Under The Eclipse: Updated May 19th!
Zubkavich
First Post
Session Thirteen continued...
Gathering everyone together, Karen tells them the plan. She’s going to head into “Pawns, Rooks and Drag Queens” alone and talk up Buzzard, pumping him for information. The others will wait nearby and if Setakawa’s birds see anything go wrong, they should charge in. Even if that happens, no one should use guns unless absolutely necessary. Gunfire in the middle of the day will attract way too much attention.
Sandra is concerned about carrying things out this way.
“I know that Department-7 isn’t a government-run organization anymore, but we can’t just condone assault, break and enter or anything like that, you know.”
“Trust me, once you see the things that are doing this, you won’t be as worried about breaking the law.” Karen says with grim determination.
Just as they head out the door, Karen quickly checks the Snapdragon Box and is relieved to find a response to her letter:
Greetings,
I hope this letter finds you well. The crystal minerals are clear and tiny. I do not know what you would find like that on your world.
It is hard to explain these ideas related to the Shadow-Borne. Our ancestors wanted power beyond that which they were meant to wield. Magic which corrupts instead of working along side the flow of life. I know this however; if they gain worshippers, they will grow in power.
Crimson Path redirects energies like light, storing and spitting it out in small amounts. They are one of the only Shadows that can stand extreme light because of their power to possess other beings.
Miller
Not having much time, Karen grabs a salt shaker from Sedrick’s cupboard, hoping that they are the “crystal minerals” Miller is talking about in his letter. With that, they head downtown.
Parking a few blocks away from the pawnshop, the group keeps hidden while Karen makes her way to the back door where she normally meets with Buzzard. Setakawa sends a few of his birds to go with her as back up. They fly silently and swiftly, invisible to those who can’t see the supernatural.
After she knocks, Buzzard comes to the door and unlocks it with a smile. It’s creepy seeing him so sedate, with no sly words or sarcasm. Doing her best to pretend that everything is normal, she heads inside, keeping her eyes peeled for anything else out of the ordinary. Setakawa’s birds slip in unnoticed by Buzzard and hide amongst the shadows.
“It’s good to see you, Buzzard.” She says with a grin, trying to keep her composure.
“You too. I wish you’d have stayed at the rave. It was quite the party.” He says without emotion.
They walk into the main store and just as she’s about to reply to him, he suddenly falls to the floor completely unconscious. Without warning, a man comes bounding over the shelves with incredible agility. Karen runs and tumbles to one side as the man gracefully lands on the counter. She dashes to the exit, but he’s upon her almost instantly, pinning her against the back door. A flash of metal and a knife is pressed against her throat. Her eyes narrow towards the figure and she grimaces; it’s Horvulok.
“Wonderful to see you again.” He sneers while several thugs move up to surround her.
Karen’s outnumbered and in deep trouble. In the back of her mind, she hopes that the cavalry is quickly on their way.
“It’s quite the racket you guys have set up.” Karen says, trying to give herself more time.
“Why thank you. Does this mean you had a good time at the rave?” He smirks.
“I don’t mean the rave, Horvie-baby... I mean the whole interdimensional drug running and worship crap.” She says.
“We don’t have to hurt you, you know. I like humans. You have basic needs and desires that fascinate me.” He says, licking his lips.
Just as he’s about to continue, the front door comes shattering off its hinges and Tupilak barges into the pawnshop. The other men around Horvulok run to stop him while Karen slips free and drives her fist into Horvulok’s face.
Horvulok snarls with anger and slashes at her with his glittering knife, cutting her arm deeply. Gritting through the pain, Karen draws her gun and jams it into his neck. She blasts a hole through Horvulak’s throat, spraying dark blood against the wall and sending him reeling backwards from the pain.
“Is that a basic enough need for ya, Horvie?”
Tupilak grabs one of the men and sends him crashing into the shelving units while stabbing another with his hunting knife. Karen kicks the back door open to see Onan fighting with another two men in the alley. Setakawa’s birds swoop in and attack the other men, pecking and clawing at them from all sides.
Horvulok lets out a deep growl and jumps at Karen, pinning her shooting arm against the doorframe and crushing it with his strength. She smashes at his face with her free hand, but he won’t let go.
When Tupilak finishes knocking out the two thugs in front of him, he charges forward and grabs Hurvulok from behind. He practically lifts Horvulok over his head, ripping him away from Karen. She realizes that Tupilak intends to kill him, but she wants to keep him around for questioning.
“Tupilak, don’t!”
Overcome with battle frenzy, the spirit warrior ignores her, slams Horvulok against the wall and impales him with his knife. The blade plunges through Horvulok’s body and pins him several feet off the ground. The Shadow-Borne struggles for a few moments trying to pull the blade out, but finally expires, hanging limply from the wall like a sick Halloween ornament.
Sandra and Evan enter the front door moments later. As Sandra surveys the destruction and unconscious bodies, she looks shocked. When she reaches the back and sees Horvulok’s corpse nailed to the wall, she is aghast.
“Holy s**t! You killed that guy!”
“That’s no guy.” Karen says, checking her wounded arm. The cut is deep and she thinks it might be infected.
Looking closer, Sandra doesn’t see much that marks Horvulok as anything but a human being. She’s visibly worried, unsure of the morality of what’s been done.
Karen checks the thugs that were with Horvulok. They look like normal people, but she has no way to know for sure. She grimly levels her gun at one of their heads. Sandra snaps out of her analysis of Horvulok and grabs Karen’s arm.
“You can’t just kill these guys. That’s cold-blooded murder!” Sandra yells.
“You don’t know how this works. They’re not going to stop unless we kill them all.” Karen says resolutely.
Onan breaks up the two women as they glower at each other.
“We don’t have time for this. There were gunshots, which means that the cops will be here soon. Grab what you need and get the hell out of here.” Onan says sternly.
Karen tries to calm down and not let her fear get the best of her. Her heart is pounding and her breathing is heavy. She wants to get rid of them all, but isn’t sure which ones are human and which ones aren’t.
Then, she has an idea.
Taking the salt shaker out of her pocket, Karen sprinkles some of it on the thug in front of her. At first it doesn’t seem to do anything, but moments later, the man lets out a groan and red chalk starts to flow from his mouth and nose. She realizes they’re just normal men under the possession of Crimson Path. She shakes her head, wondering what she would have done if she’d have killed another innocent person.
“Okay Sandra, you’re right. These guys are humans.” She says, letting out a long exhale.
“We’ll have a long talk about this. I want some damn proof before I go along with this.”
Without a lot of time, they check Buzzard’s pockets and find the keys to his back office. Inside they uncover several boxes of pills; drugs from Morfuseid. They grab the boxes, and take Horvulok’s body off of the wall. Setakawa backs his car into the alleyway and they quickly put the body and drugs into the trunk.
“What about the other guys?” Sandra asks.
“The cops will have to assume that it’s some sort of botched break and enter. We don’t have time for anything more fancy.” Karen replies.
Just as they’re about to leave, Karen decides that they should take the unconscious Buzzard with them. They need to know what kind of control he’s under and what other information he can provide about the Shadow-Borne’s plans. Karen secretly hopes that he won’t remember anything and that he can get back to something resembling normal. She doesn’t want to wreck another person’s life by dragging them into this whole supernatural mess.
Onan insists on driving, worried about Setakawa’s sense of direction in downtown New York. With no time to argue, Setakawa, Karen and Tupilak pile in with Buzzard’s body while Sandra and Evan sneak to their car parked several block away. As they pull away, sticking to the side streets, Onan shakes his head.
“You realize that we have a trunk with a load of drugs and a dead body. This is nuts.”
Karen tries to shake off the rage she felt and smiles at him from her reflection in the rearview mirror.
“Then I guess you better drive the speed limit.”
Gathering everyone together, Karen tells them the plan. She’s going to head into “Pawns, Rooks and Drag Queens” alone and talk up Buzzard, pumping him for information. The others will wait nearby and if Setakawa’s birds see anything go wrong, they should charge in. Even if that happens, no one should use guns unless absolutely necessary. Gunfire in the middle of the day will attract way too much attention.
Sandra is concerned about carrying things out this way.
“I know that Department-7 isn’t a government-run organization anymore, but we can’t just condone assault, break and enter or anything like that, you know.”
“Trust me, once you see the things that are doing this, you won’t be as worried about breaking the law.” Karen says with grim determination.
Just as they head out the door, Karen quickly checks the Snapdragon Box and is relieved to find a response to her letter:
Greetings,
I hope this letter finds you well. The crystal minerals are clear and tiny. I do not know what you would find like that on your world.
It is hard to explain these ideas related to the Shadow-Borne. Our ancestors wanted power beyond that which they were meant to wield. Magic which corrupts instead of working along side the flow of life. I know this however; if they gain worshippers, they will grow in power.
Crimson Path redirects energies like light, storing and spitting it out in small amounts. They are one of the only Shadows that can stand extreme light because of their power to possess other beings.
Miller
Not having much time, Karen grabs a salt shaker from Sedrick’s cupboard, hoping that they are the “crystal minerals” Miller is talking about in his letter. With that, they head downtown.
Parking a few blocks away from the pawnshop, the group keeps hidden while Karen makes her way to the back door where she normally meets with Buzzard. Setakawa sends a few of his birds to go with her as back up. They fly silently and swiftly, invisible to those who can’t see the supernatural.
After she knocks, Buzzard comes to the door and unlocks it with a smile. It’s creepy seeing him so sedate, with no sly words or sarcasm. Doing her best to pretend that everything is normal, she heads inside, keeping her eyes peeled for anything else out of the ordinary. Setakawa’s birds slip in unnoticed by Buzzard and hide amongst the shadows.
“It’s good to see you, Buzzard.” She says with a grin, trying to keep her composure.
“You too. I wish you’d have stayed at the rave. It was quite the party.” He says without emotion.
They walk into the main store and just as she’s about to reply to him, he suddenly falls to the floor completely unconscious. Without warning, a man comes bounding over the shelves with incredible agility. Karen runs and tumbles to one side as the man gracefully lands on the counter. She dashes to the exit, but he’s upon her almost instantly, pinning her against the back door. A flash of metal and a knife is pressed against her throat. Her eyes narrow towards the figure and she grimaces; it’s Horvulok.
“Wonderful to see you again.” He sneers while several thugs move up to surround her.
Karen’s outnumbered and in deep trouble. In the back of her mind, she hopes that the cavalry is quickly on their way.
“It’s quite the racket you guys have set up.” Karen says, trying to give herself more time.
“Why thank you. Does this mean you had a good time at the rave?” He smirks.
“I don’t mean the rave, Horvie-baby... I mean the whole interdimensional drug running and worship crap.” She says.
“We don’t have to hurt you, you know. I like humans. You have basic needs and desires that fascinate me.” He says, licking his lips.
Just as he’s about to continue, the front door comes shattering off its hinges and Tupilak barges into the pawnshop. The other men around Horvulok run to stop him while Karen slips free and drives her fist into Horvulok’s face.
Horvulok snarls with anger and slashes at her with his glittering knife, cutting her arm deeply. Gritting through the pain, Karen draws her gun and jams it into his neck. She blasts a hole through Horvulak’s throat, spraying dark blood against the wall and sending him reeling backwards from the pain.
“Is that a basic enough need for ya, Horvie?”
Tupilak grabs one of the men and sends him crashing into the shelving units while stabbing another with his hunting knife. Karen kicks the back door open to see Onan fighting with another two men in the alley. Setakawa’s birds swoop in and attack the other men, pecking and clawing at them from all sides.
Horvulok lets out a deep growl and jumps at Karen, pinning her shooting arm against the doorframe and crushing it with his strength. She smashes at his face with her free hand, but he won’t let go.
When Tupilak finishes knocking out the two thugs in front of him, he charges forward and grabs Hurvulok from behind. He practically lifts Horvulok over his head, ripping him away from Karen. She realizes that Tupilak intends to kill him, but she wants to keep him around for questioning.
“Tupilak, don’t!”
Overcome with battle frenzy, the spirit warrior ignores her, slams Horvulok against the wall and impales him with his knife. The blade plunges through Horvulok’s body and pins him several feet off the ground. The Shadow-Borne struggles for a few moments trying to pull the blade out, but finally expires, hanging limply from the wall like a sick Halloween ornament.
Sandra and Evan enter the front door moments later. As Sandra surveys the destruction and unconscious bodies, she looks shocked. When she reaches the back and sees Horvulok’s corpse nailed to the wall, she is aghast.
“Holy s**t! You killed that guy!”
“That’s no guy.” Karen says, checking her wounded arm. The cut is deep and she thinks it might be infected.
Looking closer, Sandra doesn’t see much that marks Horvulok as anything but a human being. She’s visibly worried, unsure of the morality of what’s been done.
Karen checks the thugs that were with Horvulok. They look like normal people, but she has no way to know for sure. She grimly levels her gun at one of their heads. Sandra snaps out of her analysis of Horvulok and grabs Karen’s arm.
“You can’t just kill these guys. That’s cold-blooded murder!” Sandra yells.
“You don’t know how this works. They’re not going to stop unless we kill them all.” Karen says resolutely.
Onan breaks up the two women as they glower at each other.
“We don’t have time for this. There were gunshots, which means that the cops will be here soon. Grab what you need and get the hell out of here.” Onan says sternly.
Karen tries to calm down and not let her fear get the best of her. Her heart is pounding and her breathing is heavy. She wants to get rid of them all, but isn’t sure which ones are human and which ones aren’t.
Then, she has an idea.
Taking the salt shaker out of her pocket, Karen sprinkles some of it on the thug in front of her. At first it doesn’t seem to do anything, but moments later, the man lets out a groan and red chalk starts to flow from his mouth and nose. She realizes they’re just normal men under the possession of Crimson Path. She shakes her head, wondering what she would have done if she’d have killed another innocent person.
“Okay Sandra, you’re right. These guys are humans.” She says, letting out a long exhale.
“We’ll have a long talk about this. I want some damn proof before I go along with this.”
Without a lot of time, they check Buzzard’s pockets and find the keys to his back office. Inside they uncover several boxes of pills; drugs from Morfuseid. They grab the boxes, and take Horvulok’s body off of the wall. Setakawa backs his car into the alleyway and they quickly put the body and drugs into the trunk.
“What about the other guys?” Sandra asks.
“The cops will have to assume that it’s some sort of botched break and enter. We don’t have time for anything more fancy.” Karen replies.
Just as they’re about to leave, Karen decides that they should take the unconscious Buzzard with them. They need to know what kind of control he’s under and what other information he can provide about the Shadow-Borne’s plans. Karen secretly hopes that he won’t remember anything and that he can get back to something resembling normal. She doesn’t want to wreck another person’s life by dragging them into this whole supernatural mess.
Onan insists on driving, worried about Setakawa’s sense of direction in downtown New York. With no time to argue, Setakawa, Karen and Tupilak pile in with Buzzard’s body while Sandra and Evan sneak to their car parked several block away. As they pull away, sticking to the side streets, Onan shakes his head.
“You realize that we have a trunk with a load of drugs and a dead body. This is nuts.”
Karen tries to shake off the rage she felt and smiles at him from her reflection in the rearview mirror.
“Then I guess you better drive the speed limit.”
Last edited:
Zubkavich
First Post
Session 13 finally concluded just above this post.
Not sure if you guys and gals saw this in the other thread from the d20 Modern section on En World:
I've finally had a chance to start drawing the characters. I'm going to be releasing a pdf sourcebook on RPG Now of NPCs, magic items, monsters and Advanced classes from Under The Eclipse. Enjoy a sneak peek at the pics of Karen and Conroy/Tupilak:
Not sure if you guys and gals saw this in the other thread from the d20 Modern section on En World:
I've finally had a chance to start drawing the characters. I'm going to be releasing a pdf sourcebook on RPG Now of NPCs, magic items, monsters and Advanced classes from Under The Eclipse. Enjoy a sneak peek at the pics of Karen and Conroy/Tupilak:
Last edited:
Velenne
Explorer
She most definately is....I LIKE IT!
Seriously though, this story hour just keeps sucking me in. I have to admit, for some reason I picturedKaren as a t-shirt-and-jeans, average-but-cute blonde, and Conroy being a much larger man. I often misread things in books and imagine characters "wrong" but I guess it's all in the Mind's Eye of the reader. Not that I'm complaining! The art's great, Zub! Keep it comin'!
Seriously though, this story hour just keeps sucking me in. I have to admit, for some reason I picturedKaren as a t-shirt-and-jeans, average-but-cute blonde, and Conroy being a much larger man. I often misread things in books and imagine characters "wrong" but I guess it's all in the Mind's Eye of the reader. Not that I'm complaining! The art's great, Zub! Keep it comin'!
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Lela
First Post
Horacio said:
It might just be one of the possible natural reactions to killing an innocent. Harden up to block out the pain. Now, whether that works or not is, in the RL, up for grabs.
It may also be that she's slowly coming more into the N side of her CN alignment. Seemed like she was more CG before and she's starting to adjust.
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Zubkavich
First Post
I've compiled all the session summaries into one convenient pdf file for people to download and read. It should make it easier to follow, especially now that the game has gone on for quite a while:
http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/Artwork/UTE.pdf
I'll update the pdf as new sessions are added (but will still put the summary here on the forum, so you can read it either way).
The sourcebook is coming along well. Check this thread for any updates.
Enjoy!
http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/Artwork/UTE.pdf
I'll update the pdf as new sessions are added (but will still put the summary here on the forum, so you can read it either way).
The sourcebook is coming along well. Check this thread for any updates.
Enjoy!
