Water of Life Update
We begin the next story, entitled "Strangers on a Hill," headed for Boston. It was originally my intent to start the characters off in Boston and jump right into the story, but upon further reflection I decided we needed more time than that. Julia was embarking upon the Refinement of Silver, and I decided that characters needed a session to figure out their next steps on the Pilgrimage, even if those steps are "find what my next steps should be."
First off, Julia had fulfilled a milestone in having sex with a mortal (see hot493's post in ptc_playtest), but was finding that Gold wasn't working for her. Now, how much of that is that mimicking mortals really isn't her way and how much is the blood addiction? Good question, but one we'll address some other time. For now, she'd been corresponding with an adherent of the Refinement of Silver named Maggie who lived in a small town in central Mass on the way to Boston. They found the place, covered in snow, and felt Maggie's radiance long before they got to her house, indicating that she was fairly powerful. The walk to her house up her long, long driveway was hard, wading through waist-deep snow, and Marty noted that spirits were abundant, though the spirit world didn't seem as chaotic as other Ulgan Wastelands he'd seen.
They met Maggie and she said they were early (it was February 13th; her "dreams" had told her they were coming on the 14th), but shrugged that off. She took them inside and gave them hot chocolate, and the group of them shared Rambles. Maggie, incidentally, has been around since the late 1800s, but that doesn't hold a candle to Hank, who helped build the Pyramids (he thinks). Maggie told them about some of her experiences, and shared a peculiar story about the Seer.
The Seer, supposedly, is a powerful Promethean who traveled all over the world and made little marks where he'd learned some important, enlightening lesson. He'd walked all of the Refinements, and his Shrines, allegedly, were places of great power and wisdom for Prometheans. Maggie said she was looking for one called the Witches' Graveyard, somewhere in central Mass, but hadn't found it yet. She had been planning to pack up, but when Julia started writing her she decided to hang around a little longer and teach (which she's apparently done before).
She also told the group, in her own terms, about Athanors and about the physical stuff of Vitriol (and about lacuna). Her own Athanor is the Raven, but you'll read all about that in Magnum Opus.
She asked what all of them were looking for. Hank said he wanted to find out more about his past. Al wanted to learn about the men whose bodies had been used to build him (and this spurred a discussion about whether it was possible for the ghost of such a body to linger...and whether it still possessed a claim on the body. PLOT HOOK FOR LATER). Julia, of course, wanted to learn about the Refinement of Silver, and did, including a Transmutation from that Refinement's special class. Marty wants to find the Scholar (the Advocate of the Sworn Book who he suspects is his creator) in Boston.
Jesus, of course, wants "a stone to sharpen himself against." This spurred a discussion on death and resurrection (and the throng learned that they can die once - once - and return). Maggie offered to call up a spirit to battle Jesus, and she called up Endusu, the Death of Growing Things, a spirit of the Killing Frost of Winter. Jesus put up a good fight, but came within one point of damage of dying (that's, like, all aggravated damage except the last box, which had lethal) and called it quits. The characters were actually able to observe the Vitriol in his body, and Marty theorized that a "furnace" (Athanor) might protect that liquid from those who would steal it.
The characters stayed the night, and they had a dream. As usual, they all shared Julia's dream, but this time it wasn't sex and blood. They saw themselves standing in a valley, looking up at a hill, upon which was a brightly-burning light. They saw a humanoid figure standing there in front of it, beckoning, and they felt the feeling of Vitriol and an accomplished milestone coming from that light.
The next morning, looking at a map of Boston, they saw that one of the neighborhoods was called "Beacon Hill." It seems we have our next step. But Maggie showed them something, too; headlines about a murder at MIT and the dreams she'd had about people dying and their organs being stolen (you can read up on that little plotline here). Boston's a happenin' place.
First off, Julia had fulfilled a milestone in having sex with a mortal (see hot493's post in ptc_playtest), but was finding that Gold wasn't working for her. Now, how much of that is that mimicking mortals really isn't her way and how much is the blood addiction? Good question, but one we'll address some other time. For now, she'd been corresponding with an adherent of the Refinement of Silver named Maggie who lived in a small town in central Mass on the way to Boston. They found the place, covered in snow, and felt Maggie's radiance long before they got to her house, indicating that she was fairly powerful. The walk to her house up her long, long driveway was hard, wading through waist-deep snow, and Marty noted that spirits were abundant, though the spirit world didn't seem as chaotic as other Ulgan Wastelands he'd seen.
They met Maggie and she said they were early (it was February 13th; her "dreams" had told her they were coming on the 14th), but shrugged that off. She took them inside and gave them hot chocolate, and the group of them shared Rambles. Maggie, incidentally, has been around since the late 1800s, but that doesn't hold a candle to Hank, who helped build the Pyramids (he thinks). Maggie told them about some of her experiences, and shared a peculiar story about the Seer.
The Seer, supposedly, is a powerful Promethean who traveled all over the world and made little marks where he'd learned some important, enlightening lesson. He'd walked all of the Refinements, and his Shrines, allegedly, were places of great power and wisdom for Prometheans. Maggie said she was looking for one called the Witches' Graveyard, somewhere in central Mass, but hadn't found it yet. She had been planning to pack up, but when Julia started writing her she decided to hang around a little longer and teach (which she's apparently done before).
She also told the group, in her own terms, about Athanors and about the physical stuff of Vitriol (and about lacuna). Her own Athanor is the Raven, but you'll read all about that in Magnum Opus.
She asked what all of them were looking for. Hank said he wanted to find out more about his past. Al wanted to learn about the men whose bodies had been used to build him (and this spurred a discussion about whether it was possible for the ghost of such a body to linger...and whether it still possessed a claim on the body. PLOT HOOK FOR LATER). Julia, of course, wanted to learn about the Refinement of Silver, and did, including a Transmutation from that Refinement's special class. Marty wants to find the Scholar (the Advocate of the Sworn Book who he suspects is his creator) in Boston.
Jesus, of course, wants "a stone to sharpen himself against." This spurred a discussion on death and resurrection (and the throng learned that they can die once - once - and return). Maggie offered to call up a spirit to battle Jesus, and she called up Endusu, the Death of Growing Things, a spirit of the Killing Frost of Winter. Jesus put up a good fight, but came within one point of damage of dying (that's, like, all aggravated damage except the last box, which had lethal) and called it quits. The characters were actually able to observe the Vitriol in his body, and Marty theorized that a "furnace" (Athanor) might protect that liquid from those who would steal it.
The characters stayed the night, and they had a dream. As usual, they all shared Julia's dream, but this time it wasn't sex and blood. They saw themselves standing in a valley, looking up at a hill, upon which was a brightly-burning light. They saw a humanoid figure standing there in front of it, beckoning, and they felt the feeling of Vitriol and an accomplished milestone coming from that light.
The next morning, looking at a map of Boston, they saw that one of the neighborhoods was called "Beacon Hill." It seems we have our next step. But Maggie showed them something, too; headlines about a murder at MIT and the dreams she'd had about people dying and their organs being stolen (you can read up on that little plotline here). Boston's a happenin' place.