Under The Eclipse: Updated May 19th!

Session Ten: Spreading The Faith

Setakawa is nervous as he relates his ancestor’s information to the group. From what the ancestors have been able to discern, the beings from Coral aren’t just trying to arrive physically on this plane of existence. They need a spiritual anchor of some sort and seem to be causing a shift in the spirit world to make room for it. Setakawa believes that they are trying to prepare for an arrival of some greater spiritual figure, a God of some sort.

“How can they do that?” Karen asks.

“Simply enough... through huge amounts of faith.” says Setakawa.

If they can use the faith of a massive amount of people, they could create a permanent foothold on this world from which to control it. Although he’s not sure, Setakawa believes that New York has been chosen because of its large population base that doesn’t have a single dominant religion. They could be swayed and the beings from Coral seem to want to use their drugs to do it. It’s an important lead and gives the group a direction to head towards.

Karen explains to Tupilak that Conroy has important information that they need to access. Conroy’s drug ties throughout the city could prove invaluable in their search for Nicholas Click’s next move. Tupilak seems mildly insulted at the idea that he should give up control of Conroy’s body and explains to her that his possession of Conroy “does not work that way.” Annoyed, but not having any other choice, Karen decides to check in with Buzzard at the pawn shop and see if he has any leads. Before she heads out, she drops a note in the Snapdragon Box for Millar:



Greetings Millar,

I have some information on some of the people trying to shift things over here.

Two names, one is Nealcatus. This guy has flawless brown skin, perfectly red eyebrows and hair. Right before he speaks there is a sizzle or something and a couple times I swear that I saw steam from his mouth.

Nealcatus spoke of a higher up he called Hizerath. I think this Hizerath is still on your world. They are using some drug to make soldiers. I think they make it in Coral and bring it here via “portals”. Their word for it, not mine.

One of my allies says that they are trying to shift the faith over here so that one of their Gods can get a foothold here. Do you have any info on any of this?

We slew the construct. Thanks for the advice. What do we do with the silver bit we took out of it?

I was able to tap into the whole magic thing briefly. I walked quieter than normal, but I can’t see basic magical things. Sedrick doesn’t know why.

Karen



Stopping into "Pawns, Rooks and Drag Queens", Buzzard and Karen get caught up with recent events. He flirts and flits about the shop as usual while Karen explains her injuries away as “gang problems”. When Karen asks about the drug called Viperous, Buzzard is quite intrigued.

“I thought you didn’t want to get mixed up in drugs, honey?”

“I’m pursuing all sorts of options.” smirks Karen.

Buzzard’s excited because there’s a weakened version of Viperous that he’s heard of through his contacts on the street. The old goth wants to get in on the deals and start selling this new drug around town. He’s supposed to be heading to a huge rave in Manhattan the next night to try and get in on the action. Karen charms Buzzard with compliments until he invites her to come along with him. She knows that getting this close to the dealers could be dangerous, but she needs to know what they look like and what their game plan is.

Heading back to the bookstore, she picks up Onan and heads out shopping. Her current clothes won’t allow her to blend in at a rave, so she decides to pick up some flashy clubbing clothes. Onan grumbles the whole way, telling her that he’s not comfortable with her infiltrating this rave and getting this close to whoever is behind it. She explains that they can’t just go charging in with their guns blazing. There’s too many people at this rave and they don’t even know who the dealers are yet. She promises him that she won’t get into any combat and will keep it to just a scouting mission. Onan asks her if he can go too, but after showing him the clothes he’d need to wear to blend in, he has to admit that he’d never be able to act natural dressed like that.

Tupilak is frustrated that there’s no clear threat for them to attack, but understands that he cannot go along with her. He utters some magical blessings for Karen before she leaves, hoping that it will protect her. On the taxi ride over to the pawn shop to meet up with Buzzard, she feels nervous and vulnerable. She can’t take her weapons and has no idea what to expect when she goes to the rave.

At an abandoned warehouse on the southern edge of Manhattan, the party is already in full swing. Pounding bass can be heard almost a block away and the line up outside the venue is massive. Buzzard estimates that there’s at least 700-800 people inside, all potential customers for the wares he’s picking up. He grins from ear to ear as he tells her how much money he could get for one night’s work. Karen tries to be happy for him, but her thoughts are about the far more immediate dangers.

Heading to the side entrance, Buzzard meets up with the rave organizer, a man dubbed Crisp Cringle. As he leads them inside the warehouse, Karen has to strain her ears to hear him talking over the pounding trance music. Crisp explains that he and his associates are looking at running several large events like this in the next couple of months. Karen pretends that she may have an interest in investing some capital in future raves, and Crisp seems to hit it off well with her. He leads them both to an upper tier where they can look out over the entire dance area and meet his associates.

Sitting at a set of couches entertaining a group of giggling girls is an intense looking individual. As Buzzard greets him, he stands up to shake Karen’s hand and she gets an eerie feeling in her stomach. The man’s eyes have an almost pinkish tone to them and his pupils dilate oddly as he greets Karen with a smooth voice and a slight smirk.

“My name is Morfuseid.”

“That’s a pretty weird name. Where does that name come from?” she asks with a grin.

“ It’s... South American.” he says unflinchingly.

While Buzzard starts to wheel and deal, Karen decides to relax for a bit. Sitting down amongst the couches, she refuses various drugs that are offered to her while discussing Morfuseid’s business. He explains to her that the raves require a lot of advertising and promotion in order to gain credibility with its clientele. She listens intently while watching for anything out of the ordinary.

Without warning, Morfuseid leans in close to her and begins to speak in an extremely calming tone. His eyes dilate even more and she can feel a strange sensation overwhelming her. Suddenly, she thinks she likes him, even though she knows on a conscious level that he’s probably involved with the evil from Coral. He seems very nice to her and she wonders if maybe she’s misjudged him. When he asks her if she’d like to head to the dance floor, she’s instantly compelled to follow him.

As they merge into the writhing crowd, the music continues to pound and the movement of people’s bodies is like an ever-shifting pattern. When Morfuseid dances with her, she feels incredibly good and she realizes that she’s smiling despite herself. Just as she feels like she may be lost to the rush of emotions, a voice breaks through Morfuseid’s unnatural charms. Tupilak’s prayer hits like a hammer, shattering the spell that she was under. She shakes off the charm’s effect just as a strobe light flickers and she’s able to see Morfuseid for what he really is.

Under the light’s glare, she sees pinkish jelly-like skin and a mouth that’s a mess of tentacles swirling back and forth to the music. His eyes are milky white without any pupils at all. Staring in horror, she realizes that no one else can truly see this monster in front of her.

Using charm and slight of hand she takes a pair of sunglasses from a nearby dancer to cover her eyes. She isn’t sure if it’ll help her resist Morfuseid’s influence, but she needs some sort of protection from his charming eyes. Morfuseid doesn’t seem to have noticed that he’s lost his hold over her, and she maneuvers to stay away from his gaze while pretending to be enjoying the music.

She sees a head moving quickly through the crowd as another individual approaches, looking to speak to Morfuseid. The second man is a tall with a crew cut and various piercings. Morfuseid smiles and introduces him to Karen.

“This is my cousin, Horvulok.” He says.

“Horvulok?” she asks.

“Also South American.” Morfuseid replies.

Horvulok ignores Karen at first, intent on other things. Karen strains to hear what they’re saying to each other while the music pounds onwards.

“Nealcatus has felt a presence. Something is here. Something is close.”

Morfuseid seems annoyed that he has to leave the dance floor, but heads off to speak to security. Karen prepares to blend into the crowd and leave the warehouse while Horvulok is left standing on the dance floor. Just as she’s about to slip out of view, Horvulok glances over towards her and his eyes widen, sensing her magical nature.

“Right in front of me... you there, STOP!”

Karen tries to push her way through the crowd, squirming past the gyrating bodies and looking for the exit. Horvulok draws a small curved blade and tries to stab at her, but she narrowly avoids him and slips between several dancers to stay away from him. Looking back, she’s amazed to see him jump almost 30 feet straight up to grab the rafters overhead. Amongst the chaos of sound and lights, no one else notices Horvulok looking out over the crowd, searching for her. Trying to stay out of his view, Karen auto dials her cel phone, yelling at Setakawa to send help. Glancing up every so often as she moves towards the exit, she can see Horvulok crawling along the rafters like an insect, clinging impossibly to their surface.

Just as she nears the door, Horvulok spots her again and vaults down into the midst of the crowd to grab her. Just as he gets hold of her shirt, two of Setakawa’s birds burst through the door to attack him with beaks and claws. He screams and flails at them, while the crowd clears away from his spastic movements. Karen slips away with a smile, knowing that since normal people can’t see Setakawa’s birds, Horvulok looks like a man in the midst of a really bad drug trip.

Running from the warehouse venue, she soon finds Setakawa’s car parked a few blocks away. She knew he’d ignore her orders and follow her, but it inadvertently saved her life so she doesn’t complain. As they drive back to the bookstore, Karen is exhausted but resolute. She’s got more information and a focus for their efforts. If she can disrupt this drug driven cult, the beings from Coral will lose their chance to invade our world.
 
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Zubkavich said:
If she can disrupt this drug driven cult, the beings from Coral will lose their chance to invade our world.

A part of your writting that gives it a personal feel. Now I'm really routing for our heroine.
 





Session Eleven: Under The Watch

Arriving back at Dog-Earred Pages, Karen lies down and thinks of ways that the group can disrupt the Viperous drug trade before sleep finally overtakes her. Even though she escaped the rave without any wounds, she’s still sore from earlier encounters and the stress she’s been under.

The next morning she awakes, feeling a bit better. As she stretches and prepares to head downstairs, her eye catches something odd out the window. Across the street she sees the morning sunlight glinting heavily off of some sort of reflective surface from a second story window. It wouldn’t normally have gotten her attention, but she gets a weird feeling in her gut about it and decides that it’s not just a coincidence.

Heading to the main floor, she sees Tupilak offering prayer to his fellow spirits. Waiting until he’s finished, she makes him a proposition.

“Do you want to do some hunting?” she says.

“Of course.” He answers with a smile.

She explains that “hunting” in the city is different from hunting animals. He must be stealthy, but until she knows what their “prey” is, he’s not to strike out. She figures it’ll give him a chance to get out of the bookstore and a give her some strong back up in case her gut instinct is right about danger.

They head out the back door and around the block so that they can approach the building across the road from behind. It’s a two-story building with shops underneath and bachelor apartments up top. Maneuvering into the apartment entrance, Karen picks the lock while Tupilak stands guard and blocks anyone seeing her activity from the street level. Within a few minutes, the lock gives a satisfying click and they gain access to the apartment hallway.

Leaning in towards each of the three apartment doors, Karen listens for anything strange. The second door which corresponded to the reflection of light she saw has strange machine whirring noises behind it, as if there are several computers or appliances running at once. Not sure if there’s anyone inside, she decides to leave and come back later for a closer peek. Just as she’s leaving, she hears someone open the first apartment door. Slipping outside with Tupilak, they casually walk down the street. When Karen takes a quick glance back, she sees a man with short red hair looking out the door, obviously wondering where the noise he had heard came from. He looks up and down the street and stares across the road at the bookstore.

Heading around the block and back into the bookstore through the back door, the rest of the crew are just waking up. Karen gathers them together to relate her troubles from the previous night and explain that there may be someone spying on them from across the road. Onan wonders if it’s agents of the evil forces they’ve been fighting with while Setakawa suggests possible assault strategies they could use. Karen tells them to stay calm and not to jump to any conclusions.

Waiting and watching, she checks the Snapdragon Box and finds a new message from Millar:



Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you well. Hizerath is indeed a dangerous individual who is one of the Shadow-Borne. He has many agents and soldiers at his disposal, but has not been heard from here in a long time. If he is still alive, it will make the situation in Coral far more difficult. Battles are raging here and we are doing our best to keep pressure upon the Shadow. They are gathering momentum and we will be hard pressed to keep them contained within the borders of Stamad’s Vale.

This use of faith would be a horrifying way for them to escape. Their Gods have corruptive powers that would cripple your world. Ensure that this does not come to pass. I will try to strengthen you from here as best I can.

The silver from the construct has their taint and a piece of it can be used to detect them as they have detected you in the past. Check the tome, prepare it and use it against them.

Millar



Trying not to let things distract her, Karen attempts several times to read her book and understand how to prepare the silver. Each time she does, Onan or Setakawa interrupts her, wanting to know what they should do about the potential spies across the road. Finally, she seeks refuge in the attic and reads the book while sitting amongst the old trunks of clothes and antiques Sedrick has stored up there. Although the book has details for readying the silver, she realizes that she doesn’t have the magical ability to do it yet, and asks Sedrick if he can prepare it. He tells her that he will try, but offers no guarantees.

Over the course of the rest of the day, Karen tries to subtly check and see if the man from the apartment building will leave so she can get a closer look. While waiting and watching, she sees a pair of construction workers set up a survey tripod down the street and start to take measurements. The red-haired man leaves his apartment soon after. She’s not sure if it’s just a coincidence, but she doesn’t want to take any chances. She asks Setakawa to unleash some of his ancestor birds to spy on the construction crew as well as to turn into mist and check out the apartments across the road. If any of the people can actually see the birds, she’ll see the commotion and they can strike out at them; if not, at least they’ll know what’s going on.

The birds fly forth and soon bring back some interesting information. No one seemed to react to them, so whoever the people are, they’re not attuned to the supernatural. However, there are a variety of machines in the second apartment and it’s definitely not being used as living quarters. There’s obviously some kind of surveillance going on.

Losing her patience, she decides to get confront the problem and see things for herself. Grabbing Tupilak, she heads across the road again. While picking the lock this time, the red-haired man returns. Karen quickly hides her lockpicks and lets the man go by, feigning that she’s interested in possibly renting an apartment in the neighborhood. As she asks him about the building and how he likes living there, she can sense that he’s growing nervous and making excuses to get out of the conversation. When she brings up his interest in the bookstore, he quickly heads towards his apartment. Tupilak vaults up over the banister, lands in front of him and slams him up against the wall. Karen tells him to hold the man while she asks him a few questions.

“Okay pal, why’s your curiosity so piqued by the bookstore across the road?”

“Th-there’s no bookstore, it’s just a vacant lot!” he stammers, trying to squirm free of Tupilak’s grip.

“If that’s so, why are you spying on it then?” she asks with a smirk.

Just as she finishes her question, the man bursts into action, kicking Tupilak in the shin and ripping free of his grasp. Tupilak hammers him in the head with a punch like a jackhammer, but he’s able to stumble into his apartment and pulls a gun on them.

Tupilak prepares to attack him again, but Karen is able to keep the spirit warrior calm and raises her hands in surrender. Tupilak’s muscles are tensed, but he stays still. Karen explains that she works at the bookstore across the road and wants to know who he is and why he’s spying on them.

“You work at that store?” he gasps.

He explains to them that he’s been photographing the vacant lot for a few weeks, trying to understand why he’s gotten glimpses of a store at dawn and dusk each day. His name is Evan Ansel and he’s a scientific investigator working for an organization dedicated to detailing the unexplainable.

“Are you guys working for the government?” Karen asks.

“Some of our crew used to, but the program was shut down after a lack of any conclusive evidence and federal funding cuts. We’re continuing the work on our own though, without any outside help.” He explains.

Karen explains to Tupilak that Evan isn’t a threat and lets the investigator get an ice pack for his bruised head. Evan is stunned that Karen is interacting with the building he’s seen glimpses of and wants to know everything about it. Karen can’t tell him all that he wants until she knows more about him and the people he’s working with, but invites him to head back to the bookstore and see it for himself. Evan is shocked and unsure.

“I- I- I don’t know if that’s proper protocol for this sort of situation...”

“Look, protocol went right out the window the minute we found you out. Do you want to interact with something amazing or just sit back and try to watch it?” she asks him.

After a few moments of indecision, he walks with them across to the store. As they get within a few feet of it, Evan is amazed to see the bookstore appear before him. Karen assumes that their presence with him has helped him to see it and she opens the door for him to enter. Nervously, he steps inside.

Once Onan, Sedrick and Setakawa are brought up to speed, they try their best to feed Evan’s curiosity without revealing too much of their purpose. The investigator is in awe at the magical nature of the building, not understanding how it could have been invisible before.

“How come no one can see this place?” he asks.

“It is hard to explain. However, I think that most people are merely foolish in their eyeballs, Mr. Evan.” Seatakawa says with assurance.

Karen laughs at Setakawa’s broken explanation, but doesn’t really have a better answer. After letting Evan see more of the bookstore, Karen begins to ask him more about the organization he is a part of. Evan in turn explains that his group only has four members left at this point. Their leader is a psychic woman named Sandra who has seen the bookstore more than anyone else amongst them.

“Is this Sandra person a dark-haired oriental girl?” asks Setakawa.

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“She’s heading across the road towards us with a gun.”

Evan quickly heads out the front door to calm Sandra down as she is overcome with shock at seeing the store appear in front of her. She explains that she felt Evan’s aura was erratic and came over to investigate. She can’t contain the surprise on her face as she looks around the bookstore, trying to understand how it appeared.

“Is this a transdimensional fixed anomaly or some kind of bio-rhythmic psychic shell space?”

“A what or a what?” exclaims Onan.

Sandra spouts all sorts of pseudo-scientific terminology for what she’s encountering while Karen tries to hide her amusement at the two investigators. Sandra tries to bully the group by explaining that Evan and her “work for the government”, but Karen tells her that they already know that they are no longer government-affiliated. Sandra sighs and loses some of her pushiness, realizing that intimidation won’t get her far here.

Karen explains that the two groups may be able to find some common ground and help each other. Sandra quickly agrees and apologizes for her confrontational attitude.

“You’re right, we got off on the wrong foot. My name’s Sandra Honet. I’m the leader of Department-7.”
 


Aw, the good old Department 7. Gotta love it.

Reminds me too much of Department 36 from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Let's just hope they aren't as, well, evil.

Thanks Z, appreciate it muchly.
 


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