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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7302665" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 35, Part Two - The High Priest of Rumschatology</strong></p><p></p><p>Trekhom was low and flat, and existed more underground than above it. Factories and a truly vast railyard dominated the aboveground landscape, surrounded by squat buildings and dotted with a few towers that rose into the smoggy air. Most people lived in tunnels, or in homes that extended two or three stories into the bedrock.</p><p></p><p>The unit had been there a few times before, and Rumdoom had lived here for three years, though Hildegaard never liked the place (hailing as she did from the Northern mountains). Locals didn’t care much about outsiders unless they were buying or building something. (Though elite police used borderline-evil magic such as mind control and pain-wracking necromancy to deal with lawbreakers. Criminals, in exchange, felt few compunctions about sucking out policemen’s souls or turning their enemies to stone and leaving their severed head next to a smashed pile of rock that had once been their body. Dwarven society still lived in the thousand-year shadow of the demonocracy.)</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom’s followers had hidden the Skull of Cheshimox in a secure area some distance from the port. When they arrived in port, they checked for memory events and discovered that there was nothing here for Uriel to learn. He stayed on board the ship. The others decided to escort Kasvarina to her memory events before travelling to pick up the Skull.</p><p></p><p>Her first event took her in search of the <em>Obpeyeble Nipneka Mobicneten </em>(Doomed Order of Thinkers), a nightly gathering of eladrin philosophers, led by Bhalu Varal, who was married to Kasvarina from 119 to 248 A.O.V. Today the shaggy and portly Bhalu spent his days sleeping and his evenings drinking and discussing philosophy and politics without ever being motivated to effect any changes in the real world. Following the Arc, the unit attended one such meeting and a memory-event triggered: </p><p></p><p><em>Kasvarina imperiously stalks into a room filled with pipe-smoking dwarves, where Bhalu lies passed out in the corner. She splashes him with water to wake him, then drags him outside to ask how being a drunken lout is contributing to the mission she sent him on. He was supposed to make allies in Trekhom and learn which philosopher parties might be a threat.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Bhalu says that she sent him to kill too many people, and that the occasional bedding down with her isn’t worth the blood he was spilling. Blood is something for the body, anyway, and he thinks it’s time for the eladrin to just die. He’s vowed to devote his life to his mind, and to punish his body with the greatest beer the dwarves have crafted.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>She says she’s staying to clean him up. He’s too valuable. He shrugs, and challenges her to be more convincing than his friends inside.</em></p><p></p><p>The memory-event faded, and the modern Bhalu was flabbergasted (though he seemed quite pleased to have taken part in such an impressive display in front of all his cronies). He smirked and made an ingratiating comment about Kasvarina, but she ignored him.</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom engaged Bhalu in a serious conversation to establish how much use the man might be, and discovered him to be something of a fan of Rumdoom’s interpretation of the Heid Eschatol. Bhalu had been in Trekhom for a long time, had a lot of friends and had made many contacts. He offered to help them negotiate the city during their stay. He told Rumdoom that the Kamanov cult had grown increasingly confident and reckless of late – bold enough to show itself rather than lurking in the shadows. But word had it that Rumdoom’s sect had done a good job in rooting out the cultists and was now thought to be free from infiltration.</p><p></p><p>When Kasvarina announced that the arc was calling her elsewhere, Bhalu and some of his eladrin friends accompanied them. They took an underground train through the city and disembarked when Kasvarina felt the impulse had grown stronger. Down a disused tunnel they came to a lonely tower. Though abandoned, it was elaborately wrought and expertly warded. Kasvarina felt her memory event lay inside. When initial attempts to enter the tower failed, they began to talk of seeking help elsewhere, before someone reminded Rumdoom that he had once inhabited the body – and frequently shared the mind – of the late Kiov Hetman, expert in Drakren tower defences. Rumdoom tried to recall what he had learned, but it was too long ago and in too much detail – until he tried on the Arc of Reida, whereupon his ‘memories’ of this place came flooding back, and he was able to remember the passwords to gain access. (In fact, Kiov’s knowledge was so extensive it was tempting to wonder if he hadn’t set up these defences himself.)</p><p></p><p>Once inside, nothing happened until they climbed the tower, whereupon Kasvarina – now wearing the arc again – was assailed by something far more sinister than a memory event: a dark cloud of negative energy that might have consumed her mind had she not been so well-versed in abjuration. Nonetheless, she collapsed back into Leon’s arms before she regained her composure. (Bhalu was heard to mutter a disgruntled, “Huh!”)</p><p></p><p>The memory event was clouded in a magical darkness so powerful that it thwarted the magic of the Arc! Then Rumdoom remembered where he had seen the distinctive patterns around the door to the tower: on an engraving on the walls in Knutpara, where ancient dwarves had recorded the history of the ‘Kum Ruk Nazar’. The Stone of Not had the power to negate not just life but knowledge, and could be used to thwart even the most powerful divinations. It had been taken to a tower in Drakr, and the knowledge of how to bypass tower defences ‘thrown’ into it and forever lost, until it was stolen by the Deep Ones several centuries ago. (The spy Silas Fennac had seen it, and said that the aboleth used it to power the magic that hid their undersea lair from discovery.)</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom had secured an undertaking from the Deep Ones that he could access the Stone if ever he needed to, for whoever had power over the Stone could reveal its secrets. A plan began to formulate in Rumdoom’s mind, but first he needed to find his followers and secure the Skull of Cheshimox.</p><p></p><p>They took a short-cut to the hiding place, led by Bhalu. He and Rumdoom were getting along famously by now, and Bhalu said he felt some of his long-lost lust for life returning. He was glad to help a fellow eschatologist and would continue to help in any way he could even after the unit had left Trekhom.</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom’s followers were very glad to see him (and there was an enthusiastic welcome for Thurgid and Hildegaard too). They had lost several of their number repelling the Kamanov cultists and would be happy to be rid of the Skull. They were wholly devoted to Rumdoom, and were heartily glad that rumours of his death had once again proved premature, bearing out their absolute faith in him.</p><p></p><p>They set off for the docks in two mechanised vehicles: a larger steam-driven cart for the Skull, which Rumdoom himself accompanied along with his followers, while the unit crowded into or onto his clockwork carriage. Having easily and successfully repelled the inevitable ambush by the Komanov cultists, they were therefore less prepared for the second, more concerted one which came just after the convoy left the tunnels.</p><p></p><p>A bomb exploded under the steam cart, sufficient to destroy its front wheels and kill the driver (were it not for Rumdoom’s pronouncement which kept the driver alive); snipers opened fire from the windows and rooftops; crazed cultists threw themselves out of side-tunnels, led by a douty female warrior wielding an enormous mordenkrad; a dwarven wizard waved a rod and summoned a diamond-hard ice elemental to block their escape.</p><p></p><p>As usual, the battle went in the unit’s favour, but was notable for several events:</p><p></p><p>Fighting side by side on the rooftops, Leon took a bullet for Kasvarina which almost killed him. “What were you thinking of?” she snapped (but the gesture did not go unappreciated). Leon also used the <em>curse of mouthless muttering</em> to silence the wizard before he could summon another elemental.</p><p></p><p>Korrigan strode to the centre of the battlefield and called out, “Who dares to insult the High Priest of Rumschatology and his retinue?” Then he went toe-to-toe with the elemental to stop it from attacking the others.</p><p></p><p>Matunaaga used a newly-minted fire bullet to destroy the all-but-impenetrable ice elemental, which had proved able to withstand most other blows.</p><p></p><p>Kasvarina proved her worth, grabbing snipers telekinetically and dropping them off the roof.</p><p></p><p>Gupta took tiger form in battle for the first time, but could not control who she attacked. When the fight was over, and their foes were all dead, Korrigan was able to challenge her and fend off her savage attacks long enough for her to revert to human form. (She had eaten a dwarf, so she felt okay. Better than okay – exhilarated!)</p><p></p><p>After the fight, Kieran Sentacore found himself beset by competing reminders of individual valour while writing up his notes. (Or perhaps he made that bit up.)</p><p></p><p>At last the Skull of Cheshimox was brought to the harbour and loaded onto the <em>Impossible</em>.</p><p></p><p>The unit prepared to teleport back to Seobriga. Then Rumdoom announced that he and Uru would be staying behind. Everyone thought that this was something to do with the Icy End of the World Grenade the pair had been designing, but no: Rumdoom had decided to go in search of the Stone of Not once again, and Uru was going with him (as were a carefully chosen entourage of Rumschatologists). They would establish what had been hidden from Kasvarina in the Stone (and maybe, Rumdoom hoped, retrieve it – though stealing the prized possession from a coven of aboleth might not be as easy as all that…).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7302665, member: 79141"] [b]Session 35, Part Two - The High Priest of Rumschatology[/b] Trekhom was low and flat, and existed more underground than above it. Factories and a truly vast railyard dominated the aboveground landscape, surrounded by squat buildings and dotted with a few towers that rose into the smoggy air. Most people lived in tunnels, or in homes that extended two or three stories into the bedrock. The unit had been there a few times before, and Rumdoom had lived here for three years, though Hildegaard never liked the place (hailing as she did from the Northern mountains). Locals didn’t care much about outsiders unless they were buying or building something. (Though elite police used borderline-evil magic such as mind control and pain-wracking necromancy to deal with lawbreakers. Criminals, in exchange, felt few compunctions about sucking out policemen’s souls or turning their enemies to stone and leaving their severed head next to a smashed pile of rock that had once been their body. Dwarven society still lived in the thousand-year shadow of the demonocracy.) Rumdoom’s followers had hidden the Skull of Cheshimox in a secure area some distance from the port. When they arrived in port, they checked for memory events and discovered that there was nothing here for Uriel to learn. He stayed on board the ship. The others decided to escort Kasvarina to her memory events before travelling to pick up the Skull. Her first event took her in search of the [I]Obpeyeble Nipneka Mobicneten [/I](Doomed Order of Thinkers), a nightly gathering of eladrin philosophers, led by Bhalu Varal, who was married to Kasvarina from 119 to 248 A.O.V. Today the shaggy and portly Bhalu spent his days sleeping and his evenings drinking and discussing philosophy and politics without ever being motivated to effect any changes in the real world. Following the Arc, the unit attended one such meeting and a memory-event triggered: [I]Kasvarina imperiously stalks into a room filled with pipe-smoking dwarves, where Bhalu lies passed out in the corner. She splashes him with water to wake him, then drags him outside to ask how being a drunken lout is contributing to the mission she sent him on. He was supposed to make allies in Trekhom and learn which philosopher parties might be a threat. Bhalu says that she sent him to kill too many people, and that the occasional bedding down with her isn’t worth the blood he was spilling. Blood is something for the body, anyway, and he thinks it’s time for the eladrin to just die. He’s vowed to devote his life to his mind, and to punish his body with the greatest beer the dwarves have crafted. She says she’s staying to clean him up. He’s too valuable. He shrugs, and challenges her to be more convincing than his friends inside.[/I] The memory-event faded, and the modern Bhalu was flabbergasted (though he seemed quite pleased to have taken part in such an impressive display in front of all his cronies). He smirked and made an ingratiating comment about Kasvarina, but she ignored him. Rumdoom engaged Bhalu in a serious conversation to establish how much use the man might be, and discovered him to be something of a fan of Rumdoom’s interpretation of the Heid Eschatol. Bhalu had been in Trekhom for a long time, had a lot of friends and had made many contacts. He offered to help them negotiate the city during their stay. He told Rumdoom that the Kamanov cult had grown increasingly confident and reckless of late – bold enough to show itself rather than lurking in the shadows. But word had it that Rumdoom’s sect had done a good job in rooting out the cultists and was now thought to be free from infiltration. When Kasvarina announced that the arc was calling her elsewhere, Bhalu and some of his eladrin friends accompanied them. They took an underground train through the city and disembarked when Kasvarina felt the impulse had grown stronger. Down a disused tunnel they came to a lonely tower. Though abandoned, it was elaborately wrought and expertly warded. Kasvarina felt her memory event lay inside. When initial attempts to enter the tower failed, they began to talk of seeking help elsewhere, before someone reminded Rumdoom that he had once inhabited the body – and frequently shared the mind – of the late Kiov Hetman, expert in Drakren tower defences. Rumdoom tried to recall what he had learned, but it was too long ago and in too much detail – until he tried on the Arc of Reida, whereupon his ‘memories’ of this place came flooding back, and he was able to remember the passwords to gain access. (In fact, Kiov’s knowledge was so extensive it was tempting to wonder if he hadn’t set up these defences himself.) Once inside, nothing happened until they climbed the tower, whereupon Kasvarina – now wearing the arc again – was assailed by something far more sinister than a memory event: a dark cloud of negative energy that might have consumed her mind had she not been so well-versed in abjuration. Nonetheless, she collapsed back into Leon’s arms before she regained her composure. (Bhalu was heard to mutter a disgruntled, “Huh!”) The memory event was clouded in a magical darkness so powerful that it thwarted the magic of the Arc! Then Rumdoom remembered where he had seen the distinctive patterns around the door to the tower: on an engraving on the walls in Knutpara, where ancient dwarves had recorded the history of the ‘Kum Ruk Nazar’. The Stone of Not had the power to negate not just life but knowledge, and could be used to thwart even the most powerful divinations. It had been taken to a tower in Drakr, and the knowledge of how to bypass tower defences ‘thrown’ into it and forever lost, until it was stolen by the Deep Ones several centuries ago. (The spy Silas Fennac had seen it, and said that the aboleth used it to power the magic that hid their undersea lair from discovery.) Rumdoom had secured an undertaking from the Deep Ones that he could access the Stone if ever he needed to, for whoever had power over the Stone could reveal its secrets. A plan began to formulate in Rumdoom’s mind, but first he needed to find his followers and secure the Skull of Cheshimox. They took a short-cut to the hiding place, led by Bhalu. He and Rumdoom were getting along famously by now, and Bhalu said he felt some of his long-lost lust for life returning. He was glad to help a fellow eschatologist and would continue to help in any way he could even after the unit had left Trekhom. Rumdoom’s followers were very glad to see him (and there was an enthusiastic welcome for Thurgid and Hildegaard too). They had lost several of their number repelling the Kamanov cultists and would be happy to be rid of the Skull. They were wholly devoted to Rumdoom, and were heartily glad that rumours of his death had once again proved premature, bearing out their absolute faith in him. They set off for the docks in two mechanised vehicles: a larger steam-driven cart for the Skull, which Rumdoom himself accompanied along with his followers, while the unit crowded into or onto his clockwork carriage. Having easily and successfully repelled the inevitable ambush by the Komanov cultists, they were therefore less prepared for the second, more concerted one which came just after the convoy left the tunnels. A bomb exploded under the steam cart, sufficient to destroy its front wheels and kill the driver (were it not for Rumdoom’s pronouncement which kept the driver alive); snipers opened fire from the windows and rooftops; crazed cultists threw themselves out of side-tunnels, led by a douty female warrior wielding an enormous mordenkrad; a dwarven wizard waved a rod and summoned a diamond-hard ice elemental to block their escape. As usual, the battle went in the unit’s favour, but was notable for several events: Fighting side by side on the rooftops, Leon took a bullet for Kasvarina which almost killed him. “What were you thinking of?” she snapped (but the gesture did not go unappreciated). Leon also used the [I]curse of mouthless muttering[/I] to silence the wizard before he could summon another elemental. Korrigan strode to the centre of the battlefield and called out, “Who dares to insult the High Priest of Rumschatology and his retinue?” Then he went toe-to-toe with the elemental to stop it from attacking the others. Matunaaga used a newly-minted fire bullet to destroy the all-but-impenetrable ice elemental, which had proved able to withstand most other blows. Kasvarina proved her worth, grabbing snipers telekinetically and dropping them off the roof. Gupta took tiger form in battle for the first time, but could not control who she attacked. When the fight was over, and their foes were all dead, Korrigan was able to challenge her and fend off her savage attacks long enough for her to revert to human form. (She had eaten a dwarf, so she felt okay. Better than okay – exhilarated!) After the fight, Kieran Sentacore found himself beset by competing reminders of individual valour while writing up his notes. (Or perhaps he made that bit up.) At last the Skull of Cheshimox was brought to the harbour and loaded onto the [I]Impossible[/I]. The unit prepared to teleport back to Seobriga. Then Rumdoom announced that he and Uru would be staying behind. Everyone thought that this was something to do with the Icy End of the World Grenade the pair had been designing, but no: Rumdoom had decided to go in search of the Stone of Not once again, and Uru was going with him (as were a carefully chosen entourage of Rumschatologists). They would establish what had been hidden from Kasvarina in the Stone (and maybe, Rumdoom hoped, retrieve it – though stealing the prized possession from a coven of aboleth might not be as easy as all that…). [/QUOTE]
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