Session 5 Downtime

Phase 1: Chasing the Secret

 
I used the Invocation of Thanks to send Isabella Nora a nice thank-you for her gift. I suggested that we meet regularly for coffee at the Angel, to share interesting books we've read and discuss knowledge in general.
 
While hanging out at Red's place for research, I learned that Red Comet Shatters the Mighty had a standing offer to reward anyone who would accept his mission to go into the Ruined Expanse and retrieve the <Legacy Artifact> which was lost there inside a Hate Cyst. As the reward for this mission was access to one of the mystical Secrets I have long desired, I knew that this was one challenge I would have to accept, thought it would force me even further down an unpleasant martial path.
 
While Red's details on this mission were sketchy, I was able to augment the information he provided with some research in local news reporting about accidents within the Ruined Expanse and the slow progress that Satyrine officials were making in recovering this territory, and with general geographic and tactical information obtained through Gnaw at the Universal Mind.
 
I spoke with my closest friends, and while Gwyn, Fynlan and A'isha were all eager or willing to help, Simone and I agreed that it wasn't the right scene for her. She was torn between distaste for the violence and fear that something fatal would happen to me in her absence, but ultimately it seemed that her gentle nature would be a danger to both herself and her team-mates, if she were to join us.
 
Knowing that I was not capable of taking on such a violent task without a great deal of preparation, I put myself to work. Once again, my days started early with martial training in the park, with afternoons dedicated to more cerebral pursuits. In my training, I focused mainly on defense; on the basic skills of dodge, withstand and resist, as well as on developing a focused defensive ward which would keep my mortal safe well protected against hostile magic. I experimented with incantations, and then, ultimately, with techniques I'd heard rumors of years before, to bind Thirteen Angels Standing Guard to myself as a conation incantation.
 

Interlude: Facing the Past

 
While experimenting with incantations, I received and used one called Staring At Long-Forgotten Yesterdays, a mysterious bit of magical ephemera which summoned my past self into my own mind, and allowed me to converse between myselves. This past self was from at least ten years before, but... it was my Shadow self.
 
I can't stress how disturbing this is. Judging from the destruction everywhere around me, it certainly hasn't been ten years since I fled from the War, hid within Shadow, and was ultimately returned. This revelation nearly crushed me; for days, I dwelt in great depression, only able to focus on the worst possible explanations for this new piece of information.
 
Was this world real? Am I real, or am I a lie out of Shadow? Have we been lied to, about the end and the outcome of the War? Have I somehow slipped through Shadow into a different Actuality?
 
In the end, I had a good conversation with Ol' Bedlam Tom about it. Well, he didn't say anything, but at least talking to him helped me realize that this data, like all incomplete and unactionable data, could not be allowed to break me down. I decided to accept this as a thing I don't yet understand and add it to the list of subjects to investigate, and got back to work.
 

Phase 2: The Dragon's Hoard

 
On the morning of the mission, Fynlan, Gwyn and A’isha met me in West Henge to prepare. Alessandro Forlani, the fifth member of the team and Fynlan’s war buddy, could not join us, as his request for leave from the Pale Sun military was denied. After verifying our other preparations, we continued with the mission, traveling through Satyrine to the section of the Ruined Expanse where the artifact was believed to be lost. At this location, we discovered the nature of the Hate Cyst; its power corrupted the ruins, bringing bits of fallen buildings or other wreckage to life as terrifying monsters of stone and steel, cement and cable.
 
Due to the shifting nature of the place, all of the scouting completed by Fynlan's summoned spirits in advance was useless. I made the decision to continue towards the goal, guided by the ephemera that Gwyn created specifically to point the way to the target artifact and engaging in as few combats as possible; unfortunately, “as few as possible” was still quite a lot. After several of these, we more or less bumped into <Angel Name>, an angel who was searching the area for the same artifact; after a palaver, we decided to make common purpose towards that end.
 
As we fought our way closer to the goal, the threat level of the monstrous encounters increased; at the base of a collapsed tower, a huge creation nearly killed Fynlan, ripping him from the throat all the way down. Gwyn shot him to life, using a Healing Flame bullet ephemera to stabilize him and return him to functionality. I moved Fynlan to a defended position at the center of the group and moved on. Within hours, we were nearly surrounded, prompting me to reveal one of the powers prepared for this eventuality; I released the invocation The Final Wonder, remaking the nearby area to a natural state; iron scrap broke down into ore-laden rocks, cement into pulverized stone, glass into piles of gentle sand. With no cover to hide their approach, monsters could not reach us, and thus the recovery of the artifact was fairly straight-forward.
 
The most difficult part came after the artifact was found, when <Angel Name> laid their claim upon it, and stated the intention to bring it back to their superiors. I was gentle but firm with the angel, explaining that my team was here merely as a proxy for another being, Red Comet Shatters the Mighty, and that any contestation as to the ownership of the artifact would have to be made with him in person. Not liking their chances of defeating four angry vislae, and not willing to go argue with a god, the angel decided to go home and simply report the situation to their superiors.
 
With the artifact recovered, we then had the opportunity to destroy the heart of the Hate Cyst. A’isha was against this, preferring instead to keep it intact for study, as it had been rendered effectively harmless by my incantation. Gwyn, of course, was all for destroying it, and Fynlan was more circumspect, as he is in all things.
 
When I decided that destroying it was the right thing to do, A’isha—normally the very picture of confidence and deliberation-- completely lost her cool. She berated me in great detail, making it clear that I should count the Hate Cyst as my own personal responsibility, because after I fled the War, the Project continued in my absence, and imperfect weapons were deployed. The weapons would have not corrupted the land if I had continued to the end of the project. My cowardice had not only led to misery and loss for her personally, it had led to harm being inflicted upon reality itself.
 
Though my eyes were full of tears, I did everything I could to keep my response measured: “I’m sorry, A’ike. It’s too late to know if it could have been better. It’s too late to know if it could have been worse. I’ve tried, and I can’t change my past. I will never stop being guilty for the things I did during the War… I am sorry for my part in this. All I can do now is fight to make our world better.”
 
“Don’t call me that,” she spat, “not now, or ever again. Of course you’ll never know if it could have been better, you weren’t there.” She – the only woman in the group—turned away and seethed a short distance away, leaving the men to destroy something.
 
I cast Encode the Sefiroth on the heart of the Hate Cyst, rolled up ad pocketed the piece of glyph-covered paper that the spell created, and nodded to the others.
 
As the heart of the Hate Cyst slowly gave and its power was dissipated, my tears retreated inside of me.
 

Interlude: The Past is a Bad Apple

 
How do you handle finding out that the one time in your life you took an ethical stance, when you took everything you had achieved in life and tried to pound it into the earth as a bulwark against destruction, only to find out that despite your sacrifice, you not only failed to make a difference, but (at least in the eyes of your trusted friend) managed to make the outcome somehow worse?
 
And how do you handle it when, at the same time, you lose the confidence and friendship of one of the only people who's ever truly understood you?
 
I really mean that, if you have any ideas, let me know.
 
I was able to distract myself by learning Divine Ability from Red. However, I know that this is avoidance, and that eventually I'll have to deal with these repercussions.
 

Phase 3: Back on Track

 
In preparation for the tasks ahead I used my accumulated understanding (crux) to decipher some general spells: Pathwalker, Restorative Touch, Unbinding and Master the Black Cube.
 
NOTE: We will be resolving these questions in-person before Session 6 to simplify things.
 
To continue with the investigation of Limerance St, I had "seances" three nights in a row on one of the small, sandy islands that dot the lake in the center of West Henge, where I invited over the gang (Simone, Gwyn, Fynlan) and used Gnaw at the Universal Mind, once per day, to divine the following information:

1. How do I get from here and now to the Silver Hills District? (I use the bonus spell from this to temporarily learn Consecrated Intention, which I use after the others leave to consecrate the hidden room beneath my Observatory to the act of divining secrets.)


2. Who and what is Axon? (I use the bonus spell from this to temporarily learn Implication Avoidance, which I use before the next seance to try to keep myself from being caught spying by a monstrous enemy.)


3. Who or what is the thing hunting Axon (I use the bonus spell from this to temporarily learn Warding Stone, which I use to empower the Observatory.)
   

 

Still Pending

1. My answer back from the System.