Water of Life Update
The characters were at the top of the Watchtower of the Lead Coin. Marty decided not to stay - the place was stagnation, and staying here would make him too much like Mazda, Jesus' creator. Hank, too, made a decision - he wasn't a Tammuz. He was whatever he was, before his humour was fixed as melancholic. That makes him aspected toward "void," I suppose, which means he'll have a unique Bestowment as soon as I write it.
They flew back toward the Fallen World, and what's between the Supernal and the Fallen World? Yep, the Abyss! Flying through that, that pure darkness that wasn't quite empty, was a strain on the sanity. Al actually wound up picking up a minor derangement on the way (synesthesia), but otherwise, they came through OK. I asked them all what they were thinking, in an attempt to decide where they should surface. They were all dwelling on decisions they'd made recently, and their collective responses led me to decide...
...the banks of the mighty Mississippi. They surface and clambered out. The crows took flight and told them what state they were in, and then left to go "pull myself together" (read: find a new host body). There was a house nearby, and Jesus, being the only one who had clothes, went to check it out.
The door was ajar. He smelled something awful inside. He went in, poked around, saw no one, and then went upstairs and found bedrooms that looked fully lived-in. He stole a bunch of clothes and went back outside. The characters piled in and started looking about. Marty found a computer and hacked past the password, but it immediately shut down. Julia found a safe on the wall with a bunch of books inside, all of them on esoteric concepts. Al and Jesus went downstairs (where Jesus had smelled the stench) and found...carnage.
Five dead bodies, torn apart by something fiercely strong. Hank came downstairs and looked around, and they realized that whatever did this had done it with bare hands, and was at least as strong as Al (the dude who can, y'know, throw trucks). Jesus started using Corpse Tongue, and found that these folks were mages.
Meanwhile, Julia had found a strongbox under a bed. Hank cracked it open and got a face-full of poison, but he shook it off. Inside were five pocket-watches with a crest emblazoned on them. Jesus asked one of the dead people what they were, and learned that they were meant to help "the Consilium" find the mages. Al figured that leaving after the dude who'd killed these people could wait, since mages seemed to be able to transport people anywhere they wanted (recall, they've met Ogma), and so they started looking for this "Consilium" in the mages' address book.
Using the phone bill, they found a number that was commonly used and called it. They contacted someone in Memphis named Muriel, but it wasn't her that answered, it was her assistant. They quickly ascertained that these folks were mages as well, and the assistant knocked on their door seconds later. A few quick explanations later, and the mages decided that since this thing (that was, based on the corpses descriptions, a Tammuz) could kill mages so effectively, the Prometheans should go after it. The mage told them that one of the cars in the garage could handle mud just fine, and off they went!
They weren't driving long before Azoth called to Azoth. They stopped the car and tracked down the creature. When it waded out of the water, Marty saw it only had half a word on its forehead, and yelled "Get him!" The fight was joined.
Hank grappled it, and it jumped backwards into the water. The current swept them along, and it did some damage to Hank, but not enough. Julia and Marty swam in after it, while Jesus and Al played support from the bank. They killed it, and managed to drag it to shore (thanks to Animate Firetouched). When they walked back to the car, they found the assistant standing there. His mistress (Muriel) teleported them to Memphis, into a now-empty nightclub called the Hollywood. They slapped a set of magical handcuffs on the now-dead Promethean, and they made it so heavy that not even Al could lift him.
Muriel used magic to see his history, and showed Hank and Jesus. This dude had been a creation of Zaib Al-Ahmed, apparently, but Zaib had been interrupted before he could finish the rite. This Golem had awakened anyway, and stumbled along the banks until it met a cabal of mages. Disquiet took over, then Torment, then slaughter. In his dying moments, one of the mages cursed the Golem, and it had been unable to snap out of its killing-frenzy where mages were concerned (Muriel surmised that this might not have been what the spell was originally meant to do. If any of this sounds familiar, by the way, have a shifty at the Stannum write-up in the Promethean core book).
Jesus used Corpse Tongue on the body, and learned that he'd been created as a slave. They figured that they couldn't save him, but that maybe they'd need to track down this Zaib guy at some point.
They decided to get some sleep. Dawn broke, and Al found himself look out the door, into the sunshine. He realized he could keep walking, and perhaps come to the end of the Pilgrimage...he woke Nathan up, and told him what was happening. Nathan gave him his blessing and thanked him for his guidance, and Al walked out into the New Dawn.
Bit of a tense dice roll, that, but it succeeded. The Azoth roll to remember stuff failed, however (chance die), and Al remembered only that his name was Al...maybe "Nathan." "Al Nathan," that was it. He remembered traveling, and being in a big city, and being in this bar last night. He wandered away in search of work in exchange for something to eat, still confused.
The characters woke up later and Nathan told them what had happened. He asked to be admitted to the throng. Marty asked him why, and he said that he wasn't ready to be on his own (which Marty didn't really care about) and that Al had said that the throng was good people and would accept him (which Marty accepted). He joined the alchemical pact, and the characters wished Al well.
Muriel then asked where they were headed. Marty wanted to get back to his RV, but Muriel said that without a point of reference, she couldn't send them. Then she had the bright idea of looking into Jesus' brain to see Renate, and sent them home that way. The characters arrived back at the lake, and found their RV unharmed. They're missing some clothes and some money, but a great deal wiser, and they packed up and headed for Round Lake - hometown of Darren Pursell, the man who died to produce Jesus.
And as for Al? He wandered back to the bar that night, and Muriel approached him and offered him a job. As he settled into washing dishes, Muriel threated her cabal and the staff there with a week of mindlessness if they so much as hinted about the supernatural to Al. "He needs to figure out who he is," she said.
They flew back toward the Fallen World, and what's between the Supernal and the Fallen World? Yep, the Abyss! Flying through that, that pure darkness that wasn't quite empty, was a strain on the sanity. Al actually wound up picking up a minor derangement on the way (synesthesia), but otherwise, they came through OK. I asked them all what they were thinking, in an attempt to decide where they should surface. They were all dwelling on decisions they'd made recently, and their collective responses led me to decide...
...the banks of the mighty Mississippi. They surface and clambered out. The crows took flight and told them what state they were in, and then left to go "pull myself together" (read: find a new host body). There was a house nearby, and Jesus, being the only one who had clothes, went to check it out.
The door was ajar. He smelled something awful inside. He went in, poked around, saw no one, and then went upstairs and found bedrooms that looked fully lived-in. He stole a bunch of clothes and went back outside. The characters piled in and started looking about. Marty found a computer and hacked past the password, but it immediately shut down. Julia found a safe on the wall with a bunch of books inside, all of them on esoteric concepts. Al and Jesus went downstairs (where Jesus had smelled the stench) and found...carnage.
Five dead bodies, torn apart by something fiercely strong. Hank came downstairs and looked around, and they realized that whatever did this had done it with bare hands, and was at least as strong as Al (the dude who can, y'know, throw trucks). Jesus started using Corpse Tongue, and found that these folks were mages.
Meanwhile, Julia had found a strongbox under a bed. Hank cracked it open and got a face-full of poison, but he shook it off. Inside were five pocket-watches with a crest emblazoned on them. Jesus asked one of the dead people what they were, and learned that they were meant to help "the Consilium" find the mages. Al figured that leaving after the dude who'd killed these people could wait, since mages seemed to be able to transport people anywhere they wanted (recall, they've met Ogma), and so they started looking for this "Consilium" in the mages' address book.
Using the phone bill, they found a number that was commonly used and called it. They contacted someone in Memphis named Muriel, but it wasn't her that answered, it was her assistant. They quickly ascertained that these folks were mages as well, and the assistant knocked on their door seconds later. A few quick explanations later, and the mages decided that since this thing (that was, based on the corpses descriptions, a Tammuz) could kill mages so effectively, the Prometheans should go after it. The mage told them that one of the cars in the garage could handle mud just fine, and off they went!
They weren't driving long before Azoth called to Azoth. They stopped the car and tracked down the creature. When it waded out of the water, Marty saw it only had half a word on its forehead, and yelled "Get him!" The fight was joined.
Hank grappled it, and it jumped backwards into the water. The current swept them along, and it did some damage to Hank, but not enough. Julia and Marty swam in after it, while Jesus and Al played support from the bank. They killed it, and managed to drag it to shore (thanks to Animate Firetouched). When they walked back to the car, they found the assistant standing there. His mistress (Muriel) teleported them to Memphis, into a now-empty nightclub called the Hollywood. They slapped a set of magical handcuffs on the now-dead Promethean, and they made it so heavy that not even Al could lift him.
Muriel used magic to see his history, and showed Hank and Jesus. This dude had been a creation of Zaib Al-Ahmed, apparently, but Zaib had been interrupted before he could finish the rite. This Golem had awakened anyway, and stumbled along the banks until it met a cabal of mages. Disquiet took over, then Torment, then slaughter. In his dying moments, one of the mages cursed the Golem, and it had been unable to snap out of its killing-frenzy where mages were concerned (Muriel surmised that this might not have been what the spell was originally meant to do. If any of this sounds familiar, by the way, have a shifty at the Stannum write-up in the Promethean core book).
Jesus used Corpse Tongue on the body, and learned that he'd been created as a slave. They figured that they couldn't save him, but that maybe they'd need to track down this Zaib guy at some point.
They decided to get some sleep. Dawn broke, and Al found himself look out the door, into the sunshine. He realized he could keep walking, and perhaps come to the end of the Pilgrimage...he woke Nathan up, and told him what was happening. Nathan gave him his blessing and thanked him for his guidance, and Al walked out into the New Dawn.
Bit of a tense dice roll, that, but it succeeded. The Azoth roll to remember stuff failed, however (chance die), and Al remembered only that his name was Al...maybe "Nathan." "Al Nathan," that was it. He remembered traveling, and being in a big city, and being in this bar last night. He wandered away in search of work in exchange for something to eat, still confused.
The characters woke up later and Nathan told them what had happened. He asked to be admitted to the throng. Marty asked him why, and he said that he wasn't ready to be on his own (which Marty didn't really care about) and that Al had said that the throng was good people and would accept him (which Marty accepted). He joined the alchemical pact, and the characters wished Al well.
Muriel then asked where they were headed. Marty wanted to get back to his RV, but Muriel said that without a point of reference, she couldn't send them. Then she had the bright idea of looking into Jesus' brain to see Renate, and sent them home that way. The characters arrived back at the lake, and found their RV unharmed. They're missing some clothes and some money, but a great deal wiser, and they packed up and headed for Round Lake - hometown of Darren Pursell, the man who died to produce Jesus.
And as for Al? He wandered back to the bar that night, and Muriel approached him and offered him a job. As he settled into washing dishes, Muriel threated her cabal and the staff there with a week of mindlessness if they so much as hinted about the supernatural to Al. "He needs to figure out who he is," she said.