something in his resolve is quavering. Surely he does not think this is the right thing to do.
Earth is our home! I remind them. The Beast is coming to take it because of us and it is because we loved it that we fled. We can not just leave it to die! But they are fractured, unsure. Tiamat seems to feel that perhaps it is in fact time to fight, but the others are quavering.
Glaurung begins talking of the Beast becoming more powerful and voracious with each planet it has consumed. This is not something I would have guessed and it makes the situation even more dire. I point out that there is no way we dragons can hope to run far enough if the Beast takes all the human worlds, most of all Earth and the Caretaker.
I try to explain to them why we must return and work with the humans if any of us are to have hope of surviving, but they begin to slide back into their old, stupid prejudices. They do not say it, but I can hear it: "Why should we work with those who are less than ourselves? They can do nothing that we can not."
It is just so ridiculous; so flat out stupid. I can not put up with this shortsighted, retarded crap any more. I practically yell, interrupting them again, Can you not see? There were others, the pseudo-dragons, who many of you would consider less than yourselves, who gave their lives to make this very world! Do not let your stupid prejudices doom billions of people and perhaps all of us to die!
The council is stunned to silence by the force of my words. I am more than a bit stunned myself. After a second I realize what I have done. I swallow very quietly and try to keep from shaking as they digest what I have said. It must be one hell of a prophecy keeping them from killing me.
To my great surprise, I have changed Glaurung's mind. And the others. They will go, and they will fight. Perhaps they will not quite understand inter-species cooperation, but they will try. I am nearly sick with relief when Glaurung tells me that I am pardoned for my crimes.
Glaurung will reach Earth in scant hours. I am to be allowed to return as soon as I like. I hesitate. I fear for my friends, but I do not know if being back there will draw the Beast even more quickly.
(Back in time a tiny bit... The king and Lillith begin channeling huge amounts of energy into the twisted archways. The king tells the rest of them that it is done and they should flee the system. The shield drops and a cold wind beings to blow, shaking everything. Merlin clings to a tree and yells so as to he heard over the storm, "Everyone! Come with me, back to Lupus!" Matt tells his mom to jump into him so they can get away. Matt quickly tells his mom about Ivan being consumed. Max is going to go and try to save his dad, but Curtis uses his destiny token to make Max not think of the fact that his father is in danger and he goes with Merlin. Matt tumbles over towards Merlin and Merlin teleports them away.)
(The echos begin to level off, but are still quite strong.)
(The Saturday group agrees to use its destiny token to insure that Earth and Luna will not be consumed by the Void.... For as long as the token can hold it off anyway.)
End of Session