Part 4: Geist’s Mountain (Interlude and RP)

[Pender Lumkiss]

Knight Zee Hail’s Report

From Knight Zee Hail’s After Action Report.
Location Thunder Valley

The darkness I sensed within the ranks of the 13th was a hidden connection between their technowizard Libertas and the meglomaniac Victoria Geist. Even having followed my leige’s orders to stay out of the Tolkeen war I knew of Victoria Geists campaign in the western front leading the Tolkeen forces to many victories. Rumors are that her strategies are light years ahead of others, and her penchant for the dark arts knows no bounds. She was even the first to contact and bargin with the dreaded Demonix. Of course her exploits in Gloom and the battle in an alternate dimention is well known to me having participated on the back of a snow dragon in the latter. I wonder when Libertas came under her influence... Was it prior to the battle or sometime later?

Regardless the heroes knew their duty and went after her. Somehow she was able to gain control of a several thousand foot floating mountain in the strange place known as Thunder Valley. She could levitating it towards her will. The thunder valley was beset by small and large techno wizardry augmented dinosaur, as well as some kimd of snake man on the mountain its self. I was ablemto look at one of the snake man’s bodies... It reminded me of the foul craft I saw during the war for Gloom. Giest developed her own form of murder wraith... The innards of the snake men seemed to be along those lines. After a brief exchange with Libertas aided by his allies the mountain changed course and headed into a gigantic rift larger than any that I have ever seen. I think this rift that swallowed the Mountain and heroes was bigger than any seen many along the leylines that feed Devil’s Gate. Seth and I saw to the saftey of the civilians (the augmented dinosaurs retreated) and the last thing we saw was Jude making sure Cantrell got safely onto the Mountain’s base. We did give Cantrell a cyber knight homing becon, my own. If activated it will produce a smiliar signal to the one we picked up regarding the lost knight Lucretia. I formally request the use of a shifter and retrieval team should the signal be picked up by scouts in the field.

The rift swallows the Mountain and the team sees the skyline of Dweomer below. The mountain must be about two thousand feet above the ground. The energy of the mountain shifts slightly and those on it see it shimmer and disappear. Anyone with a lick of magical ability can sense a dark power released from within as a legendary invisibility spell was wrought and released making something incapable of turning invisible do just that. The cavern hole is just barely able to made out and provides a safe haven of sorts against the chilling howling wind blowing through the night air. Then the mountain begins to move upward at a slow plodding pace.

The cavern turns out to be a series of interconnected tunnels that lead on and on, and on. The ground is unstable, and constantly shifting. Stalagtites are forming and falling making it a slow trek to find Giest and Lucretia. At least one day passes without any sign of Giest, Lucretia, snakemen or other lackies. As the team rotates watches, while keeping a look out, you are visited by a ghost of your past. While interacting with this spector you get a feeling that this is only the beginning of your trials on this mountain and that somehow the question asked by the spector will directly influence your jounrey here. Perhaps even despite your best efforts a memory surfaces or conversation is sparked.

Cantrell

A dog boy with haunting brown eyes appears sitting next to you: Butcher! He looks scared. His paw almost touches your leg. His ears are flattened behind his head and his eyes are wide looking at something that is not there anymore: You. ” Captain we sure made you mad huh? But thats not the real disappointment is it? “ Butcher points to the others asleep on the floor, ”What aren’t you telling them? What are you afraid of?”

Libertas

A man with a gentle look appears next to Libertas. He almost reaches out to take your hand. His soft eyes and proud grin are unmistakable: Libertas Dignate! He has the same clothes on the day he died. The same twinkle all fathes have in their for his son. But beneath it Libertas can sense a creeping worry.” You have grown my boy. I am so very proud. You can be so much more still. What is holding you back? What are you afraid of?”

Jude

Slick hair and the Maverick dashing grin, Uncle Mac smiles and almost puts his hand on your shoulder. His voice is easy as if trying to ease your pain, ”Tough road so far kid. It wasn’t your fault I ended up where I ended. But look at you! A far cry from the city slicker or babe I used to bounce on my knee. Still... What are you doing here Jude? A man among Gods no? What is keeping you from that greatness? What are you so afraid of?”

Jitters

Unlike the others no spector comes at first. Your watch is plagued with shifting shadows that make you think the enemey lurks closer than you think. A hand reaches through the darkness spinning you around to face a brown haired man with a pleasant smile and sparkling blue electric eyes: Savitar! He releases your shoulder. His voice is a confidant whisper, ” Son... What holds you here? There is so much more you and I could accomplish. Why stay here? What could possibly hold you here and deny you your place as a god?” His hand sweeps across the tunnel the group rested in. Jitters vision is overlaped and overcome with a multitude of possible outcomes of the teams journey... each one worse than the next. Savitar whispers again, ”Which one makes you truely a fraid?”

---

Player Directions: interlude time! Carry on a conversation or maybe describe a memory, about what your character dreads or fears. +1 xp is gained immediately.

Feel free to RP as needed or wanted as well. Maybe your character caught a bit of the spectors conversation with character on watch. Or perhaps you wake up after the spector leaves and notice the comrade on watch is visibly disturbed. Maybe you just want a chance to talk to your friends. Do what you guys do best.

Last but not least throw down a notice check at -2 to find your way through these caves! Highest roll will find the way, and if you guys get more than 5 successes as a group you will receive a small bonus to the next scene.

Need a refresher on Victoria Geist? Pop open Knight Zee Hail’s OCC.

Hi Libertas, Geist is your enemey. When it comes down to it no soaking from her attacks.

[Libertas Magicum]

Notice 9

Notice [dice:23bpjtev]48037:0[/dice:23bpjtev] ACE [dice:23bpjtev]48037:2[/dice:23bpjtev] ACE [dice:23bpjtev]48037:3[/dice:23bpjtev]
Wild Notice [dice:23bpjtev]48037:1[/dice:23bpjtev]

During the hunt through the tunnels, Libertas has an almost uncanny knack for finding the shortcuts and best routes. It's almost like he's being called, rather than searching for it. Like Geist wants him to find her. Which doesn't put his mind at ease, at all.

And then his brain goes all Hamlet. At least, he assumes he's talking to a voice in his head, because he'd rather not think of his father being stuck as an actual ghost.

"Afraid, Dad? I'm not afraid of anything, really. I mean, death in general, sure, but nothing..."

His father just gives him a crooked eyebrow, one firmly engraved in the Techno-wizard's memory. Libertas sighs.

"Okay, yes, I'm holding back a bit, but.... It's not easy to explain. It's fine when we're going up against normal people. I know that, even if they're doing something stupid or cruel, they still are people, and I have to not be... y'know, mean about it. But...."

He draws a deep breath.

"Here, when it's a situation like this? When we're up against a monster who just happens to look like a person, someone utterly evil and corrupted like Geist? Yeah... Against someone like that, I can cut loose. I don't have to play nice, or gentle, or worry about overstepping, because anything I do to them, they deserve. And that would be fine, except..."

His voice drops to a murmur. "Sometimes, when I'm in the moment against someone like that... I like it. I enjoy the feeling of being able to unleash all that darkness on a deserving target. It's a rush. It's... it's fun, pure and simple. And that scares the shit out of me, because I know that it makes it a lot easier to rationalize cutting loose like that against one of those other folks. The ones who are doing the wrong thing, but could be stopped with lesser methods, or even steered back onto the right path."

His voice takes on the tone of someone quoting. "'He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster.' That's what I'm afraid of, Dad. Not dying or failing or loss. I've come to terms with all of those. But the idea of becoming a monster like the ones I fight? Yeah, that worries me."

[Cantrell]

Cantrell's been on watch half an hour when Butcher's ghost pipes up beside her, sounding a little less like the rabid mongrel she'd put down outside Xenith Base and more like the hulking second-in-command who'd followed her through the Tolkeen war.

"Mad at you? Shit, Butch, you used to make me furious on a good day," she says, glancing sideways at the apparition but keeping her attention on the branching tunnels all around. "But I liked having you and the rest of the boys with me. I suppose you were just following orders for most of it. And any dog will go bad if you beat it long enough."

She sighs and kicks at the rocks on the floor, careful not to wake the others sleeping around her.

"As for what I'm afraid of ... I suppose it starts with the fact that sitting here talking to a ghost doesn't seem all that strange anymore. Between all the timey-wimey bullshit and whatever the fuck kind of cyberware broke or came online or whatever in my head, nothing seems strange. At the same time, everything's unfamiliar, too ... less firm."

"You know, one of the things I always held onto, from the time I enlisted, to Wichita Falls, to Tolkeen -- I knew who I was. Knew what Nadya Cantrell was about. Angry and stubborn enough to get out of the 'Burbs. Handy enough with a rifle to make it as a sharpshooter. Hard-nosed enough to command my own squad. Hell, I knew with as much certainty when I was done with the Coalition. Knew I wasn't a soldier who blindly follows orders anymore."

"Now, with all this Camp Kander shit, 'the Director' and my 'mission' and whatever else Llyboc was talking about ... I don't know what's real and what's not. I can't remember most of it, but it feels as real as my memory of that little D'Norr girl outside Tolkeen, and everything that's come after. As real as Bane in that void I know shouldn't exist."

For the tenth time, she pulls the e-clip out of her rifle, checks the contacts for dirt or corrosion, then slaps it back in.

"Death doesn't frighten me, Butcher," she says, staring into the darkness. "But I'm afraid I might be going crazy. And even more scared I won't be able to tell if I already am."

Notice 9

Notice [dice:27dk4hjv]48124:0[/dice:27dk4hjv]
Wild [dice:27dk4hjv]48124:1[/dice:27dk4hjv]
Wild [dice:27dk4hjv]48124:2[/dice:27dk4hjv]

[Jude Maverick]

Notice 23; 5 successes

-2 difficulty
Notice [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:0[/dice:7pdfzizg]
Wild [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:1[/dice:7pdfzizg]
Benny Elan to reroll
Notice [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:2[/dice:7pdfzizg]
Ace [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:4[/dice:7pdfzizg]
Ace [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:5[/dice:7pdfzizg]
Wild [dice:7pdfzizg]48142:3[/dice:7pdfzizg]

Dweomer/Geist Mountain
Night
Round 0

Jude hated the dark. He always had. Oh, he wasn’t afraid of it, not in the usual sense, but just in the healthy sense that all humans were. Even with light from his rifle. He glanced over in the direction Cantrell and Libertas slept. Jude wasn’t keeping watch so much as keeping an ear open. There was nothing to see in the pitch black, and igniting a light, even a low one, was just asking for trouble to come looking for you. So when Jude actually saw his Uncle Mack sitting beside him, he knew he had to be hallucinating or something.

Slick hair and the Maverick dashing grin, Uncle Mac smiled and almost put his hand on Jude’s shoulder. His voice was easy, as if trying to ease your pain. ”Tough road so far, kid. It wasn’t your fault I ended up where I ended. But look at you! A far cry from the city slicker or babe I used to bounce on my knee. Still... What are you doing here, Jude? A man among gods, no? What is keeping you from that greatness? What are you so afraid of?”

Jude gave a wry smile and pulled out his everfull flask. “Afraid of? Why, nothing, Uncle Mack,” he said with bravado and bitterness. “Isn’t that what you taught me? Never let them see you sweat. Never show them fear.” He took a long swallow. “You want me to list everything? How about afraid of losing another person I love? Or loved. What about losing them because it was my fault? I couldn’t save them? You’re right. I am just a man. I got lucky, saving Nicci. And now she may be heading for a wedding with a dead man. I don’t have magic. I can’t bend reality. What if Nadya bites it because of that?”

Another drink. “I’m afraid of commitment. Of what it means to really love someone, get tied down. I jump from bed to bed because if I decide to stick around, what if it turns out like Michelle? I don’t think I can handle that kind of pain again. If I don’t get attached, I can’t get hurt.”

Another drink. “But that’s a lie. It still hurts. Every time. Brittany. Bree. Cherie. Melinda. Sarah. Nadya.”

Mack scoffed. “Nadya never gives you the time of day.”

“I know.” Another drink. “That’s what hurts. I don’t...want to be the fool she thinks I am. I want to be someone she can trust. Rely on. Someone who can save her.”

Mack laughed. “That woman doesn’t need saving. She’s plenty capable.”

Jude shook his head. “We all need saving from something, Uncle Mack.” He took another drink. “I’m afraid what people will think if they really knew me, a big, giant ball of fear and insecurity.” He stared down at his flask and capped it, putting it away. Getting drunk wouldn’t help.

“Mostly I’m afraid I will never see Michelle again. What if I die alone. Like you?”

There was quiet, and Jude thought his uncle had gone, until he spoke again. “You always did put too much stock in her.”

“And you never thought she was more than a notch on my bedpost,” Jude said. “You encouraged me.”

Mack laughed. “Yes, but I also warned you to be careful where you were sticking your head.” he said. “Beauregard is old, but he’s wily and ruthless. You don’t become Prosek’s military advisor without that.”

Jude didn’t have much to say to that. “And I’m afraid Michelle has forgotten me…” he whispered into the empty darkness.

Mission Objectives

Sent by temporal ghost Bane to Dweomer to retrieve the Valent Blade to cut Earth off from bad timey-wimey stuff caused by all the temporal mucking..
Get something that belongs to Lord Dunscon.
Trade caravan with dog boy crazies to Stormspire.