Thanks to Eva for this session summary.
These session notes are from Rae’s perspective, and are originally from [http://www.digitalchangeling.com/gaming/session_notes/deus/060603.html].
Session started at 3:02 pm on 6/03/06
Attending players: James, Eva, John, Nate, Mike, Kelsey, Paul (in a guest appearance as Seeker)
Presiding GM: Curtis
(Note: I was not present for the previous session.)
(Folks have a rather disturbing conversation about the finite nature of souls.)
Half of the Techno-Fearful is still heading for Lupus and the other half is now heading for Mars and Earth/Luna. That is the last time I let someone I don’t know handle major negotiations. Most of the folks associated with the UNF are going to defend the Sol system. We are staying here to try to help defend Lupus, as we promised.
(Bryant is trying to figure out where he will get the money to eat. He eats metal like Max did when he was nanites. Gold is rather expensive.)
(Max is inside the stone with the other two pieces of the occultem lappidem, fun.)
Ti-Lung is spending all his time sleeping. The doctor is off researching the substance of the Fearful. Max is being stuck inside a stone or something. I do not really know what to do with myself. Bryant is around, but busy with something or other. I have seen Matt once or twice, but he is freaking out about the cool technology he has. I think he is practicing something to do with his innate powers. I am not really clear on what.
There are various plans for how to stop the white stuff. Some folks are working on using backlash and some on the ship that Evan Cassenti created for sucking up magic. It seemed to me that we should do something with using shields to contain it, but I think I have been outvoted here. I do not know enough about technology to do this research by myself. The UNF confirmed that the Fearful can adapt to every mundane weapon that has been thrown at them. We would need something that could utterly destroy or contain them all in one shot.
I gather that the Queen of the Gnomes is here to investigate what mind magics might have been used on Max. She seems to suspect it was Merlin who has messed with his mind, but to what end we do not know.
I spend some time helping the doctor with his research. It is rather difficult to work in a lab designed for human hands, but I manage not to break too many things. Eventually we figure out a way that the forcefield could be created, but it seems like we will not be able to do it in time.
We try to contact the Royals on Earth to pass on the plans but they are unwilling to focus on anything but the Great Machine. It is rather frustrating. We try talking to the Cassenti’s and fortunatly they are more receptive. Evan agrees to outfit his ship with the technology if we can produce it and Adana agrees to put one of her research teams on producing it.
(Meanwhile, Merlin has engineered a lab accident to destroy Xella. He propels some of the Techno-Fearful at her with the OL and it engulfs and consumes her. Bryant tries to save her, but fails. Because Zi-Lung [the half-dragon formerly known as Zee] had a mental link to Max, Max is freaking out in his proverbial ear. Max tells him that Huntington killed Xella. Max also realizes that the nanites ate the Amulet that Xella was holding. Max is just beginning to realize that Merlin might have tampered with his mind.)
I get an email from Zi-Lung, as he is now calling himself, saying that Max witnessed Merlin killing Xella. Not good. I go to in search of Zi-Lung. It takes a while but I eventually find him.
("I only have one action point left. I can’t spend it or I’ll have to kill myself." ~ Kelsey, currently playing Harry Bryant)
(Max tries to consume the stone with the nanites, but Merlin’s div trigger goes off and he teleports away before the nanites can reach him. Merlin manages to use mind control to smack down Max’s resistance. Max threatens Merlin and refuses to roll over and let him use the OL’s power. Merlin threatens Max with absolute destruction if he resists again.)
I remember that Seeker said something kind of threatening about Merlin. I tell Zi-Lung about it. After some discussion we decide that we should enlist Seeker’s help to stop Merlin, as he has definitely stepped over the line. On top of that he seems to have Max hostage. Zi-Lung tries to send Seeker a mental message telling him what has happened. We will see if he comes.
Meanwhile, Max suggests that he could send some video footage to the General. It takes me a moment to realize what he means. I had forgotten that Matt kept that. If the general does get it, we might see quite a scene.
Zi-Lung gets an answer back, from the head of the arcane order, rather than Seeker. He/She is coming apparently to handle Merlin personally. At almost the same time the doctor tells us that Xella will be back in six hours. Not sure how that works, but at least she is not dead for good.
We try to come up with some contingency plans. For some reason Matt is going on and on about how invisible he is. He seems pretty obvious with his mouth flapping like that… Anyway I humor him and help to test the limits of his "invisibility". I can tell where he is when he is in the same room, but I am not sure if a human would be able to. The fact that I can feel his presence nearby seems to bother Matt to no end. Just how many dragons does he expect to have to hide from exactly?…
(Curtis has to ret-con what happened when Merlin teleported away. Max is torn out of the stone as it disappears. He is an amorphous blob of light in the middle of the room.)
There is a shimmering in the air near us and two men in robes appear. One of them is Seeker, but the other I do not recognize. We try to explain what has happened to them. Their connection to Merlin is rather confusing right now. They both seem very concerned about Xella’s death, so at least they’re taking us seriously. The leader of the arcane order seems to think that Seeker is the only one who will be able to stop Merlin. Since Max has escaped his control, Merlin is probably going into hiding. They try to divine his location, but it looks like he has blocked that as well.
The mages want to clear up the lingering mind control Merlin exercised on Max. Zi-Lung asks him to come to us and surprisingly he does. At this point Max is a disturbingly amorphous blob of light.
The others gather as well and we discuss how to they can find and deal with Merlin. They seem relatively confidant that Seeker can deal with Merlin when they find him. They ask that when Merlin is brought to trial we all come and give whatever evidence we have against him. Gee… Unless more planet shattering crises pop up I can not see having a problem with that.
After the leader checks the mind affects on Max he says that he can not break it. It sounds like Merlin mostly tried to make Max his friend and he pretty much blew most of that when he killed Xella in front of Max. Either way, it does not seem like it will interfere with Max’s ability to fight the Fearful.
We mention the other group of the Fearful heading for Mars and Earth and it surprised both of the arcane order members. It seems they might be mobilized after all. I think what I am getting is that the arcane order almost never interfears in the course of history. Considering that pretty much all I have done since I showed up on Percepie is interfear, I find that hard to imagine.
Since they may be helping the people of Earth and Mars, I suggest that as a final contingency they should evacuate people to Glaurung. It would be messy, but if the council would allow it at least it might save most of the humans and the other races of Earth.
We have gotten word back from Adana! Her research team managed to construct 13 copies of the shield generator mechanism from our notes. There is bairly enough time to get them installed on the General’s fleet before the Fearful arrive! I am so glad that worked! We will not be able to keep the shield up forever, but it should buy us a little time to try to help Max to stop or control them.
The leader of the arcane order leaves to consult with his fellows, but Seeker stays to escort us to the ship and protect us from Merlin until we have left Lupus’ sphere of mystic influence. The General tells us that we should report to Colonel Waterton while we are in space and we head off to the ship. The ship is apparently called the Starburst. I did not really pay attention the last time. It is the same ship we used to meet with Evan Cassenti.
Once we are onboard, the doctor and Matt check the computers to make sure there are no booby traps set up. We take off. I am glad to see other people being more paranoid than I am feeling, but I have a nasty hunch it is only because they felt far too idle when we were failing utterly to come up with a plan.
Seeker is a bit disoriented by being in space I think, but soon enough he and Zi-Lung are chattering in Latin. I think he will be okay. I am going to have to add Latin to my list of languages to learn, I guess.
Max and Harry are discussing how they can get close enough to stop the Fearful. It sounds like the limit of Max’s control is about a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet. The glob of the Fearful that is coming towards us is about twenty miles in diameter. Man I hope this works.
We have been told to maintain radio silence for the first 30 seconds after the Fearful arrive so that they will not have any idea that we are planning to spring this trap.
We hang there in space, all the ships in tight formation around the point where the Fearful will drop out of faster than light travel. One moment the sky over Lupus is empty of any thing but our ships and stars and the next they are there. The mass of the roiling bubble of grey-ish white goo fills the sky, far out massing any of the gathered ships. Almost immediately the shield springs up like an iridescent soap bubble stretched thin between the ships. It looks so fragile, but amazingly it holds the Fearful.
The seconds of radio silence end and the communications squawk to life. All of the ships are holding but the shield is draining even more energy than we though. We only have minutes before the Fearful will be free again.
Matt shoots a torpedo with Max in it to get him near the shield. The blob of light that is Max glides inside of the shield and disappears into the sea of grey/white goo.
(Max is trying to communicate with the Fearful but they are a boiling mass of anger and terror. Their conglomerate is stuffed with so many minds and souls there is nothing to bargain or argue with and Max is not strong enough to command them all together.)
Max was talking to Zi-Lung mentally, but when we left the planet he lost his effect, because Zi-Lung’s personal sphere of influence is far too small. I try to reach out for Max’ mind but the goo absorbs enough of the magic to shatter the spell. I had forgotten about that crap. Fucking white stuff.
Now we have a vital flaw in our plan. We can not contact Max to find out if he is succeeding or failing. Zi-Lung realizes if he is close enough he can re-establish the link he had without re-casting. Matt carefully maneuvers within three feet of the shield and Zi-Lung hugs the hull to get close enough to the goo. The clock is still ticking. We have less than four minutes of shield left.
Max is still in there! He realized that when I cast the spell at the goo it began to fade out of existence just like he does. It is not much, but it is a hope! We inform the rest of the fleet and the ships maneuver to bring the shield down into the mystic sphere of influence. Magic from us and the General’s mages batters the goo and it slowly grows more and more faint. I have thrown all of my reserve at it in useless effects.
Harry is giving a heroic effort, channeling all the magic he can muster through his familiar into the blob. In a final spray of pirotechnic sparks, the entire mass is gone.
Harry’s familiar, a little gray ball of nanites, is still hanging out in space. The General begins freaking about what it is. Harry is not happy but he destroys it to calm the General. The General still insists that all his ships open fire on the empty space when the shield drops to insure that there is nothing there. It looks like Lupus is safe for now.
We decide that now we must confront the General about Merlin so that he will not shelter Merlin if he returns. Zi-Lung talks the General into meeting with us.
The General seems upset when we show him the footage, but he accepts it remarkably calmly. I expected at least some anger, if not gunfire. Zi-Lung seems to think the General already knew, but the General denies it. Something strange is definitely going on.
The General tells us that he has already paid us and asks us to leave. I am not sure what he considers pay, but I want to get out of here more than I want money. We head back to the ship and get ourselves outside of the sphere of mystic influence.
(The Saturday group agrees to use our destiny token to assure that Max and only Max returns from nothingness.)
Eight and a half hours later Max returns to us. The goo does not come back with him.
Shortly afterwards the arcane order contacts Zi-Lung to tell us that they have apprehended Merlin. They ask that we come to their sanctuary for his trial. For some reason Matt and Zi-Lung want to take the ship as payment. Waterton is not really buying their argument, but he looks the other way and we get the ship and ourselves teleported back to Earth. I do not know what they guys think we are going to do with a space ship, but whatever. I guess we could at least travel between Earth and Luna on our own now. I think I still prefer teleporting.
On that note, apparently Max can no longer be teleported by normal magic, but he can do only one teleport per day by himself. This will lead to all sorts of wackiness I am sure.
Seeker lets Matt know where we are going to get to the sanctuary. Matt seems a bit amused that it is in a place called the Bermuda triangle. When I look it up online I find that it has been a traditional place of mysterious disappearances through out human history. Cute.
Zi-Lung seems worried that Merlin may still be pulling some sort of con past the arcane order. As we get closer to the coordinates there is a massive column of fog that we must enter. Inside there is an island and an enormous castle. Matt lands on the water by the island and we go ashore.
When we reach the castle we are met by some members of the arcane order and invited inside. A few of them have computers, but overall they seem more technologically primitive than the other humans I have met.
Their leader, Iason, tells us that Xella was able to track down Merlin and capture him with the aid of other gnomes and a group of dwarven spellbreakers. Apparently Xella is getting the order’s help to re-creating an amulet that was destroyed when she died and in return she has turned over Merlin to the order.
The island is very interesting. There is a great tower beside the castle and I gather that the tower was built by the gnomes and dwarves along with the castle. The tower is called The Stairway to Heaven and it is never supposed to be opened. Interesting. Matt seems a bit fascinated by the tower.
The trial takes three full days. Seeing Merlin during it is rather upsetting. He is worn and pale. He seems broken some how. Xella laughs when she tells us that he is so pumped full of enervin that he won’t be using magic for years. As small and cute as she seems, I am going to try never to make her angry at me.
It seems that the worst Merlin may face is the total re-writing of his personality. Ouch.
Over the course of the trial it comes out that Merlin goaded the General into the war and arranged for the down fall of Canus after selling weapons to both sides. He also admits that he knew about the anti-matter weapons and guided us to be his pawns. He claims that he somehow embedded Coyote into Zahy-Lung’s mind. Coyote is some sort of illusion that Merlin crafted to serve him. The damn top-hat, of course… He used it to brainwash Victor Volocov in order to plant a seed of betrayal in him. It all goes deeper though. Merlin sent Coyote to take Max’s arm in order to complete the OL, but he did not know that it was really Max he needed.
He seems to have lost all touch with what is right and wrong. His idea of what is of value in life is so twisted and bizarre. Even at the end he never seemed happy in the place he had made himself. Pure power and destruction is a sad way to measure the worth of a life.
He is not repentant and in the end the order sentences him to have his mind wiped and his personality re-written.
"Merlin, when we were children we were close friends and I am shocked to see what has become of you. The lessons that your parents taught you were wrong. You have been led astray, but we will correct that. Hopefully with time we will be friends again. You have a responsibility to serve all of mankind not just yourself." ~ Iason’s sentence of Merlin Huntington
Merlin raves and babbles but he is dragged away. Iason looks a bit sad.
I am talking to Zehy-Lung about the trial when I hear a voice behind me yell, "By the Gods! What is that thing!?" We all rush to the courtyard by the tower and see an enormous red, horned creature. He is elegant and handsome in a terrible way. It reminds me a bit of my mother, though he seems far more powerful than she will ever be. When I am able to pull my eyes away from him I see a man standing by him. It is Noun and Pronoun is sitting on his head as well.
The creature has some sort of power over some of the humans. It says, "This has stood for long enough, " and pounds on the tower wall. It turns to Noun and says, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Noun opens his mouth and I hear Zahy-Lung gasp.
("It is fated that it all goes to hell." ~ Curtis, using his destiny token)
Noun speaks and suddenly the tower is collapsing and the world is twisting far out of its natural form. I feel myself being drawn forward, far, far, forward… to the end of time.
End of Session