Tempter Pt. II Log

[Steerpike]

Another excellent session.  Thanks very much to all the players for showing up and putting so much effort into your characters!

This is just the first part - more to come!

Dramatis Personae

[ic=Nyx '" played by Ghostman]Hard-hearted and coldly beautiful, the demoness Nyx was worshipped by a few remote Greek cults as a primordial goddess centuries ago.  She appears as an elegant ebony-skinned woman with flowing midnight hair and is typically clothed in a sumptuous velvet dress.  Nyx prefers to remain in her Palace of Darkness in the Abyss, but does occasionally venture forth into Creation.  She possesses typical Mammonian politics: disdainful of mortals and their pallid world and unwaveringly dedicated to the Infernal project, Nyx would prefer to build the Republic of Hell into a realm fit to rival Paradise, rather than attempting to storm the gates of Creation.  In times of need, however '" or when more mortal souls are needed for additional labour '" Nyx manifests on the mortal plane on certain moonless nights.  In her true form she appears to be a regal, shadowy figure with massive tenebrous wings and the lower body of a serpent.

Powers

Nyx can instantly dim or extinguish any light source she can see, electrical or natural, or summon a black cloud to obscure the moon.  She can blend into darkness perfectly, becoming effectively invisible so long as she does not move; in her true form she can move invisibly, as well.  She can also see perfectly even in complete darkness.  However, none of Nyx's powers function in daylight, and she is trapped in her mortal form while the sun shines.

Eyes of Night: By looking into a mortal's eyes Nyx can peer into their soul, uncovering what the mortal believes to be their deepest and darkest secret.  Protective eyewear or talismans can block this ability, which uses one point of Energy.

Animate Shadow: Nyx can invest a humanoid shadow with uncanny life, freeing it from the shackles of its owner.  The shadow becomes a quasi-corporeal wraith, able to fight and kill; weapons, however, pass harmlessly through it.  Any powerful light source, such as an electric torch, or direct sunlight, dispels the wraith.  This ability uses one point of Energy.

Slumber: By murmuring a word of blasphemous power Nyx puts mortals to sleep.  Any who hear the word fall instantly into a potent eldritch slumber until dawn.  Protective ear-wear or talismans can safeguard against this ability, which expends two points of Energy.[/ic] [ic=Abyzou - played by Nomadic]Preferring the guise of an enfant terrible culled from Japanese horror movies '" scraggly black pigtails, pinafore dress, an obscene giggle, and sunken, flashing eyes '" Abyzou is a demonic mischief-maker and trickster who thinks of mortals only as playthings (or snacks), delighting in violent and usually gory pranks.  Other demons tend to consider her something of a loose cannonball, even a liability; she is more or less apolitical, preferring simply to run amok on the mortal plane than to debate in the Infernal Parliament.  In her true form, Abyzou resembles a statuesque woman with writhing black tendrils for hair and clawed hands.

Powers

Abyzou can commune telepathically at a distance of up to one hundred feet (note that this does not allow her to read minds, only communicate psychically, though those she contacts can speak back mentally).  Protective talismans cannot block Abyzou out, though they may protect against her Mental Violation ability.  Abyzou's size may allow her access to areas others find too small to enter.

Mental Violation: Abyzou can project disturbing hallucinations into mortal minds, potentially driving them into fits of madness, depending on the creativity and imagery of the illusion.  The mortal must be in range of her telepathy.  Protective talismans can safeguard against this effect.  Mental Violation uses one point of Energy.

Psychokinesis: By focusing on an object Abyzou can move it with her mind; she must be able to see the object to manipulate it.  While this ability can be used as a weapon or to levitate team-mates Abyzou cannot pick herself up using it.  Protective talismans or wards may safeguard against this ability.  Psychokinesis uses one point of Energy.

Cannibalism: Abyzou can devour a mortal enemy whole, distending her jaw horrifically like a serpent.  By doing so she gains access to the memories of anyone she eats.  Protective talismans do not safeguard against this ability '" though they do give Abyzou a case of wicked heartburn.  Cannibalism expends two points of Energy.[/ic][ic=Pazuzu - played by The Meanest Guest]A slick, animated storm-demon, Pazuzu appears as an unusually tall man, almost stretched seeming, with storm grey eyes and somewhat tanned skin.  He is commonly dressed in a black pin-striped suit and a matching fedora. Pazuzu ascribes to a more Beezlebubian philosophy: he is quick to compromise when he sees that it is to his benefit, but will react with frenzied wrath when all other options have been exhausted. His true form is that of a massive, obsidian gargoyle, about which lightning and obscuring shadows play.

Powers

Pazuzu can cause any electrical device to malfunction or otherwise behave unusually at will. In addition, he can exert control over any nearby live electrical current.

Eldritch Thunder: By harnessing his innate power, Pazuzu can create a burst of intense light and noise that blinds and temporarily deafens nearby mortals. Protective talismans and ear or eye-wear can safeguard against this effect. This ability uses one point of energy.

Enshroud: Through the expenditure of one energy point Pazuzu can call up an unnatural, viscous concealing fog that seems to move as of its own will. Pazuzu has a vague sense of all that occurs within the confines of the fog. Protective talismans can burn off the fog in a localized area.

Demoniac Lightning: Pazuzu can let fly an arcing stream of powerful demoniac lightning from his outstretched arms, charring flesh and halting neural activity. This lightning can jump across multiple targets, unless it encounters a protective talisman in which case the lightning dissipates. This ability requires two energy points to use.[/ic]
[ic=Preamble Goofing]Nyx: Grimoire Comics... I wonder if they have a copy of the Necronomicon XD

Abyzou: lol
Abyzou: I bet they have a giant blowup cthulhu

Son of the Morning: the interior (well, bits of it) are actually based on a store in Vancouver I've been to

Abyzou: awesome[/ic]
[ic=Scene 1: Grimoire Comics]You have been sent by decree of the Parliament of Hell to the mortal plane to retrieve a certain object '" a shard of an ancient Sumerian clay tablet describing the location of the fabled Tree of Life. In the primeval past humanity was tempted before with a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, but was banished from Eden by the Authority before they could eat of the Tree of Life, which would make them like gods, immortal. The infernal gambit is that by corrupting humanity with the second fruit a nigh unkillable army in the service of the Adversary can be quickly created. If the Authority manages to somehow destroy the newly immortal bodies of those who ate of the fruit, their souls will almost certainly be consigned to the Abyss, given the severity of their sin (equalled only by Original Sin itself).

Having discovered that the Watcher Samyaza '" once known as the god Enki, now called Sam Guignol '" possessed the shard, you did a deal with the erstwhile angel in exchange for it, swearing a blood oath to seal the covenant, agreeing to convince the Grigori's Nephilim daughter, Nina, to wear a protective charm to ward off the assassin-angels of the Authority, who consider such half-humans abominations.  After an encounter with the Angel of Death, Azrael, you returned to Samyaza's lair '" the nightclub Overkill!, a deconsecrated church '" but found the place in a shambles.  Samyaza, badly wounded, told you that the tablet had been stolen by cultists in service of the Elder Ones '" the chaotic indigenes of Hell, who consider demonkind colonists and invaders.  Having broken his oath to give you the tablet he was consumed by fire.

Since then, sources on the mortal plane have located the headquarters of the cult, where the fragment is most likely being kept under close guard.  The cult's shrine is hidden beneath a front business in Tatterdemalion City: Grimoire Comics, an independent bookshop specializing in horror comics, genre fiction, and role-playing games.

Though the mortal cultists would normally be no match for you, some may be equipped with functional talismans or other weapons effective against demons; additionally, as servants of the Elder Ones, they may have been granted dark and alien powers that could make them highly dangerous.  To complicate things further, the Authority's angels may now be on your trail after your earlier encounter.  Your mission is to collect the tablet by any means necessary.

Son of the Morning: Your limousine pulls up in front of the shop you've been told is a front for the Elder Ones' cult '" a grimy two-storey building wedged between an empty coffee shop and a tattoo parlour.  The smeared windows of the shop display a selection of gaudy role-playing manuals and comics, their covers portraying scantily clad succubi and brooding vampire anti-heroes.  Prop skulls etched with faux glyphs and cheap-looking candles complement the kitschy Gothicism of the display.  A sign in cartoonish Old English lettering proclaims the place 'GRIMOIRE COMICS.'

Nyx: These cultists have no sense of style

* Abyzou sniffs at the air

Abyzou: I smell stale cheetos... we must be in the right place

* Nyx gets out of the limousine

* Abyzou hops out behind nyx with a spring in her step

Pazuzu: Well, it ain't so usual for mortals to be as stylish as those such as ourselves.

Son of the Morning: It's twilight, by the way, Nyx - your powers will be active soon.

* Pazuzu puts on his fedora while stepping out of the limo

* Abyzou skips up to the shop and peers in the window

Nyx: Even so, some of them can be much worse than usual...

Pazuzu: You might have a point.

Son of the Morning: Abyzou, you can see the back of a big guy in a black T-Shirt with flames around the bottom, tending the cash.

Nyx: Oh well. Better get on with the job.

Pazuzu: I just hope it don't turn out like the last one.

* Pazuzu brushes imaginary dust off his suit

Pazuzu: I kinda wish Samael were here, he knows how to handle things.

* Abyzou opens up the door and heads into the shop

* Pazuzu follows, ducking his head as he steps through

Son of the Morning: The shop's interior is a conservative Christian parent's worst nightmare.  Fantasy board-games, trading cards, action figures, and role-playing books with titles like The Player's Guide to Necromancy and The Complete Infernal Bestiary compete for shelf space with trashy horror fiction and odd, musty volumes bound in pale leather.

* Nyx steps in after them, looking around with some suspicion

Son of the Morning: Posters of half-naked amazons slaying horned monstrosities or leather-clad women who look more like dominatrixes than super-heroines cover the walls, alongside advertisements for gaming groups and meetings for a weekly book club calling itself 'The Cabal.'  A spiralling metal stairway leads up to a higher floor and down to a lower floor of the shop, a sign beside it reading 'COMICS' with an arrow pointing upwards and 'THE DUNGEON,' with an arrow pointing downward.

A glass display case under the counter is crammed full of finely detailed figures, malformed-looking dice, and gorily illustrated playing cards.  A large man with a greasy, greying ponytail and arms sheathed in bizarre glyph tattoos sits behind it, staring at a computer screen and periodically scratching at his sweat-stained armpits, a motion that causes the keys on his belt to jangle.  When you enter he looks up.

 'We're closing in ten minutes,' he grumbles, before turning back to his computer.

* Abyzou ignoring him skips over and picks up The Complete Infernal Bestiary and flips through it giggling at the pictures
* Abyzou stops on a page and tilts her head sideways then looks at pazuzu and back at the book
* Abyzou laughs and puts it back on the shelf

* Pazuzu grimaces

* Nyx sneers, but hides it coverign her face

Pazuzu: Quaint little shop you got here pal.  Get any new merchandise lately?

Son of the Morning: "New edition of Demons & Demiurges just came out," he growls, without looking up from his screen.  He jabs his thumb at a pile of books displayed on a table nearby.

Pazuzu: Oh yeah? I was thinking maybe somethin' with a bit of an arabian flair. Or, wait, that's not right.. what is it again? Sumerian, that's it.

Nyx: Indeed

* Abyzou skips up to the counter and looks up at the big man cutely

Son of the Morning: You see the man twitch, lick his lips a little.

* Abyzou opens her mouth in a sharp toothed smile

Pazuzu: You got anything like that, buddy?

Son of the Morning: "Uh... we got an old Babylon sourcebook..." He's sweating a bit.

* Nyx eyes the man curiously

Pazuzu: Ehh, that's a bit too modern for my tastes. Maybe go back a bit.

* Abyzou looks at Pazuzu

Abyzou: if the nice man doesn't help us can I eat him? I'm hungry

Pazuzu: Well..

Nyx: We are looking for something older... antiquated

* Abyzou giggles

* Pazuzu looks over the man

Pazuzu: He might cause some digestive problems, I'd say.

Son of the Morning: "Older, eh?  Like, uh, first edition?"

* Abyzou looks at the man

Pazuzu: I don't think you quite understand what we're getting at here.

Abyzou: do you have first edition on clay tablets

Abyzou: :D

Pazuzu: Y'see.. how should I say, we recently had something, oh, stolen from us. We're looking for it, and we think you might know a thing or two about it.

* Abyzou gets bored and goes back to leafing through books and poking figurines

Son of the Morning: The man gulps.  "I wouldn't know anything about that."  He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, sweating profusely.  "I think you guys should leave."

Pazuzu: Should we leave? Is now not a good time?

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers and the man's computer turns off

Nyx: Perhaps he is having trouble remembering? We could... try to refresh his memory?

Son of the Morning: "Uh, like I said, we're, erm, closing."  His eyes dart to the screen, widening a little.

* Abyzou skips up and looks at the man
* Abyzou nuzzles up to him and looks up with a toothy grin

Abyzou: you don't mean that, you want us to stay here right

Pazuzu: Listen, we're busy people, and we all know you know what we're talking about.

Abyzou: cause if not you might make me sad, and when I get sad.  I get hungry

Pazuzu: So, maybe you help us out, and nothing untowards happens?

* Abyzou snaps her jaw

Son of the Morning: The man is clearly disturbed.  "Uh, sure.  Why don't you wait here - I'll go get the owner.  He's just downstairs - maybe he can help you."

Pazuzu: I don't think so.  You're staying right here.

* Abyzou pulls herself up on the counter

Son of the Morning: The man looks like he might start blubbering.

Nyx: If we need to talk to the owner, we'll find him ourselves

Pazuzu: How about you give us those keys, and you leave, and never come back?

* Abyzou stands up and looks the man in the eye

Pazuzu: How does that sound?  Like I said, we're not unreasonable folks.

Son of the Morning: The man looks like he's on the brink of crying, and then a strange look enters his eyes, and his grimace is replaced with a queasy grin.

* Abyzou headbutts the man HARD

Nyx: A man should know when he being given a good deal

Son of the Morning: His flesh begins to ripple subcutaneously, as if something beneath his flesh were moving.

Nyx: Great...

Son of the Morning: He stumbles backwards against the wall, knocking over a pile of books.

Abyzou: oh boy this looks like fun

Abyzou: good, I'm bored

Son of the Morning: He's laughing manically, now - and tentacles are starting to force their way out of his throat.

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers, causing electricity to arc from the wall sockets into the man

* Nyx looks for something heavy and preferably sharp for throwing

Son of the Morning: You smell roasting flesh and... calimari?

Son of the Morning: The man/horror gurgles in pain and lurches to his/its feet, black T-Shirt erupting with shadowy appendages!  He's sizzling from the shock but he keeps coming.

Pazuzu: This guy just don't know when to give up!

* Abyzou dances up and down with glee even as she picks up a bookcase with her mind and throws it into him

Son of the Morning: Nyx, the heaviest thing you can see is the computer screen.

Son of the Morning: Abyzou: Energy 4

Son of the Morning: The bookcase hurtles across the room and smashes into the creature in a whirlwind of torn pages and splintering wood.  The thing's groaning, but still writhing about.

* Nyx picks up the screen and moves about agilely, looking for a good moment to attack

Son of the Morning: Lots of ichor on the floor spurts from squashed tentacles, making the carpets sizzle.

* Abyzou dives onto him and up the largest chunk of the bookcase she can find
* Abyzou walks over and begins repeatidly slamming it into the thing giggling with glee

Son of the Morning: Nyx, you hurl the computer screen at the monstrosity's "head" as it rises up from the wreckage.  Abyzou, you beat the squishy squid-man-thingy into a pulpy mess.  The charred, smashed, electrocuted remains twitch and spurt as the horror dies.

* Pazuzu lets out a loud exasperated sigh

Nyx: Looks like we won't be getting answers out of this one.  Oh well

Pazuzu: This is why I wanted Samael here.  This shit always happens.

* Abyzou looks at them innocently

Son of the Morning: Three pimply youths are staring at you slack-jawed from the stairway.  One's holding a Dungeon Master's Guide.

* Pazuzu roots through the mess looking for the keys

* Abyzou notices the youths and walks over to them

Nyx: Oh hello there boys.  I'm afraid the shop's closed...

Son of the Morning: They take an involuntary step back, nearly falling down the spiral stairs that lead to the "DUNGEON"

* Abyzou grabs them by the hands

Abyzou: don't fall

Pazuzu: Kids, why don't you just run along?  There ain't nothin to see here.

* Abyzou drags them along behind her, skipping along as she goes

Son of the Morning: One of the boys faints, a second pukes noisily, and a third is wrenched violently along by Abyzou.

* Pazuzu rolls his eyes

Abyzou: look Pazuzu what I found.  Can I keep him?

Son of the Morning: (heh I love how irritable Pazuzu is btw)

* Nyx sighs

Pazuzu: Well, I don't know about that, Abyzou.

] Abyzou: aww

Pazuzu: I think he probably wants to leave, and especially not tell anyone about anything he saw ever, right kid?

Son of the Morning: The boy (evidently the Dungeon Master) burbles something unintelligibl, then nods his head.

Abyzou: I like you

Nyx: It's best to forget today's troubles

* Abyzou looks him in the eye

* Pazuzu opens the door and motions him out

Abyzou: he hears in his head "I don't think I'll eat you"

Son of the Morning: "T-t-too much Mountain Dew" he stammers, as if this explains things.

* Abyzou lets his hand go and smiles

Pazuzu: Oh, right, uh.. you might want to get your friends.

Nyx: Youth are so troublesome nowadays

Son of the Morning: He helps the puking friend up and the two of them drag out the unconscious gamer.

* Pazuzu nods sagely

Son of the Morning: They scamper out the door, cadaverously pale.

Nyx: Now, to look for the owner

* Abyzou sees something in one of the counters and walks over to it

Pazuzu: ooc: did I find the keys?

Son of the Morning: Yeah, sorry - you got the keys from the mangled corpse

* Abyzou headbutts the glass countertop with a stupid smile on her face

* Abyzou reaches in and pulls out some sick looking red d20s

Son of the Morning: There's a large number of them.

Son of the Morning: (keys, that is)

* Abyzou pockets them

Pazuzu: Huh, well, let's get lookin' about then.

Nyx: Shall we try the upper floor first?

Son of the Morning: The front room is a mess: a smashed bookcase, broken monitor, shards of glass, and shredded books mingle with the corpse of a man halfway through a transformation into a squid-monster.

Pazuzu: May as well, though I find these folks tend to gravitate towards damp, dark places.

Abyzou: oo comics

* Abyzou heads up the stairs

* Pazuzu follows, taking the steps two at a time

Nyx: At least we'll be sure there are no surprises left behind us then

Son of the Morning: The comics section of the store occupies the second storey.  Bins of comics line the walls while new releases and trade paperbacks are displayed on low shelves in the middle of the room.

Pazuzu: True, true.

* Nyx looks around

Son of the Morning: a white-faced Goth girl - evidently an employee - sits in a corner with her headphones on, oblvious to the chaos below.  A pentacle amulet and several other New Agey charms dangle from chains round his neck.  A door in the corner leads to a washroom.

Pazuzu: Hm.

Nyx: Perhaps she would be more forthcoming?

Son of the Morning: She looks up at you as a you enter, then turns back to her issue of Hellblazer.

Pazuzu: What, you want another of those squid things jumpin out?

Abyzou: YEA

Pazuzu: I bet she don't know nothing, anyways.

* Abyzou goes into the washroom and looks around

* Pazuzu makes a show of looking at a comic he picks up at random

Son of the Morning: It's a grimy little room whose walls are scralwed with "Bards suck" graffiti and similar gamer humour...

Nyx: You don't think she'll be trouble? She might visit downstairs while we are searching the lower floors

Pazuzu: And, then again, maybe she don't

Son of the Morning: She pulls off one of her headphones.

"You need help finding anything?"  She sounds monumentally bored..

Son of the Morning: (You've got a copy of Spawn, by the way)

Nyx: (whispers to Pazuzu) We could make sure that she won't...

* Abyzou pulls out a pen and scratches some demonic marks into the walls

Pazuzu: (whispers back) You think you got enough in the tank for that?

* Pazuzu eyes her charms

Nyx: (smirking) we could let the little one have a snack. You know she'd love to.

Pazuzu: Look, I don't like offing mortals when I don't have to, you guys know that.

* Abyzou sits next to the goth girl

Nyx: It's better be safe than sorry, as they say

Abyzou: I like your hair, it's cute

Son of the Morning: The girl looks over at Abyzou with a "what the fuck?" expression on her face.

Pazuzu: Why don't you use your fancy sleeping mumbo-jumbo or whatever? Just give me a sec.

Son of the Morning: "What?"  She pulls of her headphone again.

Pazuzu: ooc: has the sun set yet?

Son of the Morning: yes, it's now gloaming

Nyx: She looks to be rather well protected

* Nyx frowns

Pazuzu: You could say that.

Son of the Morning: (I will point out that protective earwear does protect against Nyx's Slumber ability)

Abyzou: ooc: her earwear is electrical though so...

Son of the Morning: (good point)

Pazuzu: ooc: trueee

Nyx: (but she also has trinkets)

Pazuzu: ooc: do little religious trinkets provide any protection?

Son of the Morning: (they do if the wearer genuinely has faith)

Abyzou: I'm Booooooooored

Son of the Morning: The girl puts her headphones round her neck.

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers behind his back to drain the charge from the girl's MP3 player.

Son of the Morning: she frowns

Son of the Morning: "Uh, I think we're closing soon..." she says.

* Pazuzu walks over to Abyzou and the girl

Nyx: I just need to use the washroom for a bit

Pazuzu: Those are some interesting looking charms you've got there, mind if I take a look?

Son of the Morning: She nods

Son of the Morning: (to Nyx)

* Nyx goes to the washroom, looks to make sure no one's there

Son of the Morning: "Uh, sure..." she says, taking off the charms.

Son of the Morning: (no-one's in the washroom, Nyx)

* Pazuzu looks at them idly for a few moments

Son of the Morning: The girl sniffs the air.

* Pazuzu looks at Nyx out of the corner of his eyes

Abyzou: you guys are taking too long

* Nyx turns back to the room. Seeing the girl unprotected, she begins to hum

* Nyx uses the Slumber on her

Son of the Morning: The unholy command causes the girl to slump instantly to sleep.  She will remain comatose till dawn.

Nyx: So much for that

Son of the Morning: Nyx: Energy 3

* Pazuzu picks her up, puts her on the floor of the washroom, and closes the door.

Son of the Morning: (heh you guys use that trick a lot!)

* Abyzou pulls out a marker and gives the girl a blue handlebar moustache and a goatee

Pazuzu: ooc: I was thinking that

Son of the Morning: (the washroom that is)

Nyx: Nothing of value here it seems

* Nyx head back downstairs

Pazuzu: Not at all.

* Pazuzu puts his hands in his pockets and follows

Son of the Morning: The door is still open, by the way

* Abyzou skips along

Pazuzu: ooc: which door?

Son of the Morning: the front door - unless someone closed it?

Pazuzu: ooc: oh, don't think so

Nyx: I think we should close the shop... don't want any passing customers at this hour.

* Pazuzu nods

* Pazuzu walks over to the door, closes it, and locks it.

* Abyzou frowns

Pazuzu: ooc: are there any curtains we can pull? or no?

Son of the Morning: ooc: no curtains, sorry

Pazuzu: ooc: I wouldn't think so, we'll just have to turn the lights off

Son of the Morning: there's a "CLOSED" sign you could hang up

* Pazuzu flips the sign

Pazuzu: Well, let's take a look downstairs, shall we?

Nyx: Into the "dungeon" then. No doubt we'll find it has all the class of the upper floors, and more!

Son of the Morning: The basement of Grimoire Comics is a dingy, cobwebbed room dominated by two tables strewn with books, papers, and painted miniatures.  A door in one corner is labelled "STORAGE."  

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers, turning off all the lights on the floors above, as he descends

Pazuzu: Great looking place..

* Abyzou picks up a figuring of a cigar chomping soldier

Abyzou: *figurine

Nyx: Now where would one such as these keep their valuables?

* Pazuzu opens the storage room door

Pazuzu: Well, we can only look.
* Pazuzu peers inside

Son of the Morning: Shelves stacked with merchandise line the walls of the narrow closet here.  Another door is evident at the end of the closet.  You think you can vaguely hear a muffled sound, like a distant voice, emanating from behind the door.

Pazuzu: ..Huh.

Son of the Morning: The door is padlocked.

* Abyzou skips over to the rear door, curious

Nyx: Well that looks like the best clue we have

* Abyzou listens at it for a second

* Nyx presses her ear against the door, listening

Aside to Nyx and Abyzou '" You hear speech in a language older than Time and Creation, the fell tongue of the Elder Ones.

Nyx: Croaks of the nether scum. Lovely.[/ic]

[Steerpike]

[ic=Scene 2: The Flayed Angel]* Abyzou grabs the padlock and twists it off

* Pazuzu was reaching with a key, but his arm falls slack, dejectedly

Son of the Morning: The padlock is wrenched free.

* Nyx rolls eyes

Nyx: So much for stealth

Pazuzu: ooc: abzyou tends to cause that reaction, I find

* Abyzou pushes open the door

Son of the Morning: The door swings open, revealing a sepulchral concrete corridor lit by the occasional naked bulb.  There are dark stains and smears on the wall and floor.  There are two doors on the left (one of which is ajar) and two on the right, and a fourth door at the end of the hallway.  Apart from a dripping sound and the hum of the light-bulbs you can here a thin, parched-sounding voice babbling something insensible from behind the half-open door on the left.  Pazuzu, you can now make out the words as well: they are in a language older than Time or Creation (native language of the Elder Ones).

Nyx: Could we use the keys this time?

* Pazuzu looks askance at the half open door

Son of the Morning: The voice sounds like it's emanating from the half-open door.

* Abyzou walks over and peers into the half open door

Son of the Morning: You catch a phrase: "...lightless sun will rise over the cold and pallid earth in a black dawn, while the skin between worlds is ripped asunder and all life is quenched; the walls of Creation will come crashing down, and primal chaos shall sluice through the ragged pores of the Universe..."

Pazuzu: (quietly) Well.. should we take a look?

Nyx: (whisper) yes, but carefully

* Nyx glares at Abyzou

Son of the Morning: Heavy chain-link mesh partitions the center of this small concrete room.  A bedraggled, gaunt teenager squats in the gloom beyond the mesh, wide-eyed and malnourished looking.  He's rocking back and forth in a corner, staring straight ahead and muttering something quietly to himself.  There's a trough in the corner, and a thick stench of filth.  The door to the cage is padlocked and wrapped with chains.

* Abyzou skips into the room

Pazuzu: What the fuck is this?

* Nyx peeks in

Son of the Morning: He's repeating the same phrases over and over in the Netherworldly tongue

Pazuzu: Hey, hey kid, what's going on here?

Son of the Morning: "And the Elder Ones, who came Before the Usurpers, and who will survive the death of the Cosmos, will stir in their torpor and rise from the depths of the Abyss; and they will feed upon the Tree of Life, devouring its fruits and wrenching its roots from the earth.  And lo, they shall become more powerful even than the Usurpers on their ivory thrones, and these too shall they consume.  A lightless sun will rise over the cold and pallid earth in a black dawn, while the skin between worlds is ripped asunder and all life is quenched; the walls of Creation will come crashing down, and primal chaos shall sluice through the ragged pores of the Universe, subsuming All, returning it to the ancient and illimitable womb."

Nyx: I don't think he'll be much of a conversationalist either

Pazuzu: Uh-huh..

* Abyzou looks at him and telepathically shouts into his head

Abyzou: yep... nobody's home

Son of the Morning: (anything specific?)

Nyx: Clearly whoever put him there thinks those chains will suffice to keep him in

Pazuzu: Well, I'm kinda wondering why.. but then again, not really.

Nyx: Doubtlessly he'll be of no threat...

Pazuzu: These types are all about sacrifices and rituals and all that weird elder garbage.

Abyzou: let's try another door

Abyzou: it's boring in here

Nyx: I have no objections to that

* Pazuzu steps into the hall and tries the handle on the other door on the left

Son of the Morning: It's locked.

Son of the Morning: One of the keys will open it, though.

* Nyx leaves the room

* Pazuzu looks at the mess of keys

* Pazuzu starts trying them

Son of the Morning: The door unlocks on the third try.

Pazuzu: Ah-hah

* Nyx closes the door to the cage room

Son of the Morning: A small shrine of sorts dominates the room beyond the door: a hideous carven idol, all bulbous eyes and unclear limbs, broods along the far wall, set behind an altar draped with a mortal's eviscerated corpse. The body's gender is unclear - the mutilations are too severe.  A pair of braziers smoulder to either side, next to a rack with a selection of cruel-looking knives.  Rivulets round the altar run to a small culvert in the floor.  A thick tome is held open on a book rest to one side.

Nyx: That could be of some value. But more likely it's all incoherent ramblings.

Son of the Morning: You can see some kind of illustration on the open page.

Pazuzu: Hells, this just gets worse, don't it?

Nyx: Rather crude rituals. I didn't expect any better.

* Pazuzu looks at the book

Aside to Pazuzu: An illustration depicts a grotesque hybrid of gastropod and crustacean.  The creature's lower body is amorphous and slug-like while its head bristles with chitinous arms and pincers, surrounding a central lamprey-like maw and half a dozen bulbous eyes.  Barbed tentacles writhe from beneath its jaws.

Intricate instructions for invoking and binding this horror are evident beneath the illustration.  There is also a note that sunlight and moonlight cause the creature's flesh to burn.

Nyx: Proper sacrifice is an elegant art. Nothing like this... mess.

* Abyzou dips her finger in the blood and draws a smiley face behind the altar
* Abyzou adds the finishing touches beneath it "Have a nice day"

* Pazuzu furrows his brows at the book

Son of the Morning: (ha wow... just when I thought Aby couldn't get more disturbed)

Nyx: Find anything readalbe in there?

Pazuzu: Ack, this stuff.

Son of the Morning: ooc: (incidentally, the track "Blood" from Dexter works rather well as a soundtrack here...)

Pazuzu: Nothin interesting.. just summoning rituals for.. things.  I don't know.

Nyx: No surprises there.

* Pazuzu slams the book shut and puts it back

Pazuzu: Well, there's still two other rooms in the hall.

Nyx: We'll just scour room by room I guess

Son of the Morning: (btw, the creature in the book is called a "Servitor of Ghraath-Yuggai")

* Pazuzu goes back out and tries the right door closest to the 'dungeon'

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu, you quickly find the right key and open the door.

* Nyx picks up one of the ritual knives before leaving the room

Son of the Morning: Pale candles burned down to stubs smoulder around the room's periphery, illuminating a figure chained to the wall with glyph-graven shackles.  Golden eyes glimmer out of the darkness, while two tattered white wings, their dove-coloured feathers soiled and matted, stretch from the figure's shoulder blades, brushing against the concrete walls and ceiling.   The angel regards you silently, chiselled features grim and unmoving.  Its porcelain-white skin is caked in filth, beneath which a thousand ugly scars can be seen; half of its face and torso has been flayed entirely, exposing raw muscle beneath.  A rack of torture implements and a dull brazier are evident along one wall.

Pazuzu: Well, well, well.  What do we have here?

Nyx: Took the words out of my mouth

* Abyzou looks up at him

* Nyx grins delightedly

Abyzou: it looks like those eldritch horrors have been having fun without us

Son of the Morning: "Why are you traitors here?  Are you in league with these fool mortals?"

* Pazuzu snorts

Nyx: Typical....

Pazuzu: Yeah, right. This shit don't have no class, it's tasteless.  You should think better of us.

Nyx: He should. But we all know he couldn't

Son of the Morning: The flayed angel laughs raggedly, coughing up gold-flecked blood.

Pazuzu: ooc: presumably none of us recognize him?

Son of the Morning: "Release me or kill me, but spare me your prattle, demon."

Son of the Morning: ooc: he's one of the Seraphim - a soldier angel

Nyx: Oh, I don't think we'll need to spare you of anything.

Son of the Morning: ooc: you don't know his name, though

Pazuzu: Seen a tablet round here, Seraph?

Son of the Morning: These words seem to have a prfound impact on the angel.  Tears stream down the Seraph's face, cutting through the filth.  

"They tricked me, bound me here, with their petty magick; tortured me for countless hours, an endless litany of questions."

Pazuzu: Woah, hey, what?

Son of the Morning: "We'd been tracking the Grigori, Samyaza - we knew he had the Tablet of Eridu."  The half-flayed angel snarls.  "They forced the Watcher's name from my lips."

Abyzou: haha.  The mighty angel brought low by mere mortals

* Abyzou laughs furiously

Son of the Morning: The angel hisses and strains against his eldritch chains.

"They had the powers of the Tartareans, the Elder abominations!"I could not... could not hold out against such pain!"

Pazuzu: Hmm. Well, you know Seraph, I've got half a mind to let you go. Cause I don't like these folks all that much.. course, there's no love lost between you and me.

* Pazuzu ponders

Son of the Morning: "Release me and I swear by the light of Paradise that I will do you no harm... but do not leave me here."  The angel sobs wretchedly.

Pazuzu: Well, I'd like to take you at your word..

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers, causing a spark in the air.  Ah! I got it.

Nyx: Release you? And you will not.. HARM us-?

* Nyx laughs cruelly

Pazuzu: How bout we do one of them blood contracts, hey?

Son of the Morning: A schizoid play of hatred and hope flickers across the angel's features.

Son of the Morning: "What kind of contract?"

Abyzou: you really think that bastard upstairs will want you back after you betrayed your own charge

Nyx: Of course, the bargain will include more than your not... *harming* us. MUCH more

* Abyzou giggles

Son of the Morning: The Seraph glances at Abyzou.

Son of the Morning: "He... He doesn't know."

Pazuzu: Oh, the ladies have some good points.

Son of the Morning: "He wouldn't listen to your lies... your slanders!"

Son of the Morning: The Seraph sounds uncertain.

Pazuzu: But it ain't lies, is it?

Son of the Morning: Naked fury - directed both at you and at himself - fills the angel's eyes.

"What kind of contract do you propose?"

Nyx: What use can you be to us, anyway? Simply letting you go is not in our agenda.

Pazuzu: Oh come on, we all make mistakes sometimes, some of us more than others... but anyways, I digress.  Let's see.. how bout you help us get the tablet? Then.. let's say.. you never harm a demon again, ever.  And then let's say, maybe, MAYBE, we let you go, so you can do whatever it is that you'd like.

Son of the Morning: The angel wrestles with the question, clearly wretched.  At last an eerie passivity, even tranquility, passes over his face.

"Very well," he says, in a voice void of all emotion.

* Pazuzu motions Nyx for the knife

* Nyx looks at Pazuzu questioningly

Pazuzu: What, you don't like the terms?

Nyx: They are well enough

Pazuzu: Then, the knife, if you please.

Nyx: Alright

* Nyx hands over the knife

Nyx: At least *our* end isn't sending us on some foolish errant...

Pazuzu: I swear by my own blood to attempt by all my power to release you from your bindings, should you agree to serve us and assist us to the fullest of your ability in retrieving the tablet of Eridu, and should you agree to never again raise arms in violence against a demon. Furthermore, I will release you from your service to us should you hold to the above. If I break this covenant may my own blood boil in my veins; may my flesh melt like t

* Pazuzu slides the knife across his palm

Pazuzu: ooc: can the angel cut his own palm, or do I have to do it?

Son of the Morning: "I swear by my own blood to deliver the fragment of the tablet of Eridu into your hands and to never again raise my arms in violence against a demon, in exchange for my freedom. If I break this covenant my own blood boil in my veins; may my flesh melt like tallow...

Son of the Morning: "may my bones crack and char like wood."

Son of the Morning: ooc: you can do it

* Pazuzu cuts the angels palm and shakes his hand

* Nyx repeats Pazuzus words and cuts her palm with the knife

* Pazuzu looks at Abyzou

* Abyzou shrugs
* Abyzou follows along

Pazuzu: Well, now that that's settled.

* Pazuzu says with a grin
* Pazuzu examines the chains

Son of the Morning: (The giant gothic-looking key on your keychain might open the shackles)

* Nyx takes the knife back, and begins fingering it casually

* Pazuzu attempts to open the shackles with said key.


Son of the Morning: The shackles drop away; the Serpah nearly falls to the floor.

Son of the Morning: A moment later he raises himself back up.

Pazuzu: You alright, buddy?

Pazuzu: What should we call you, anyways?

Nyx: (Mumbling to her self) At least they keep their blades sharp...

Son of the Morning: "Pyriel, of the Order of the Seraphim."

Pazuzu: A pleasure to make your acquaintance, of course, Pyriel.

Nyx: I think I'll call him Pyrrrie

Pazuzu: You can call me Pazuzu.

* Nyx cackles

Nyx: I am Nyx

Abyzou: I am cute but you can call me Abyzou

Son of the Morning: I have heard of you all - gods of the ancient world.

* Pazuzu rubs his palm and steps into the hall

Pazuzu: Well, you could say that, been awhile of course.

Son of the Morning: Pyriel's wings fold behind him and "melt" into the ether.

Nyx: Let us proceed with the business at hand. The sooner we may then depart...

Pazuzu: What's heaven like these days anyways?

* Pazuzu says Pazuzu as he walks down the hall to the final door on the right

Son of the Morning: The angel's face darkens.

Son of the Morning: "I have been away for years... the cultists kept me in darkness a long time."

Son of the Morning: The final door is unlocked.

* Pazuzu whistles

Pazuzu: That long, huh?

* Pazuzu opens the door

Son of the Morning: (on the right, that is - one door left, at the end of the corridor)

Son of the Morning: You enter a room lined with shelves stuffed with musty-looking volumes bound in mouldering leather.

Nyx: Hah. I've spent centuries in darkness. Out of my own will, of corse.

Nyx: So much more comfortable than wretched daylight

* Pazuzu looks around the room

Son of the Morning: It looks like a basic occult library - all the big names.  There's nothing particularly note-worthy other than books.

Pazuzu: Hm.

Nyx: Looks like a library. I doubt the books are any better than the one we already found by that idol

Pazuzu: Well, one more door anyways.

* Pazuzu steps up to it and listens for anything on the other side

Son of the Morning: You don't hear anything.

Son of the Morning: Maybe a water-heater.

Pazuzu: Hm.

* Pazuzu starts trying keys, presuming the door is locked.

Son of the Morning: You unlock the door.  The room inside is mostly empty.  A rusted water tank squats in one corner, and a circuit breaker panel is evident to the left.  Naked pipes belch overhead.  In the center of the room, a manhole cover has been removed, exposing a cylindrical shaft with a ladder, leading down into a storm-sewer.

Pazuzu: What did these folks want from you, anyways, Pyriel?

Son of the Morning: ooc: by the way we're heading into the climactic final section soon

Pazuzu: Anything aside from old Sam's name?

* Abyzou peers down the shaft

Son of the Morning: "They wanted to find the location of the Tablet of Eridu... I knew that Samyaza the Grigori had found it."

Son of the Morning: "Where he was last seen; where the other fragments might be."

Pazuzu: Huh, well, anyways. Looks like our answers might be down here.

Nyx: Well they got to him. Your little confessions certainly gave them what they needed.

Son of the Morning: "They have the Tablet?"

Pazuzu: Hey hey, let's not point fingers. I'm sure Pyriel tried his best.

Nyx: Of course.

Pazuzu: Oh yeah, they got it.. and we were so close too.

* Pazuzu snaps his fingers for emphasis

* Abyzou hops up over the hole

Nyx: Eugh, sewers!

* Abyzou jumps up straight in the air and pulls in her arms and legs, plunging into the sewer with a chuckle

Nyx: Truly they are scum to dwell in there

* Pazuzu starts down the ladder

* Nyx sighs

Nyx: Well, here goes

Pazuzu: Yeah, well, what can you expect?

* Nyx follows them down

Son of the Morning: Pyriel follows.[/ic]

[Steerpike]

[ic=The Inner Sanctum]Son of the Morning: You are in a tunnel with curving mould-covered walls.  Candles flicker in niches in the decaying brickwork walls, and a few inches of dirty water flow sluggishly through the tunnel, though a narrow catwalk allows you to avoid getting your feet wet.  The candles are only evident in one direction: along the other lies only dripping darkness.  Overhead, the occasional manhole cover or grate can be seen.

Pazuzu: Well, shall we follow the trail?

* Abyzou heads along the candles

Son of the Morning: A peculiar reek, unlike the ambient stench of the storm-sewers, assails your nostrils as you progress.  It smells like ancient must and bile, the death-smell of a crypt, with a whiff of brimstone like a perfume.  The candles seem to demarcate a path through the labyrinth of sewer-tunnels, twisting and turning at odd moments.
 06[18:16] * Nyx peers into the darkened directions, using her sight

* Abyzou sniffs

Son of the Morning: You think you hear footsteps up ahead, maybe murmured voices...

Abyzou: what a wonderful smell

Nyx: listen

Son of the Morning: It sounds like an argument of some kind... about comic book characters

Son of the Morning: The footsteps grow louder.

Nyx: (whisper) they are coming this way

Son of the Morning: "Batman isn't a superhero, he doesn't have any powers."

Pazuzu: Ah..

* Pazuzu attempts to conceal himself

* Nyx snuffs a few lights around the group

Son of the Morning: "He is so, it's about his deeds, not his powers!  Plus his utility
* Nyx blends itno the darkness

* Abyzou gets out of the way

Son of the Morning: You call conceal yourselves down side-tunnels, though Nyx can hide in plain sight.

"If Batman were a D&D character he'd have 18 in all stats!  That's pretty superhuman if you ask me!"

* Nyx staying still pressed against the wall

Son of the Morning: Two cowled figures appear, heading towards you.

Pazuzu: ooc: should we grab them, do you think?

Nyx: ooc: if it looks like they are high-ups I say yes

Pazuzu: ooc: well, they might have information regardless.

Son of the Morning: "But compare him to like Superman, come on!"

"Batman kills Superman, you know.  With a Kryptonite bullet!"

"I thought he didn't use guns?"

* Pazuzu lies in wait for the two cowled figures

Son of the Morning: "He doesn't usually, but..." The conversation continues as the cowled figures pass by.

Pazuzu: ooc: no objections?

* Nyx hoping to let them pass before others jump at them, so she can attack from behind them

Son of the Morning: Pyriel is breathing hard - barely containing his rage.

* Pazuzu steps out and grabs one of the figures from behind, clapping his hand over his mouth and bringing him to the ground.

Son of the Morning: The man goes down, and the other cultist spins, drawing a ceremonial dagger.

* Abyzou dives on him

* Nyx dashes forward and lunges at the standing cultist with her knife

* Abyzou whips around him with her arms in a show of surprising acrobatics, grabs his head and gives his neack a sharp yank

Abyzou: neck*

Pazuzu: Pyriel, hold this one down.

Son of the Morning: Pyriel wades in and launches himself at the prone cultist.  Abyzou tackles the other guy, and Nyx plunges her knife into his chest.

Pazuzu: So, cultist, what's going on here then, eh?  Know anything about a certain tablet?

* Pazuzu removes his hand from the cultist's mouth

Pazuzu: I'd be quiet if I were you.

Son of the Morning: "What the fuck?  Who are you?"

* Nyx leans closer tot he prone cultist

Nyx: We ask the questions here

Pazuzu: Come now, just tell us what we want to know.

Nyx: ooc: is the man wearing talismans or eye protection?

* Abyzou grabs the dead one by the top of his jaw and drags the corpse over in front of the prone one

* Abyzou grips hard and rips the top of his skull off

Son of the Morning: ooc: a little amulet round his neck

Pazuzu: Recognize this one, Pyriel?

Abyzou: wouldn't want to end up like your friend would you.  Hehehe

* Pazuzu yanks the amulet off

* Nyx snatches the amulet and throws it away

Pazuzu: ooc: or that

Nyx: Now...*murmuring softly* you will tell us all your little secrets...

Son of the Morning: "His name is Quin - he was too craven to join in while they flayed me.  Watched from the back."

* Nyx peers deep into his eyes

Abyzou: he can tell us what he knows.  Or I can eat him and tell us what he knows

* Abyzou smiles darkly

Abyzou: I am still hungry

Pazuzu: Well.. learn anything, Nyx?

* Nyx grins and cackles

Son of the Morning: Nyx: Energy 2 (uses Eyes of Night to learn the cultist's darkest secrets)

Aside to Nyx: The cultist has eaten the flesh of virgins during rituals to converse with the denizens of the Nethermost Abyss; also, the tablet is in the inner sanctum up ahead, guarded by the Servitor you saw earlier in the tome.

Nyx: Oh, quite the culinary tastes you have!

Son of the Morning: The man whimpers.

Nyx: But more importantly, what we're looking for is ahead... guarded

Son of the Morning: "They... they made me do it."  The cultist babbles.  "I didn't want to!"

Pazuzu: Oh, didn't want to, eh?

Nyx: ... by a THING akin to the one in that book

Pazuzu: Ah..

Son of the Morning: "I just wanted some guys to hang out with you know, shoot the shit about X-Men and stuff, you know?"

Pazuzu: Servitor of whatsit-blaaghi. Harmed by moonlight and sunlight.

Son of the Morning: "I guess I got in a little over my head..."

Pazuzu: Yeah, you think?

Pazuzu: Well, well, should we let him go, Pyriel?

Nyx: Oh I think it was the taste. And the sweet smell. Nothing like the flavour of VIRGIN, now is there?

Pazuzu: I'm not so sure.

* Nyx laughs at the man

Son of the Morning: The cultist begins to cry.  It's pretty pathetic.

* Pazuzu sighs

Pazuzu: What is it with these guys?

Son of the Morning: "He said nothing while they tortured me," Pyriel says.  "He's just as guilty as the rest of them."

Pazuzu: They ain't got any guts at all.

Nyx: anyway, enough time spent with this one. Our goal is near...

Son of the Morning: ooc: they're overgrown man-babies?

Pazuzu: ooc: that could be it

Pazuzu: Well, anyways.. punish him, or whatever you angels do, Pyriel.

Nyx: Do we have something to bind him with, or do we feed him to Abyzou?

Son of the Morning: "With pleasure."

* Abyzou watches pyriel in fascination

Son of the Morning: Pyriel's hands blaze with blinding heavenly fire.  The cultist screams as his body is consumed by the flickering white flames.

Abyzou: this is my favorite part

Son of the Morning: The skeleton continues screaming long after the man should be dead.

Pazuzu: Well that's just a bit off.

* Pazuzu shrugs

Son of the Morning: When the Seraph is finished, all that remains is a bit of dust.  You hear a distant squeaking sound, drawing nearer and nearer.  It sounds frenzied.

Pazuzu: Hm, Hm, shall we continue?  Or...

Nyx: I don't liek the sound of that

Son of the Morning: A swarm of rats suddenly clots the tunnel, hurrying past in a churning mass of lithe, furry bodies, shrieking frantically.  The smell is growing stronger, coagulating, mingling with animal musk, cloying the air.

Pazuzu: Ah..

Nyx: There's no avoiding this fight I guess

* Abyzou picks up a rat and eats it

Pazuzu: Were they... running from something?

Nyx: Clearly

Pazuzu: Well, let's get on with it, then.

* Abyzou burps

Abyzou: ah much better.  But I'm still hungry

Son of the Morning: Up ahead, something squelches and growls - a sickening, unwholesome sound, wet and glottal, as if some monstrous throat were being cleared of thick and putrescent mucus.  Another swarm of rats rushes by, doubtless fleeing the growl's originator.

Son of the Morning: (btw, love the catchphrase Nomadic)

Son of the Morning: A shadow looms ahead in the candlelight, round the corner of the tunnel.  Its contours are nebulous, unclear: you can make out a mass of multitudinous, flickering limbs, protruding from am undulating central vagueness.  The stench is nearly unbearable.  You can hear a sickly squelching sound.

Pazuzu: I think it's time to get serious.

Son of the Morning: any actions before this thing turns the corner?

Nyx: Should we lure it into the moonlight? It's a long way back to the streets...

Pazuzu: ooc: how big is the tunnel?

Son of the Morning: pretty spacious for a sewer, more like a storm drain really

Pazuzu: ooc: large enough for pazuzu gargoyle?

Nyx: Anyone remember how to bind this thing?

Son of the Morning: yeah, you could comfortably gargoyle

* Pazuzu drops his hat, and shifts into his true form

* Nyx also shifts to demonic form, and hides in the darkness

Pazuzu: ooc: careful, you've only got one left, now.

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu: Energy 4

* Abyzou picks up the dead cultists body and whips around like a sling before launching the corpse at the beast

Son of the Morning: Nyx: Energy 1

Son of the Morning: Pyriel's eyes start glowing.  Abruptly, his angelic form sloughs away, and a massive black serpent, alight with white flames, fills the passage.

Son of the Morning: A squirming, glistening, rancid horror turns the corner, nearly filling the tunnel.  Foetid breath emanates from its slavering, many-fanged mouth, beneath which flail a mass of snickering, claw-ended tentacles flicker.  A nest of hideous, many-jointed limbs sprout from about its head, while cluster of globular eyes peer out of the stinking blackness.

Son of the Morning: The dead cultist's body ricochets off the beast's hide, but the Servitor catches it with one of its pincers and devours it whole.

* Pazuzu roars and blasts it with demoniac lightning

Son of the Morning: Its squirming towards you with sickening speed - actions?

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu: Energy 2

* Nyx waits for an opportune moment to attack

Son of the Morning: Pyriel darts forward, ablaze with heavenly fire, while Pazuzu's demoniac lightning crackles alongside him.  The Servitor gives an unholy shriek as the lightning and the supremely pissed-off Seraph collide with its body.  It begins grappling the Seraph, wrestling the serpentine angel with its variegated limbs and hissing hideously.

Son of the Morning: (this would be an opportunity to attack, if you wanted it, Nyx)

* Nyx snakes behind it and attacks furiously, clawing

* Abyzou watches the whole thing whistling

Son of the Morning: hahahaha excellent!

* Nyx lets out a blood-curdling shriek of anger

Son of the Morning: Nyx wrenches off one of the creature's limbs, and ichor spurts through the air.

Nyx: Don't just stand there you little imp! Fight!

Son of the Morning: Pyriel and the Servitor are still wrestling, thrashing against the walls of the sewer and bringing down clouds of dust and loose bricks.

* Pazuzu lets fly the last of his lightning, and jumpts into the melee, grabbing the creature by the neck

Pazuzu: jumps*

Abyzou: what do you want me to do exactly

Son of the Morning: The horror flails its limbs and snatches at Nyx and Pazuzu with its pincers.

Nyx: Anything to put some pain on this freak

Son of the Morning: ooc: I'm going to flip a coin for each of you; heads you stay on, tails you get thrown off.

* Pazuzu squeezes with all of his might

Abyzou: well if you want me to do something I suggest you get away from that thing

* Abyzou whistles

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu manages to keep hold of the beast but Nyx is thrown aside, smashing into the tunnel wall.

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu, you rip a nasty wound in the Servitor's throat, producing another jet of ichor.

Nyx: Well NOW I am away from it!

Pazuzu: Take a bite out of it, or something!

* Nyx groans

Son of the Morning: The ichor spurts with tremendous force, blowing Pazuzu free of the melee

* Nyx gets back on her tail but not yet attacking

Son of the Morning: "Go!"  Pyriel bellows, his voice full of echoes.  "I will take care of the beast!"

* Abyzou reaches up, probing the brickwork of the tunnel cieling and wrenches with a massive telekinetic tug

Son of the Morning: The tunnel begins to collapse.  Moonlight streams in, and the creature bursts into flame where the light touches its flesh!

Son of the Morning: Abyzou: Energy 3

* Nyx dashes out away from the collapsing debris

Son of the Morning: Pyriel and the Servitor are intertwined beneath the rubble.  The horror screams and burns, releasing a stench even more horrifying than its normal rancid musk.

* Abyzou cracks her neck

Nyx: ooc: is the path to the place where it came from still accessible?

Son of the Morning: yes, although in a moment the tunnel behind you may collapse

Son of the Morning: fully, that is

* Pazuzu starts forward to pass the beast

Son of the Morning: There is a glow, and Pyriel reverts to his "mortal" form, staggering out from the rubble, still half-flayed.

* Nyx slithers quickly into the tunnel toward the sanctum(?)

* Abyzou jumps and launches herself ontop of the rubble and clambers down the other side

Son of the Morning: You continue through the sewers, following the candlelit path.

* Pazuzu shifts back into his normal form, securing a new fedora atop his head

Son of the Morning: A trail of mucus marks where the Servitor had traveled.

Son of the Morning: You can hear a dull chanting sound echoing down the corridor from up ahead.  Something peculiar is happening to the walls here.  You catch glimpses out of the corner of your eye of faces peering at you from the brickwork...

* Nyx shifts to mortal form

Son of the Morning: Eyes, mouths, and whole visages leer suddenly out of the walls, jabbering and laughing manically at you before dissolving back into the ether.  This is the sort of place that would seriously fuck with the frail minds of mortals - but compared to the Abyss, this stuff looks about as disturbing as the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

* Abyzou sticks her tongue out at one of the things

Pazuzu: You alright, Pyriel?

Son of the Morning: The Seraph shudders.  "I will be fine."  He drips gold-flecked blood.

Nyx: We should hurry. That chanting cant's be good for us.

Son of the Morning: An eldritch tremor runs through the air: you are atop a convergence of ley-lines, where the membranes between worlds is so thin as to be translucent, allowing glimmers of the Abyss to leak through.  The chanting is still louder, and you think you can see a crimson glow up ahead, round another bend in the labyrinth of tunnels.  The water gurgling through the tunnel is turning red, and you catch a definite whiff of brimstone.

Pazuzu: Ah.. hmm.

Son of the Morning: Three tunnels converge in a central confluence here, around which some kind of sinister shrine has been erected.  Swirling in the center of the chamber is a vortex of churning water that looks suspiciously like the stygian river-water of the Pit.  Half a dozen robed cultists officiate before a grisly altar with a reliquary beneath it, chanting garbled prayers to the tenebrous Elder Ones.  Though clearly the mortals before you are wrapped up in what the think is the depth of diabolism and depravity, you can't shake the feeling that what you're witnessing is a kind of LARP gone wrong.  The candelabra, chains, grotesque idols, and other gothic paraphernalia they've used to decorate their "temple of darkness" are kitschy rather than truly horrifying.

Pazuzu: ooc: do we see the tablet

Nyx: The tablet should be here... according to that cultist's thoughts

Abyzou: ah good

Pazuzu: Perhaps in the reliquary.

Son of the Morning: no - although one of the cultists is kneeling down at the reliquary.  You hear some kind of unfathomably enormous bellow from doan below, in the vortex.

Pazuzu: Alright folks, shows over! Give us the fragment, and maybe some of you don't get hurt.

* Abyzou walks out and projects the sound of maniacal laughter into all of their heads
* Abyzou skips up towards the nearest guy

Son of the Morning: Two of the six cultists fall to the ground, cluctching at their temples.

Son of the Morning: clutching*

* Nyx observes the situation from the back

* Abyzou attempts to punch THROUGH his heart

Son of the Morning: The "high priest" opens the reliquary and pulls out a fragile-looking fragment of clay.  Abyzou pulls a Temple of Doom on the cultist, showering her with blood.

* Abyzou giggles as the cultist slumps to the ground, and gulps down his heart

Son of the Morning: Pyriel zaps one of the cultists with some heaven-fire, but he's looking low on divine essence...

* Abyzou looks at the others with an unsettling stare, drenched in blood

Son of the Morning: "I spent my power against that horror... I have little Grace in me left."

* Pazuzu leaps up towards the high priest, and attempts to wrest the fragment from him

* Nyx picks one of the cultists and animates his shadow

Son of the Morning: The two of you totters along the edge of the vortex.

Son of the Morning: Nyx: Energy 0

Nyx: Fight for us, shade!

Pazuzu: Give me the fragment!

Son of the Morning: The shadow wrenches free of the cultist, its shadow-limbs flickering.  It draws its black limb across the man's throat.

Son of the Morning: "Never!"  The high priest shrieks.  "The black gods of the Abyss shall rule once more!"

* Nyx draws her knife and closes in on the fighting, looking to stab anyone that seems to be distracted by others

Son of the Morning: Nyx, you dispatch one of the remaining cultists with ease  - he was staring at Abyzou in awe-struck horror.

* Pazuzu lets out a peal of eldritch thunder right next to the high priest's head

* Abyzou jumps up onto the priests back and wraps her arms around his neck in a chokehold

Son of the Morning: Pazuzu: Energy 1

Son of the Morning: The priest screams, Abyzou jumps round his body, and he drops the fragment - into the vortex!

* Nyx curses

Pazuzu: ooc: gasp

Son of the Morning: BUM BUM BUUUUUUUM!

* Pazuzu reaches for it futilely

Abyzou: that... was a bad idea

* Abyzou breaks his neck... hard

Son of the Morning: Pyriel runs past you, his wings manifesting as he leaps over the edge

Son of the Morning: There is a moment of silence as the Seraph dissapears into the vortex...

Son of the Morning: ...

Son of the Morning: ...Before rising out of the Netherworldly confluence, the fragment in his hands!

* Abyzou applaudes in approval

Nyx: The fragment - give it to us

* Nyx eyes the angel suspiciously

Son of the Morning: The Seraph's face is full of indecision and self-loathing; he floats slowly to the ground.

Pazuzu: You swore an oath, Pyriel.  Come, deliver the fragment.

* Nyx commands the animated shadow by her side

* Abyzou sits down on the floor in a pool of blood, seemingly uncaring

Son of the Morning: For a moment the angel looks as if he will disobey, or even destroy the fragment.

Son of the Morning: But then uncertainity fills his eyes again.  He holds out the fragment in disgust.

* Nyx smiles

* Pazuzu takes it gingerly

Pazuzu: Well, we thank you for your service, Pyriel.

Nyx: You were reasonable after all

Pazuzu: You'd be welcome in Hell, you know. I am certain of it.

Son of the Morning: The angel bows his head.  "The Authority would never forgive my trasngression, even if I destroyed the tablet," he says.

Nyx: True that

Pazuzu: But whatever you choose, you have done as you said, so I release you.

* Abyzou stands up and walks over to the angel

Son of the Morning: Relief comes over the angel, who spreads his wings.

* Abyzou smiles at him

Nyx: Enjoy your freedom, now. You'll find none of that in Heaven

Abyzou: take care angel

* Abyzou chuckles and walks off

Son of the Morning: "Nor in the Abyss, despite your promise.  I have nothing more to say to you... filth."  He snarls and turns, walking off into the darkness...

* Pazuzu shrugs

Son of the Morning: (any parting shots, summative statements, final quips?)

Nyx: Now let us leave this stinking chamber

* Abyzou covered from head to toe in gore looks at the other two

Pazuzu: He seemed alright, for an angel.

Abyzou: I'm not hungry anymore.  Let's get out of here

Pazuzu: Whatever. Let's go, we've got a delivery to make.[/ic]

[Ghostman]

Very fun game! Can't help but love and hate Abyzou at the same time :D  I enjoyed the contrast between Nyx and Pazuzu in their outlook on the mortals they came across. The Pyriel NPC really breathed life into the plot, making it more than a simple dungeon raid.

[Steerpike]

Thanks Ghostman, glad you enjoyed it!  I'm particularly pleased with how Pyriel was handled... he was probably the creepiest thing in the adventure.

[Nomadic]

He was an immense help, especially there at the end.

[Steerpike]

I was worried that he might even have overpowered the ending, but I think I avoided that.  I tried to use him in a similar way to the Soldier Cog in Polycarp!'s no stats theatre.

[LD]

Really enjoyed reading this- Pazuzu really misses Sammael from the last game.

I like how the comic book retailer was dealt with in the first scene.

Terribly efficient how you dealt with the goth girl ;)

[Ghostman]

Terribly efficient how you dealt with the goth girl ;)

In hindsight a total overkill. Should have just clubbed her over the head, tied her up and locked her in that washroom. :hammer:

[Steerpike]

I have an idea for a third one (maybe in a month or two?) if people are interested... probably would be less with the gore and action, more roleplaying and intrigue (it'd be set at a glamorous party).

[Nomadic]

I have an idea for a third one (maybe in a month or two?) if people are interested... probably would be less with the gore and action, more roleplaying and intrigue (it'd be set at a glamorous party).

You know as well as I do that Aby is going to crash the party... and I would love to join in.