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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7152711" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 19 (142) - Part One: This is Hard to Explain (and that’s putting it mildly)</strong></p><p></p><p>“Wait! Please! This man is our enemy.” </p><p></p><p>Reed Macbannin didn’t run, glide through the walls or floor, or attack the intruders. Instead he bluffed and blustered in panic and appeared at the same time to be distracted by something on or around Quital’s body – something that concerned him enough to split his attention between that and his untimely discovery.</p><p></p><p>“He voted for a different faction. We can’t allow them to gain control of this conspiracy, or it’s all been for naught!”</p><p></p><p>Gupta realised that this was nonsense: How could he possibly know in an instant who they all voted for? Before she could say anything, ‘Gran Guiscard’ complained, “This is most irregular. Nicodemus assured us that this sort of thing would not be allowed to happen. That there would be no resort to factional violence!” </p><p></p><p>Leon stepped into the room and dropped to his knees beside the body. Quital was dead. But where was Grappa? In response to Leon’s accusatory glance, Macbannin began to flannel again. “Believe me, this man was a monster. He didn’t deserve to live, to remain part of this conspiracy. The crimes he committed were despicable.”</p><p></p><p>Gupta had read Macbannin’s file, and without thinking said, “Aren’t you the man who charged witch oil with the souls of poor factory workers? Even children? Who almost flooded a city with the stuff?” She realised her error even as the others’ eyes fell upon her. Macbannin was about to retort, but his mouth hung open as his mind worked on something new. He squinted at ‘Oscan’ then shook his head and glanced about at the other officers, none of whom had a weapon drawn or had shouted for security. </p><p></p><p>“No. It can’t be… It isn’t true. Is it?” He struggled for momentarily words, then he said: “A woman… an eladrin woman appeared to me. When I… in the ice box with Erskine. In spirit form. She told me…” Another cautious pause, before he took the gamble and said, almost hopefully, “… she told me certain RHC officers were still alive and that they needed my help!”</p><p></p><p>There was a moment of stunned silence. Then, as if this weren’t shock enough, Leon stood up and said, “Hello, Reed. I’m Leon Veillieux. That same eladrin woman told me to trust you.”</p><p></p><p>Having taken time to don his dressing gown and slippers, Korrigan was last on the scene (apart from Xambria who had not yet returned to her room). Leon’s words were the first thing he heard. As he tried to make sense of the situation, a door opened further down the corridor, and an inquisitive Ob officer emerged – one of the cell leaders from a minor border state. “What’s all the commotion?” he asked. Korrigan calmly closed the door, leaving only himself in the corridor. “No commotion,” he said, “I was merely returning a book I had borrowed.” The officer was sceptical and said it sounded like he had been returning a whole library. Even as he worked to convince him, Korrigan realised that if some sort of truce was being agreed in the room behind him, fobbing this man off temporarily wouldn’t help. Fortunately, Gupta had the presence of mind to step out from Grappa’s room and take over, guiding the officer back to his own room and erasing his memory of the incident. Then she and Korrigan rejoined the others in what was an increasingly confused and halting exchange:</p><p></p><p>Once it was established that they really were who Leon had revealed them to be, Macbannin was visibly relieved. His situation had changed from ‘hopelessly outnumbered’ to ‘hopefully outnumbered’. His plan up to now had been to sow as much discord as possible and try to find an officer as disillusioned as he was – someone he could trust to take a message to the outside. That had seemed a vain hope indeed. But here he had found seven! Now his plan was to make sure they escaped and he would do everything he could to help.</p><p></p><p>“How do we know that we can trust you?” asked Korrigan (ignoring the uncontrolled fits of laughter from ‘Kiov Hetman’ whose player’s thoughts were somewhat anachronistic. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L0YNMhRDA4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L0YNMhRDA4</a>).</p><p></p><p>Macbannin helplessly gestured to the crazy situation, as if that were evidence enough, pointed out that he was in the most jeopardy, then went on to say that he wished he had languished in a Risuri prison, or faced execution, instead of sacrificing himself for this. “Skyseers tell us that the world will end in fire. Eschatologists tell us that it will come to an icy end. But I can tell you if this lot aren’t stopped then the world will end in hubris.” He went on to describe his anguish when he discovered that his immoral actions had not after all been at the behest of his king, and a sense of betrayal directed at “this man” (Quital) and “a few others I could mention” (who he clearly couldn’t mention at all). Reminded of Quital, Leon asked about the fate of Grappa, whose soul had been inside him.</p><p></p><p>If a ghost could go pale, Macbannin would have done. “Grappa?!?” he exclaimed and sank down on the bed, as if he was a solid man. “The mindmaker would have been a powerful ally here.” He apologised for what had happened to Grappa (“I’m not that bothered,” said Uru, “I didn’t really like him anyway”) but was relieved to have found an explanation as to why he couldn’t find a soul to dispel (which was the puzzle that had distracted him when they arrived). They briefly discussed what might have become of Grappa’s spirit, but could not be sure. It could not have fled to the Bleak Gate, after all. It might still be here. But Grappa gave no sign of his continuing presence, and Uru couldn’t sense him. </p><p></p><p>Macbannin once again returned to excusing his recent actions, enumerating the horrible crimes of Erskine Haffkruger. The dwarven botanist had exceeded his brief to test the ability of flora and fauna to survive in various planar conditions, and progressed to experiments on human subjects. Macbannin shuddered to think of the glee with which Erskine had delineated the results. However, Macbannin was forced to confess that he was “morally sunk” himself before admitting the murder of another officer earlier that same night: Dame Constance Baden – in this case targeted not for any crimes she had committed, but because her death would cause maximum unrest – not the least because Macbannin had sought to pin her death on the Panarchists. (Yes, he did place a white serpent on Erskine for similar reasons. No, he was not the origin of that rumour, merely taking advantage of it.) But Macbannin was beyond feeling sorry for himself. Having sacrificed his scruples long ago, all that was left was for him to continue to do whatever it took to warn the world about what the Obscurati was up to.</p><p></p><p>Leon asked Macbannin why he didn’t just leave and take news to the outside world himself. Macbannin gestured to his ghostly form: “I’m bound by the radius of the lighthouse. I am also bound by oath to the ghost council. You’ve seen the senior councillors - Vicemi, Latimer, and so on: the ones who died recently and still know who they were, or have a powerful enough sense of themselves to persist after death. But you haven’t seen the ghost council swarm – a faceless conglomeration of Nicodemus’ dead allies from centuries past, each of whom lends him their power and their knowledge, but has faded over time to become nothing but a mindless shade. They are linked to him and he to them. The swarm is perhaps the most dangerous thing on this island, save for Nicodemus himself. They’ll suck the life right out of you.”</p><p></p><p>Matunaaga asked what could hurt them. Macbannin shrugged: “Not much. And any you kill will simply reincarnate after a day or so, as long as Nicodemus is still alive. I have a special hex to stop that happening, but it’s a one shot. I was saving it for…” he paused. “Never mind. I missed my chance. I’d love to use it on Vicemi, though, that cadaverous old maniac. Think about it: he must have looked like that in life.”</p><p></p><p>Matunaaga repeated his question. This time, Macbannin’s answer was a bit less defeatist: “Psychic attacks. Holy magic. They’re frightened of the prisoner - the Godhand. They wanted to kill him, but Vicemi and Nicodemus want to wait until after the convocation, when they’ve had a chance to interrogate him. For now he’s kept in a prison plane near the council room. There was a senior councillor watching him earlier, but right now I think it’s just a couple of guards.” </p><p></p><p>The unit fell to arguing about whether it was worth the risk of rescuing him. Uru wasn’t keen, even to the point of flatly contradicting Korrigan, when the idea of taking Uru’s real body out of the <em>absurdist web</em> was floated: Who better to rescue the Godhand unobserved? But Uru argued that his discovery – however remote – would jeopardise the whole mission. Besides, how would he get back into Guiscard without the mortal possession ritual? This prompted Leon to conduct a quick search, and retrieve four copies of the ritual Grappa had committed to scroll form just in case.</p><p></p><p>When the <em>absurdist web</em> was mentioned, Macbannin said he thought it would greatly concern the leadership if the Godhand vanished entirely. If he could be healed and persuaded, he would be a staunch ally if need be, although the situation would still be close to hopeless. It would certainly be too late to attempt a rescue if they were discovered! </p><p></p><p>Then Macbannin’s ghostly eyes lit up, as he hit upon something that could provide a distraction: an enormous bomb the Ob had in storage. It had been found inside a metal man that had attempted to masquerade as an officer from the Yerasol Archipelago just a few hours before the unit arrived. The ghost council had disarmed it, and Macbannin reckoned he could get hold of it without anyone noticing and hand it over to them. He could do that while they rescued the Godhand and meet them back here (or better still, somewhere less incriminating). The unit rubbed their hands with glee and all issues of trust were forgotten. Together, they eagerly discussed their exit strategy (in an episode we will gloss over, subtitled ‘Head<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Brainstorm’) though Macbannin warned them not to tell him anything else they had discovered, or any RHC secrets, for fear that information could be extracted from him later.</p><p> </p><p>At that moment, Xambria arrived, just in time to be brought up to speed, but too late to counsel caution.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7152711, member: 79141"] [b]Session 19 (142) - Part One: This is Hard to Explain (and that’s putting it mildly)[/b] “Wait! Please! This man is our enemy.” Reed Macbannin didn’t run, glide through the walls or floor, or attack the intruders. Instead he bluffed and blustered in panic and appeared at the same time to be distracted by something on or around Quital’s body – something that concerned him enough to split his attention between that and his untimely discovery. “He voted for a different faction. We can’t allow them to gain control of this conspiracy, or it’s all been for naught!” Gupta realised that this was nonsense: How could he possibly know in an instant who they all voted for? Before she could say anything, ‘Gran Guiscard’ complained, “This is most irregular. Nicodemus assured us that this sort of thing would not be allowed to happen. That there would be no resort to factional violence!” Leon stepped into the room and dropped to his knees beside the body. Quital was dead. But where was Grappa? In response to Leon’s accusatory glance, Macbannin began to flannel again. “Believe me, this man was a monster. He didn’t deserve to live, to remain part of this conspiracy. The crimes he committed were despicable.” Gupta had read Macbannin’s file, and without thinking said, “Aren’t you the man who charged witch oil with the souls of poor factory workers? Even children? Who almost flooded a city with the stuff?” She realised her error even as the others’ eyes fell upon her. Macbannin was about to retort, but his mouth hung open as his mind worked on something new. He squinted at ‘Oscan’ then shook his head and glanced about at the other officers, none of whom had a weapon drawn or had shouted for security. “No. It can’t be… It isn’t true. Is it?” He struggled for momentarily words, then he said: “A woman… an eladrin woman appeared to me. When I… in the ice box with Erskine. In spirit form. She told me…” Another cautious pause, before he took the gamble and said, almost hopefully, “… she told me certain RHC officers were still alive and that they needed my help!” There was a moment of stunned silence. Then, as if this weren’t shock enough, Leon stood up and said, “Hello, Reed. I’m Leon Veillieux. That same eladrin woman told me to trust you.” Having taken time to don his dressing gown and slippers, Korrigan was last on the scene (apart from Xambria who had not yet returned to her room). Leon’s words were the first thing he heard. As he tried to make sense of the situation, a door opened further down the corridor, and an inquisitive Ob officer emerged – one of the cell leaders from a minor border state. “What’s all the commotion?” he asked. Korrigan calmly closed the door, leaving only himself in the corridor. “No commotion,” he said, “I was merely returning a book I had borrowed.” The officer was sceptical and said it sounded like he had been returning a whole library. Even as he worked to convince him, Korrigan realised that if some sort of truce was being agreed in the room behind him, fobbing this man off temporarily wouldn’t help. Fortunately, Gupta had the presence of mind to step out from Grappa’s room and take over, guiding the officer back to his own room and erasing his memory of the incident. Then she and Korrigan rejoined the others in what was an increasingly confused and halting exchange: Once it was established that they really were who Leon had revealed them to be, Macbannin was visibly relieved. His situation had changed from ‘hopelessly outnumbered’ to ‘hopefully outnumbered’. His plan up to now had been to sow as much discord as possible and try to find an officer as disillusioned as he was – someone he could trust to take a message to the outside. That had seemed a vain hope indeed. But here he had found seven! Now his plan was to make sure they escaped and he would do everything he could to help. “How do we know that we can trust you?” asked Korrigan (ignoring the uncontrolled fits of laughter from ‘Kiov Hetman’ whose player’s thoughts were somewhat anachronistic. [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L0YNMhRDA4[/url]). Macbannin helplessly gestured to the crazy situation, as if that were evidence enough, pointed out that he was in the most jeopardy, then went on to say that he wished he had languished in a Risuri prison, or faced execution, instead of sacrificing himself for this. “Skyseers tell us that the world will end in fire. Eschatologists tell us that it will come to an icy end. But I can tell you if this lot aren’t stopped then the world will end in hubris.” He went on to describe his anguish when he discovered that his immoral actions had not after all been at the behest of his king, and a sense of betrayal directed at “this man” (Quital) and “a few others I could mention” (who he clearly couldn’t mention at all). Reminded of Quital, Leon asked about the fate of Grappa, whose soul had been inside him. If a ghost could go pale, Macbannin would have done. “Grappa?!?” he exclaimed and sank down on the bed, as if he was a solid man. “The mindmaker would have been a powerful ally here.” He apologised for what had happened to Grappa (“I’m not that bothered,” said Uru, “I didn’t really like him anyway”) but was relieved to have found an explanation as to why he couldn’t find a soul to dispel (which was the puzzle that had distracted him when they arrived). They briefly discussed what might have become of Grappa’s spirit, but could not be sure. It could not have fled to the Bleak Gate, after all. It might still be here. But Grappa gave no sign of his continuing presence, and Uru couldn’t sense him. Macbannin once again returned to excusing his recent actions, enumerating the horrible crimes of Erskine Haffkruger. The dwarven botanist had exceeded his brief to test the ability of flora and fauna to survive in various planar conditions, and progressed to experiments on human subjects. Macbannin shuddered to think of the glee with which Erskine had delineated the results. However, Macbannin was forced to confess that he was “morally sunk” himself before admitting the murder of another officer earlier that same night: Dame Constance Baden – in this case targeted not for any crimes she had committed, but because her death would cause maximum unrest – not the least because Macbannin had sought to pin her death on the Panarchists. (Yes, he did place a white serpent on Erskine for similar reasons. No, he was not the origin of that rumour, merely taking advantage of it.) But Macbannin was beyond feeling sorry for himself. Having sacrificed his scruples long ago, all that was left was for him to continue to do whatever it took to warn the world about what the Obscurati was up to. Leon asked Macbannin why he didn’t just leave and take news to the outside world himself. Macbannin gestured to his ghostly form: “I’m bound by the radius of the lighthouse. I am also bound by oath to the ghost council. You’ve seen the senior councillors - Vicemi, Latimer, and so on: the ones who died recently and still know who they were, or have a powerful enough sense of themselves to persist after death. But you haven’t seen the ghost council swarm – a faceless conglomeration of Nicodemus’ dead allies from centuries past, each of whom lends him their power and their knowledge, but has faded over time to become nothing but a mindless shade. They are linked to him and he to them. The swarm is perhaps the most dangerous thing on this island, save for Nicodemus himself. They’ll suck the life right out of you.” Matunaaga asked what could hurt them. Macbannin shrugged: “Not much. And any you kill will simply reincarnate after a day or so, as long as Nicodemus is still alive. I have a special hex to stop that happening, but it’s a one shot. I was saving it for…” he paused. “Never mind. I missed my chance. I’d love to use it on Vicemi, though, that cadaverous old maniac. Think about it: he must have looked like that in life.” Matunaaga repeated his question. This time, Macbannin’s answer was a bit less defeatist: “Psychic attacks. Holy magic. They’re frightened of the prisoner - the Godhand. They wanted to kill him, but Vicemi and Nicodemus want to wait until after the convocation, when they’ve had a chance to interrogate him. For now he’s kept in a prison plane near the council room. There was a senior councillor watching him earlier, but right now I think it’s just a couple of guards.” The unit fell to arguing about whether it was worth the risk of rescuing him. Uru wasn’t keen, even to the point of flatly contradicting Korrigan, when the idea of taking Uru’s real body out of the [I]absurdist web[/I] was floated: Who better to rescue the Godhand unobserved? But Uru argued that his discovery – however remote – would jeopardise the whole mission. Besides, how would he get back into Guiscard without the mortal possession ritual? This prompted Leon to conduct a quick search, and retrieve four copies of the ritual Grappa had committed to scroll form just in case. When the [I]absurdist web[/I] was mentioned, Macbannin said he thought it would greatly concern the leadership if the Godhand vanished entirely. If he could be healed and persuaded, he would be a staunch ally if need be, although the situation would still be close to hopeless. It would certainly be too late to attempt a rescue if they were discovered! Then Macbannin’s ghostly eyes lit up, as he hit upon something that could provide a distraction: an enormous bomb the Ob had in storage. It had been found inside a metal man that had attempted to masquerade as an officer from the Yerasol Archipelago just a few hours before the unit arrived. The ghost council had disarmed it, and Macbannin reckoned he could get hold of it without anyone noticing and hand it over to them. He could do that while they rescued the Godhand and meet them back here (or better still, somewhere less incriminating). The unit rubbed their hands with glee and all issues of trust were forgotten. Together, they eagerly discussed their exit strategy (in an episode we will gloss over, subtitled ‘Head:):):):) Brainstorm’) though Macbannin warned them not to tell him anything else they had discovered, or any RHC secrets, for fear that information could be extracted from him later. At that moment, Xambria arrived, just in time to be brought up to speed, but too late to counsel caution. [/QUOTE]
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