Season 9, Episode 14: "The Bloodhound" Report

General Summary

The Infinity Scroll offered greeting, and the Dream Team leaned in, their curiosity getting the best of them. They began toying with the artifact, teasing out the signals that would cause it to respond, until it revealed itself as the Infinity Scroll of Gestures — the truest definition of gesture, describing everything from a hand wave to a ritualistic mudra. When prompted, it explained a great many things to the party, although it implied some topics would require further study:

• When Mist asked what had happened to his arm, the Scroll admitted to scanning his knowledge of gestures, as if checking that its data was up to date.
• When Lockette glibly asked for the answer to the Centurion's Riddle, the Scroll provided a sequence of key turns — 1L 2R 3C 4U 5R 6R 7L 8L 9CC — which implied an order and ritual to the use of the Ruby Keys.
• When Isra asked for a way to save Cornelius, the Scroll offered that her only option was to "WYN not WIN", and that through study it could teach her the ways of the "Move Like This".
• When asked how to kill Sara No-Name, the Scroll shared an emoji of a broken heart, which Flay connected back to the Skinny Men's desire to steal Desna's heart.
• When asked how to discover other ritual sites, the Scroll showed an image of a moistened finger checking the wind.

After a lengthy discussion, crew decided that Isra should study the Scroll — a ritual requiring 24 hours of uninterrupted meditation — while the rest of them attempted to uncover more about their current situation. Having successfully entered the right frame of mind, Isra became plagued with visions (see The Men Who Move Like This), and a ritual sequence crafted by Wynrey and Vaughn Blackblood wormed its way into her memory.
Meanwhile, Lockette, Nikkost, and TRAVIS crunched numbers using local star charts and astronomical data, and uncovered that during the solar eclipse on Castrovel, a line could be drawn from the Ikal Expanse, through the moon, and directly into Maro on Akiton.
Using the Scroll's hint about the wind, the Mercenary, Mist, and Flay discovered another ritual site at Unari's old home, and Chamas and Abelina found two more to the south — at the ruins of the fourth village Unari once destroyed, and the remains of the Black Swarm tower.
Through discussion with Niko Ciro, Mist caught a glimpse of the assassin's reason for returning home, and learned that both his lover Atalanta and a mad local Ravin Ricky had gone missing. Niko had uncovered two more ritual sites around Maro, one on top of an abandoned skyscraper, and another deep within the vents, both of which were occupied by Gray soldiers.
Concerned about the planetary lineup, Lockette decided to fly to the moon to see if there were any other circles off-world. She met with Yulon Tranz, a noted ecological researcher working for the Esowath Conservancy, who studied the weather patterns of Ukulam from above. But instead of explaining his research, he showed Lockette a new phenomenon that had plagued the moon — lunar dust imbued by the flames of War, which rose from the ground as ashen creatures, and crumbled apart when slayed. After filling the doctor in, the duo guessed that a seventh ritual site would likely appear on the moon at the time of the eclipse, and with TRAVIS' help they were able to get an estimated area of its formation.
Alarmed by the scope of it all, Lockette asked Luwazi Elsebo for backup from the Starfinder Society and the Stewards. She promised at least Omega Delta Squad, but promised to sync-up with Atticus McCallow for more resources.
Then the group met up to discuss everything they'd learned, with Isra still meditating in her rooms, and Mist reached out to their mysterious friend BecomeXChaos. The cyber warrior immediately became alarmed, stating that lines drawn between the ritual sites at the time of the eclipse would form a sigil known as the Eye of Cthulhu — an antithesis and mockery of the Elder Sign. While unclear how exactly Cthulhu was related to the awakening of the Cagn and the rebirth of Sara No-Name, the magnitude of this ritual was slowly coming into focus...
Desperate for answers, Flay decided once again to consult the spirit in Unari's Spectacles, arriving in Aroden's office in a flash. But as the chair turned towards her, Flay did not find herself in the presence of the God of Men...
Crow grinned, a bloody book upon their lap, and beckoned Desna closer.

Rewards Granted

Tarot Deck

• No changes.

Loot

• No changes.

Created Content

New and updated articles for:

• Drikka Masson
• Soul Divided
• The Men Who Move Like This
• Centurion's Riddle
• Atalanta
• Ravin Ricky

Notes

It took this long to get a dedicated article for the Centurion's Riddle...
I spent way too much time researching world mythology, the different kinds of gestures they used, and the often-conflicting meanings between cultures.
This is going to be a long season.

Campaign

The Centurion's Riddle

Protagonists

Flame in the Night

Tesin Movahesh

Thunder in the Mist

Lockette Endrinmaster 12 2.0

Isra

Report Date

16 Dec 2022

Primary Location

Ralhoma

Secondary Location

Castrovel