Scion - Petro Campaign - Session 71
Wedding bells are ringing! Well, not anymore, but they were before we got entangled in our latest situation. Elisa, Quinn, and Pierre got married! They had a marvelous ceremony on Red Mountain. It mixed Western elements with Voodoo, Aztlanti and Japanese traditions...which was hard to do! Shinto purity and Aztlanti bloodletting don't really mix all that well, but we made it work somehow. Pierre chose T-Bone as his best man, Quinn chose Dahlia as her maid-of-honor, and Elisa chose Echo as hers (which was a very pleasant surprise for me!) ^_^ I was honored when Elisa and Quinn asked me to preside over the ceremony. It's not the first wedding I've led (I also married Tabby and Robin), and I doubt it'll be the last. Looks like I just can't escape the love goddess aspect of my fate. ^_^
Anyway, Elisa, Quinn and Pierre are simply charming together, though I'm not sure how Pierre's dealing with being tied down like that. ^_^ And thanks to the wedding I've got all sorts of romantic vibes going on. Sigh. ^_^ I can't wait for my wedding to Yi! But wait, who will I get to marry us? With all the other planning, I haven't even thought about that part! I have to ask Echo and Yi about it. Persephone married Echo and me, but somehow she doesn't seem appropriate this time...
Well, I'll have to figure that out later. Right now, we're in a terra incognita called Night Haven, escorting Suchette into a dangerous meeting of the most powerful vampires in the world. Here's the story according to the legends.
Long ago, the titans created the original vampires. Each of the people they chose became a different type of vampire and spread their supernatural power to others. These progenitor vampires are known as the Founders, and are, of course, legendary beings of godlike power. Accounts differ as to whether they were always vulnerable to sunlight or whether that weakness was a curse placed upon them by the gods when the titans lost the war, but a lot of vampires choose to blame the gods anyway. The Founders can only be killed by one of the undead, and generally, if that undead's a vampire, he or she takes that Founder's place.
The Founders have mostly lain dormant for hundreds, if not thousands of years, their children continuing to spread and grow, which leads us to things as we know them: there are a number of different vampire clans, like the Camazotz (Aztlanti vampires we ran into in Glastonbury), the Adze, and Jiang Shi, each with their own peculiar abilities and motivations. Most of these clans, unfortunately, are in the titans' pockets, but thanks to our work with Suchette, a few vampires are beginning to turn away from the titans.
Now the Founders are waking. Camazotz has already awakened (T-Bone was there with Storm's crew when it happened, apparently), as has at least one other. And so the most powerful vampires of each clan are meeting with their retinues in Night Haven, a vampire-controlled terra incognita locked in eternal night (Adam says it was originally built by dwarves, who were killed or driven out by the vampires). The Founders called the meeting to organize the vampires more solidly on the side of the titans in an effort to counter the increasing levels of organization among scions and other servants of the gods.
So, obviously, that's bad. >_<
Fortunately, we have a very powerful vampire who is on the side of the gods and fanatically loyal to yours truly: Suchette. ^_^ She asked T-Bone and me if we could convince our group to join her entourage undercover to protect her at the meeting, which is a great opportunity for us to spy on the enemy and maybe sow a little discord in their ranks. *evil laugh*
We agreed, though Adam in particular took a little convincing. I told him that if we can continue to help Suchette, we have the opportunity to bring more vampires onto the side of the gods, and at the very least we can help keep the vampires who are loyal to the titans from organizing effectively. Moreover, there's an outside chance that if things devolve into violence, Suchette could have the opportunity to slay one of the Founders and take his place. And lemme tell ya, having a vampiric Founder on our side would be amazing! ^_^
Besides, the Vampire King (I mean David Bowie) is supposed to show up!
Adam and Elisa were also a little worried that this whole thing might be a trap, but I assured them that Suchette wouldn't double cross us like that. She and I are too close for that. Of course, it might still be a trap, but if so, Suchette's not behind it. In fact, it probably IS a trap for her. After all, it's no secret she's friendly with scions...
Anyway, we met on Suchette's houseboat to discuss our plans to infiltrate the meeting, arriving discreetly in case the place was being watched. We decided to simply accompany Suchette as part of her entourage, though we'd have to be careful to make sure no one recognizes us...which became an absolute imperative when we discovered that the Tally Man would be at the meeting. For the time being, I'm masquerading as Jenny, the DJ girl Suchette recently turned into a vampire and who bears more than a passing resemblance to me. Shifting my appearance a bit to look just like her wasn't hard, and T-Bone is helping me maintain the impression that I'm undead with a minor illusion to hide my breathing and heartbeat. Suchette's quite happy to have me at her side throughout these proceedings ^_^. I can't quite decide whether her Jenny = Me obsession is creepy or endearing. I guess it's probably a little of both, but I don't mind at all, not for Suchette's sake. I just hope she doesn't try to seduce me. >_<
T-Bone's also covering Elisa with an illusion, disguising her as a mortal bodyguard. Pierre, meanwhile, has used Cheval to possess Elisa, hiding within her spirit until needed. Adam has used magic to transform into a spider and has been skulking around in that form, communicating with us telepathically when necessary. T-Bone is simply remaining invisible, and we don't believe anyone we meet in Night Haven will recognize Charles or his connection to us. Come to think of it, though, our enemies might have done their homework, so maybe we should do more to disguise Charles...
So, after working out our disguises and completing what preparations we could, we stuck with Suchette until the next day, when a series of black carriages arrived in New Orleans to convey us to Night Haven. It was a fascinating trip that took us through dark forests where we were harried by huge beasts, but we were never in any real danger. I confess that I was a little anxious about how we were going to get out of the terra incognita if things didn't go well, but Charles assures me that he can handle that. He's such a sweetie. ^_^
Night Haven is a maze of streets and passages, and the architecture is astounding. Adam and Charles both suspect that the tunnels and passages below ground are just as extensive as the streets above. The whole place is surrounded by a thick, dark forest that goes on forever, and night rules there, strengthening powers of darkness and cold and weakening those of light and fire. In the center of the city is a huge building topped with spotlights and patrolled by leyeks (the flying heads we encountered recently during the whole Lanka debacle). The meeting will be held there.
The carriages dropped us off in front of a large estate reserved for Suchette's use during her stay. The place looked pretty nice in a medieval sort of way. Before we entered, however, we decided to do some investigation. I mean, no sense walking into a trap without checking it out first, right? While Elisa kept a keen eye out for observers, I moved to a section of the estate's walls and summoned its kami. It was a pleasant sort, but it definitely inherited the personality of a dwarf. I asked it if anyone else had been snooping around the house and, if so, what they had done there.
I think we were all dismayed, but not surprised, to learn that two other groups had been there. One group was led by an Adze vampire (the same clan as Suchette) named Ishalam. He and Suchette are the two most powerful Adze vampires, both having achieved such power by drinking the blood of scions (MY blood, in Suchette's case). Ishalam is Suchette's chief rival, and a bitter enmity divides them. Suchette is certain that Ishalam will attempt to kill her in Night Haven, so we have to be extra vigilant against him. Ishalam's group had entered the estate and done something to the master bedroom in which Suchette was to rest...needless to say, she won't be staying in that room. Ishalam also set up a bunch of discreet cameras to spy on the inhabitants of the estate, but Adam, Charles, and Elisa found and disabled all of those. If you ask me, the spy camera thing seemed a bit clumsy for a master vampire, but maybe that's just because of how easily my friends found them.
A somewhat bigger problem was the fact that the Tally Man had been by with a pair of shape-changing titanspawn known as Xibalbans, and had warded the only passable entrance into the manor with a warning line that would inform him of our arrival - and by "our" I mean, me, Elisa, Pierre, Adam...the whole group. He expects us to be here to help Suchette, and we have to keep him from knowing that we've come. Otherwise, our cover is completely blown.
Of course, the problem was that we couldn't enter the house easily without triggering the alarm, yet we couldn't avoid entering it either because that would throw up all sorts of warning bells in the Tally Man's head. I asked the manor kami about secret passages, and there were plenty, but those that led into and out of the manor weren't easily accessible. So Charles and I came up with a solution. Using our psychopomp powers along with my ability to earth travel or his ability to walk through walls, we could help the others through the walls without crossing the threshold and setting off the alarm. With that problem solved, we set about settling in, avoiding any problem areas and ever vigilant for any other surprises our enemies might have left.
About those secret passages, though...they do lead right to the big building where the meeting is supposed to happen. They could make for a convenient escape route, if we can brave all the traps.
While we were getting settled in, T-Bone, still invisible, rode one of the carriage to its carriage house beneath the big meeting hall in the city center. He didn't find much though, except for a bunch of servants tossing blood-dry bodies into furnaces - the leavings of the vampires' meals, no doubt. The servants appeared to be Chinese, though, which implies that the Jiang Shi representatives have also arrived.
So now we wait until we're summoned to the meeting, though I doubt things will be so easy...
Anyway, Elisa, Quinn and Pierre are simply charming together, though I'm not sure how Pierre's dealing with being tied down like that. ^_^ And thanks to the wedding I've got all sorts of romantic vibes going on. Sigh. ^_^ I can't wait for my wedding to Yi! But wait, who will I get to marry us? With all the other planning, I haven't even thought about that part! I have to ask Echo and Yi about it. Persephone married Echo and me, but somehow she doesn't seem appropriate this time...
Well, I'll have to figure that out later. Right now, we're in a terra incognita called Night Haven, escorting Suchette into a dangerous meeting of the most powerful vampires in the world. Here's the story according to the legends.
Long ago, the titans created the original vampires. Each of the people they chose became a different type of vampire and spread their supernatural power to others. These progenitor vampires are known as the Founders, and are, of course, legendary beings of godlike power. Accounts differ as to whether they were always vulnerable to sunlight or whether that weakness was a curse placed upon them by the gods when the titans lost the war, but a lot of vampires choose to blame the gods anyway. The Founders can only be killed by one of the undead, and generally, if that undead's a vampire, he or she takes that Founder's place.
The Founders have mostly lain dormant for hundreds, if not thousands of years, their children continuing to spread and grow, which leads us to things as we know them: there are a number of different vampire clans, like the Camazotz (Aztlanti vampires we ran into in Glastonbury), the Adze, and Jiang Shi, each with their own peculiar abilities and motivations. Most of these clans, unfortunately, are in the titans' pockets, but thanks to our work with Suchette, a few vampires are beginning to turn away from the titans.
Now the Founders are waking. Camazotz has already awakened (T-Bone was there with Storm's crew when it happened, apparently), as has at least one other. And so the most powerful vampires of each clan are meeting with their retinues in Night Haven, a vampire-controlled terra incognita locked in eternal night (Adam says it was originally built by dwarves, who were killed or driven out by the vampires). The Founders called the meeting to organize the vampires more solidly on the side of the titans in an effort to counter the increasing levels of organization among scions and other servants of the gods.
So, obviously, that's bad. >_<
Fortunately, we have a very powerful vampire who is on the side of the gods and fanatically loyal to yours truly: Suchette. ^_^ She asked T-Bone and me if we could convince our group to join her entourage undercover to protect her at the meeting, which is a great opportunity for us to spy on the enemy and maybe sow a little discord in their ranks. *evil laugh*
We agreed, though Adam in particular took a little convincing. I told him that if we can continue to help Suchette, we have the opportunity to bring more vampires onto the side of the gods, and at the very least we can help keep the vampires who are loyal to the titans from organizing effectively. Moreover, there's an outside chance that if things devolve into violence, Suchette could have the opportunity to slay one of the Founders and take his place. And lemme tell ya, having a vampiric Founder on our side would be amazing! ^_^
Besides, the Vampire King (I mean David Bowie) is supposed to show up!
Adam and Elisa were also a little worried that this whole thing might be a trap, but I assured them that Suchette wouldn't double cross us like that. She and I are too close for that. Of course, it might still be a trap, but if so, Suchette's not behind it. In fact, it probably IS a trap for her. After all, it's no secret she's friendly with scions...
Anyway, we met on Suchette's houseboat to discuss our plans to infiltrate the meeting, arriving discreetly in case the place was being watched. We decided to simply accompany Suchette as part of her entourage, though we'd have to be careful to make sure no one recognizes us...which became an absolute imperative when we discovered that the Tally Man would be at the meeting. For the time being, I'm masquerading as Jenny, the DJ girl Suchette recently turned into a vampire and who bears more than a passing resemblance to me. Shifting my appearance a bit to look just like her wasn't hard, and T-Bone is helping me maintain the impression that I'm undead with a minor illusion to hide my breathing and heartbeat. Suchette's quite happy to have me at her side throughout these proceedings ^_^. I can't quite decide whether her Jenny = Me obsession is creepy or endearing. I guess it's probably a little of both, but I don't mind at all, not for Suchette's sake. I just hope she doesn't try to seduce me. >_<
T-Bone's also covering Elisa with an illusion, disguising her as a mortal bodyguard. Pierre, meanwhile, has used Cheval to possess Elisa, hiding within her spirit until needed. Adam has used magic to transform into a spider and has been skulking around in that form, communicating with us telepathically when necessary. T-Bone is simply remaining invisible, and we don't believe anyone we meet in Night Haven will recognize Charles or his connection to us. Come to think of it, though, our enemies might have done their homework, so maybe we should do more to disguise Charles...
So, after working out our disguises and completing what preparations we could, we stuck with Suchette until the next day, when a series of black carriages arrived in New Orleans to convey us to Night Haven. It was a fascinating trip that took us through dark forests where we were harried by huge beasts, but we were never in any real danger. I confess that I was a little anxious about how we were going to get out of the terra incognita if things didn't go well, but Charles assures me that he can handle that. He's such a sweetie. ^_^
Night Haven is a maze of streets and passages, and the architecture is astounding. Adam and Charles both suspect that the tunnels and passages below ground are just as extensive as the streets above. The whole place is surrounded by a thick, dark forest that goes on forever, and night rules there, strengthening powers of darkness and cold and weakening those of light and fire. In the center of the city is a huge building topped with spotlights and patrolled by leyeks (the flying heads we encountered recently during the whole Lanka debacle). The meeting will be held there.
The carriages dropped us off in front of a large estate reserved for Suchette's use during her stay. The place looked pretty nice in a medieval sort of way. Before we entered, however, we decided to do some investigation. I mean, no sense walking into a trap without checking it out first, right? While Elisa kept a keen eye out for observers, I moved to a section of the estate's walls and summoned its kami. It was a pleasant sort, but it definitely inherited the personality of a dwarf. I asked it if anyone else had been snooping around the house and, if so, what they had done there.
I think we were all dismayed, but not surprised, to learn that two other groups had been there. One group was led by an Adze vampire (the same clan as Suchette) named Ishalam. He and Suchette are the two most powerful Adze vampires, both having achieved such power by drinking the blood of scions (MY blood, in Suchette's case). Ishalam is Suchette's chief rival, and a bitter enmity divides them. Suchette is certain that Ishalam will attempt to kill her in Night Haven, so we have to be extra vigilant against him. Ishalam's group had entered the estate and done something to the master bedroom in which Suchette was to rest...needless to say, she won't be staying in that room. Ishalam also set up a bunch of discreet cameras to spy on the inhabitants of the estate, but Adam, Charles, and Elisa found and disabled all of those. If you ask me, the spy camera thing seemed a bit clumsy for a master vampire, but maybe that's just because of how easily my friends found them.
A somewhat bigger problem was the fact that the Tally Man had been by with a pair of shape-changing titanspawn known as Xibalbans, and had warded the only passable entrance into the manor with a warning line that would inform him of our arrival - and by "our" I mean, me, Elisa, Pierre, Adam...the whole group. He expects us to be here to help Suchette, and we have to keep him from knowing that we've come. Otherwise, our cover is completely blown.
Of course, the problem was that we couldn't enter the house easily without triggering the alarm, yet we couldn't avoid entering it either because that would throw up all sorts of warning bells in the Tally Man's head. I asked the manor kami about secret passages, and there were plenty, but those that led into and out of the manor weren't easily accessible. So Charles and I came up with a solution. Using our psychopomp powers along with my ability to earth travel or his ability to walk through walls, we could help the others through the walls without crossing the threshold and setting off the alarm. With that problem solved, we set about settling in, avoiding any problem areas and ever vigilant for any other surprises our enemies might have left.
About those secret passages, though...they do lead right to the big building where the meeting is supposed to happen. They could make for a convenient escape route, if we can brave all the traps.
While we were getting settled in, T-Bone, still invisible, rode one of the carriage to its carriage house beneath the big meeting hall in the city center. He didn't find much though, except for a bunch of servants tossing blood-dry bodies into furnaces - the leavings of the vampires' meals, no doubt. The servants appeared to be Chinese, though, which implies that the Jiang Shi representatives have also arrived.
So now we wait until we're summoned to the meeting, though I doubt things will be so easy...