Campaign Log (continued) In the face of darkness

Brian heads to his sanctum. Tina and asks Christoph will be long, prompting him to invite her down. He explains the Nephandi to her. Then they work together to prepare the sanctum for tomorrow's ritual work. Apu remains aware of the house's activities, finally settling as the sounds of sleep thicken about him.

James and Xiang retire for the evening. Heather heads for home and encounters her sister. They briefly talk, then Heather retires for the night.

The next morning Apu awakens to the fingers of rosy dawn and heads into Brian's kitchen to prepare a large breakfast. He is forced to improvise, due to a lack of spices he's accustomed to. The remainder of the house (led by Tina) find him preparing a feast. Over breakfast they discuss upcoming plans.

James comes down for breakfast and is approached by an attractive woman who introduces herself as Anna. She invites herself to sit; as she does, her pocket creases in a telltale shape- James suspects a tape recorder. She asks him about the day before's events and he recounts the edited version events for her. She asks if it was a setup, because of his declining movie fortunes. James dismisses the thought, implying that his Hollywood time is a distraction from something else. She transitions to wondering if he has heard from the police about the assailant; he replies that he has heard nothing further as yet. They continue the pretense of friendly strangers over breakfast, and they split the tab and go their separate ways.

Heather awakens and bids her family goodbye. She calls James and tells him about the house, including sketchy directions and a block address. She then heads out to the car she has borrowed from James and drives over to 'the dark house'. She finds a low cut stump in the clear space behind the house and sinks into meditation atop it. With feather and chocolate, she draws herself into the past of the place. A scene of terrible wonder catches her attention, she sees a shot of a pale man carrying a large tooth under the dark of the moon. He stands upon the house's site, but is standing in the midst of a huge excavation. As he raises the tooth, she feels her gaze caught by its overwhelming wrongness... and opens her eyes, dispelling the image. As she regains control of her breath, she realizes that the brief sight of the tooth had spooked her into a sweat. She reflects and decides that the scene occurred about six years ago.

Elsewhere, the gathering at Brian's starts the dishes and prepares for the ritual. Suzette and Brian descend the stairs and begin planning out the ceremony. Suzette is selected to lead their efforts to ward themselves against the effects of Spirits. On schedule Christoph arrives, but Kai calls to beg off. Together the Hermetics create a powerful field that wards their members- Apu chose to remain apart from the effort, unwilling to subject himself to the energies they were going to be channeling.

After some effort, the ritual bears fruit, and a slightly glowing Eye of Horus manifests about the necks of the participants, glowing with the powerful energies that they had channeled for their purpose. They go to their cars, strategizing and planning as they walk. Petrof gives Apu a coin to signal that the way is clear, they may advance. They all head out, Apu leading the way.

Apu arrives first and draws the shadowy cloak about him, turning aside unwanted eyes. He examines the neighborhood, finding no one out in the yards, he sneaks along the street. Examining the dark garage and finding it empty, he circles around to the gate and lets himself into the back yard. As he examines the house, he hears a disturbance near the fence. He rushes to the fence as Heather draws near. He catches a glimpse of her form through the fence. She does not see him, but is certain that she's missing something. Each draws a pistol to deal with the threat. Fortunately, Apu and Heather recognize each other.

At the hotel, James had the desk call him a taxi. He descended the stairs and caught the taxi. It took him speedily to the address, but no Heather was in sight. Shrugging, he paid off the taxi driver and began walking the block, whistling as walks. Heather circles around to the street and waves James over. They make their way into the background, where they exchange brief introductions.

As they question each other, the Hermetic team moves along the river from their parking a block further upstream. Apu signals the team's final approach and notices that James is rushing toward the back fence. A chill of foreboding strikes Apu and Heather as they call for him to stop. He shows no sign of hearing them, so they curse and run after him, hoping to avert the impending disaster. They are too late.

With a leap, James pops above the fence. Seeing a staff leveled at him, he throws a shuriken at Brian, the staff's wielder. Brian falls to the ground clutching his arm, summoning a field of sparks on the far side of the fence. Apu catches James with a shoulder- as James twists, he snatches James and hurtles him at the fence. Apu impacts the fence, cracking boards, but catches a hold atop the fence. Petrof rushes forward to balance Apu and a glowing bubble snaps into existence about the Hermetics. Suzette grasps Brian and begins knitting his flesh back together.

After a tense moment, the magi drop their effects. All are angry; Apu and James stalk off toward their vehicles. Heather implores everyone to meet at the Denny's in one hour. The Hermetics return to their cars and head toward Denny's, while Heather browbeats James then Apu into joining them there. James and Heather have an uncomfortable ride, while each stews. Apu heads out hunting.

He quickly finds that the house's 'wrongness' interferes with his sense for wrongdoing. He finds a way to ignore it, and is soon heading toward his old neighborhood. He is drawn off slightly, and finds himself looking at the street where he had the fateful encounter with the strange mutant man just a few days ago. Worse, he sees no sign of the threat. His anger leaps, and he hears wailing from a tenement nearby. As he approaches a nearby dumpster, he clearly hears sobbing from a second or third floor apartment. Another surge of anger pulses through him, and he realizes that some outside source is playing upon his emotions.

To calm himself, he remembers his father's calm voice instructing peace and discipline. To his horror, the image shifts and his father explodes with blood- he is reliving the scene of his father's murder. The anger is clearly external (his eye is drawn toward the white marks and dark spot on the street). Worried now, Apu calls upon fate and hears "Ramon, Ramon, how could you do that?" A gunshot cracks out, and fighting in the apartments around him erupt. He bolts for his bike as he hears another gunshot.

The Hermetics take over a back room at Denny's. Apu arrives a few minutes early, but remains outside. Heather gathers Apu in one arm and James in the other and leads them in. The visiting Hermetics avow disinterest in this local matter and quietly support Heather as she lays ground rules. In between the rounds of food and coffee refills, some doubts and reservations are quieted, but the dislike remains strong. They establish that they are the only mages in the area, except for Kai, who Brian mentions. (Xiong is intentionally unmentioned by James).

They decide that the mission must go on, and that the house is of interest to them all. The Hermetics from out of town suggest that they should strike today, due to the powerful protection they raised that morning, and the need to avoid tipping off their rivals, the Technocracy, by their absence.

After several proposals, everyone decide to accept Heather's invitation to continue the discussion at a quite place along the river. Everyone piles into vehicles and sets off for Chelsea's house by the river.

Heather gets permission for the mob to cross through Chelsea's yard. They descend to the river and Heather shows them the node, a large flat rock resting above the river. At her request, each of them seeks to define the problem. Each person adds valuable insights- Brian verifies that the house is definitely the source and that the influence is clearly spiritual. The Hermetics agree and refine his explanation somewhat. Apu adds that the spiritual energies are aligned with decay. Suzette and Apu discuss the effect, and she tells them that this strongly suggests the influence of Nephandi of the Wyrm faction. She explains that the Wyrm faction seems to concentrate on the spirit world as much as the physical, and that they worship a kind of insanity.

They resolve to get to the heart of the matter. Brian crosses the river to speak with an old oak, who rests deeply in slumber. Speaking strongly, Brian awakens the great tree spirit to talk. The tree tells him of the creeping corruption, and Brian agrees to aid the tree by forming a barrier against the spiritual corruption the flows down the river, after which he may ask a favor.

Brian re-crosses the river to join Suzette, Apu, and Heather. Heather will take them back to the moment she saw, and the others will examine the scene from their own perspectives to gather more complete information. They form a circle and link hands...

Heather, Apu, Suzette, & Brian locked arms and placed their backs to the node. Heather drew out a large chunk of chocolate, placed it in her mouth, and began to tickle her bottom lip. Slowly the present world slips behind them & the group begins moving up river to the house. Heather feels time stick at the day before the supposed day and pushes through. The eyes of the others in the group are drawn to what she sees and they notice a darkly dressed figure holding a large tooth. The moon is dark, unwilling to witness the event.

Heather sees the scene much as she remembered it. Her fears have been preying on her since the first time she looked, and her hands tremble in those of her fellows. Brian studies the tooth, examining its spiritual links. Superimposed over the tooth is a large, dragon or snake like being. The tooth draws his eyes, and he can see the seam of the sane world fray in its presence. Apu notes that it is powerfully aligned with entropy and decay... but not entropy in its pure form. The energies of the tooth are corruptive, seeking to break down and degenerate- so intensely that the spoiled surroundings are lost to the wheel. Suzette comments that the tooth does not seem to be a talisman- it lacks the energy that such items usually bind within them.

After they explain their perceptions to each other, they turn back to study the form again. Heather scans the scene, getting perspective, and delaying a moment. Brian notes the positions of the constellations. Together, they return their focus on the tooth, trying to drag out its secrets. As they whisper comments to each other, Suzette begins raving. The dark pressure of seductive madness calls to the others. As the scene lurches forward, the man stabs the tooth into the ground and ritually pours dark liquid about it. Time flashes quickly by under Heather's guidance.

Suzette screams and begins to babble. Heather speeds the return and as soon as the world quits lurching, Brian calms Suzette spiritually while Heather calls to James to help calm her. They explain to the others, who did not go back, all that they saw. Brian and Suzette explain the Nephandi to the extents of their knowledge to the others. They firmly agree that this is the work of the wrym faction of the Nephandi. Unsettled, they all agree to meet at Brian's nearest shop in one hour- after everyone grabs some lunch.

Brian calls Kai while James tries to call Xiong. He explains that it is time to rock and meet at his store in one hour. Brian also tells Kai of the house and what's going on. Kai hangs up the phone and talks to Xiong. He grabs a cloak for Xiong so he can conceal his weapons. Brian decides to inscribe runes of spiritual damage on his bullets, but has little time to do so. Xiong calls James and talks to Heather. They discover that they are going to the same meeting. Xiong hangs up and follows Kai to the shop. Soon everyone has arrived; to clear space for everyone, Brian gives all his employees the afternoon off. Brian tells the group about the Nephandi and their "gate between the spirit world and our world". (He's speaking about the tooth).

Together, the group discusses approaches and plans to extract and destroy the tooth. Tensions flare, but are calmed as everyone's role in this event is clearly defined. Soon they agree to head straight to the house, in hopes of acting before the sun descends. After the meeting and on the ride over to the house, Brian tries to talk to General Lee (his avatar) but is unable to reach a state of calm and contemplation. Everybody else's leaving and the short car trip each distract him.

Once at the home, Apu is first to check the house. Everyone else parks on neighboring blocks and circles down to the river. Xiong & James move through shadows up to the house not being seen. Everybody but Apu meets down at the back fence facing the river. Apu and James each try to magically influence the residents. They are successful and watch as the family drives off for dinner and a movie.

After the occupants leave, the group enters with Heathers turning of the sliding glass door's latch with magic. James opens the door and leads the way into the house. Brian begins his ritual in the living room while Reynald begins cooking up an alchemical agent to eat through the concrete and dirt. Apu goes to the hardware store to buy some rope so they can fish out the tooth. After James and Heather turn off the water and gas, Petrof and Suzette go about disconnecting and removing the water heater. Heather draws the drapes and convinces time to bypass this place. The world outside slows to her perceptions.

The spirits in the house are dark and twisted; when the group first arrived a few fled. Soon they returned in greater numbers, whispering and staring at the Mages, but unable to act due to the strong spirit shields that surround most of the mages. A spirit that was following Xiong attacks him suddenly. James, Xiong, and Brian manage to kill the rabid fox spirit that attacked Xiong. Brian notices similarities in the rabid fox's dark core and the black cored pixel spider. He announces his breakthough- the spider protecting the CD was twisted the same way that these spirits are. He notes that TAX and the others are likely tied together... but a more practical needs return his attention to the binding triangle he has constructed.

Brian, Xiong, and James notice that the remaining spirits are becoming very aggressive. Xiong overhears a large spirit saying that they need to attack and do something. A twisted giant, scarred and pocked by radiation gives orders to a darkly twisted tree and a pair of rabid animals. They launch themselves at Brian. Heroically, Xiong leaps in front of the oncoming spirits and the battle is joined.