AND AWAY WE GO!!!!

Aaaah, White Lake. For being located in the Beyond this little town has thrived and shown to be resilient in an otherwise hostile corner of the Ninth World. You'd have to travel for quite a while before you found another settlement that even came close to the level of community and civility that the residents here have been able to maintain. To most of the citizens White Lake has Hervan and Deil to thank for this. The attack some time ago that the two men were able to turn away solidified this respect and bond they have with the inhabitants here. White Lake was smaller then. In it's infancy slowly growing to the self sustaining community that proudly and defiantly exists where most upstart settlements are quickly eradicated may it be from roving raiding parties or the perceived randomness of the Iron Wind. Perhaps it's just coincidence, or maybe the will of some strange Numeneric Alien machine brain that seems to protect the Town where most others have fallen.

Cinos Fiu (sorry I can't figure out how you got the "comma" thingy above the "u"...my ignorance is strong.):
White Lake is your home. As you've stated, it has been since you were very young. Your friendship with Hervan is very important to him. You feel like he lets his guard down when you are together, and he's never said as much, but you are pretty sure you are the only one he lets this close. You were there for his wedding to Deil. The two men were meant for each other, you remember thinking. Then the Abhuman raid. They were magnificent. Very well deserved of the reverence they inspire in the citizens. Although things deteriorated between the two of them. As the years went on and Deil lost the use of his legs there was a strain that you, perhaps, were the only one that was allowed to see. Hervan mentioned to you many times on the banks of the Lake watching the Ferrix Turtles that it was more important that the people saw strength in their leadership than to show that everything may be falling apart. Your get togethers grew less frequent. Which is why on this night it came as a surprise that he sent for you. A knock on your door from one of the messengers Hervan trusts.

"Hervan would like to see you if you are available." He says...It's close to the middle of the night. What do you do?



Kelsii and Polaria:
As far as outsiders go you two have actually made a positive impression on most of the people. Your willingness to help them out of the dangerous situations has made it easier for them to accept your relative abstinence to the more mundane events. You get the sense most of the time that many are waiting for you to move on from here, but would perhaps not prefer you to leave. This is evident by your interactions with the people in the market section of the square. Thank you's from shop owners who may not have gotten the chance to do so since you both repelled that Grush raid a few weeks ago. The town guard are well suited to handle such things, but a few of those Abhumans did get through the lines and made it into the residential area. It was mostly easy for you but to the less talented in the town you saved a lot of lives. Today you were visited by a Brehm mounted member of what you recognized by her attire to be an Outrider. The scouts that are trained by Deil to constantly be on the look out for threats and dangers that White Lake would need to prepare for. Deil himself used to lead these already highly skilled and now highly trained Rangers before he lost the use of his legs. She introduced herself as Caila and presented an offer to join the ranks of the Town Guard. There would of course be a test before Deil himself before the final stamp of approval but you have the support of most of the Guards already and Deil takes that very seriously. She has given you the night to consider the proposal. You of course do not have to accept, but this is being presented to you as an honor for the service you have already provided to the Citizens.

There is a spot by the White Lake that lies just on the outskirts of the Town. Away from most of the hustle and bustle that you both like to go to (If that's ok). It's here that you are approached by a little girl who can't be older than 9 or 10 years old...

"Hi! I saw the Outrider talking you both earlier. Are you leaving us?" She makes a quick glance at Kelsii, seems slightly intimidated, tries not to show it, then looks at Polaria expectantly.

As the girl meets Kalsii's eyes the facade of bravery she was trying so hard to put up melts away. She brings her hands together and starts fidgeting with them nervously.

"I...We would prefer you stay" she says looking down at the ground to avert Kalsii's intense analytic gaze. "You probably don't know this, but you saved my Dad the day of the Grush attack..I mean, you saved a lot of people, but you also saved my Dad. He talks about it a lot. I guess I...we were just worried that you'd be leaving."

She turns and looks up at Polaria. "What offer? Did the Outrider make you an offer?"



Your Perception roll: You are looking at a girl who appears to be small for her age. Malnourished even. Her hands look calloused. Probably from having to work out of necessity. She is wearing what amounts to rags but they are not "raggedy". Her hair is brown and looks chopped by someone unskilled at cutting hair. It comes down to a little above her shoulders. Her face could be very pretty if she cleaned it up a bit. Clearly from the less fortunate area of the town. There are also straight scars that run down the length of the top of both feet. She is barefoot so that sticks out to you.

Even though you know the way, you allow the Messenger, who's introduced himself as Jase, to lead you to the "Manor" where Hervan and Deil reside. It is in fact larger than the other homes in the city but it was never their intent to appear above the other citizens. Hervan has mentioned their living situation was more a product of the insistence of the people. A result of the gratitude they felt. With your mind racing as to the meaning of this late night summons it occurs to you that whenever Hervan would speak of the "gratitude" of White Lakes inhabitants there was a subtle irony accompanying his tone. Like perhaps he felt it wasn't deserved. Although it could be your mind playing tricks at this late hour visiting your friend for the first time in weeks....

After entering the front door you take the anti-grav lift the Aeon Priest of the local Clave installed for Deil up to the second floor where you enter the sitting room you remember well. It still looks the same except maybe not as used as it once was. There sitting in front of the Viewing window that faces North out toward the Jagged Wastes is Hervan, alone.

"Have a seat my friend. It has been too long." He says not breaking his gaze from the window. Every few seconds he takes a sip of his drink. Must be that concoction he loves so much that Raymey distills special for him. Another thank you from a citizen. He takes a deep breath then exhales. "Do you think me a Hero, Csinos? Sit down would you? I know it's been a long time but this place is as much your home as it is mine. Look, your favorite chair!" He motions playfully at the floating disk upholstered with a comfortable hide from some beast of the Plains of Kataru. He brings it closer to him with a wave of his hand utilizing his ability to control magnetic fields. He turns his head and looks at you. "Am I a Hero, Csinos?" He asks again. You see instantly that he is fighting back tears. He looks older than you remember. His posture is slumped and tired looking.

"Come and gaze out into the Beyond with me and let's talk like we once did. Then I will tell you why you are here."

Csinos:
Hervan's eyes well up as you speak. He quickly composes himself and takes on the serious countenance you know from his public demeanor.

"You're right. Down to business. It seems we've been infiltrated by the Convergence. I don't know how and I don't know for how long. But they have a very specific goal, and I can't conduct the type of investigation that I want without rousing suspicion or causing a panic. I'm certain one of the Aeon Priests from the Clave is the Magistrix. From what I understand about the Convergence they usually operate in small numbers or just a single member. I have it on good authority that White Lake has inadvertently allowed a larger cell of these mad men to flourish here, however, and their intention is to observe the Iron Wind when it arrives here...... Yes, there is a rather large Iron Wind event that will be heading this way."

He takes a long gulp and finishes his drink. Slams it down on the table to the side of him and sighs deeply.

"I trust you. Probably the last person in this Town that I can trust. I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you expose this Magistrix and stop him. That, of course, will not stop the Iron Wind, but the Convergence cell is a cancer that needs to be eradicated. If they planned on observing the Iron Wind from inside the City walls, then they have a means to avoid being consumed by it. If we can get to them, and find out how they planned on surviving the storm then perhaps we can use it to save White Lake.......Will you help me?"

He turns to look at you and clenches his jaw a little. Makes eye contact for a second then looks back out the window.



Polaria and Kalsii:
The little girl regards Polaria's questions thoughtfully for a moment, then shrugs. "I'm not sure. I mostly stick to the farmlands with my Dad" Her eyes widen, "Oh, no! I should be getting home. My Dad worries a lot. I don't like to make him worry. It's so late!" With that she begins to walk hastily away. She stops herself and looks back at the both of you. "Even if you don't join the Guard or the Outriders, I'm glad you'll be staying for a little while longer anyway." She gives you both a sweet smile then continues on presumably towards her home.

As you watch her walk away and head down a side road out of sight your attentions are drawn to an individual limping slowly down the main road. You can't make out much about this figure but it looks to be injured in some way. The figure stops, tries to take another step then collapses in a heap. When it hits the ground you both feel a slight tremor beneath your feet. This seems strange but you soon look past it as the figure appears to be lying in a small crater that was created by his fall. Surely this roused people in the immediate vicinity.

(Csninos: You and Hervan are far enough away to not have felt this)

Kalsii and Polaria:

The ground begins to lightly pulse beneath your feet. An ashy gray colored hand comes up from the pile of brown robes extended with the palm facing you as if to tell you to stop. You hear a strained drawn out grungy metallic sounding exhalation speak ".. please stop..." the hand shakes then falls back to the ground. As this happens please both of you make Might defense rolls. This is a GM intrusion so you both will receive 1 xp as it effects the both of you at the same time. Your Examination and Analysis rolls will be resolved depending on the results.

Csinos:
Hervan turns to you. "I can’t tell you how much this means to me. You will need to go to the Aeon Priest Clave. The 3 priests there are Alon, Rone and Anieph. My source tells me one of them is a Magistrix of the Convergence. You need to find out which one and find out how he plans to protect himself from the Iron Wind when it arrives. Try to be discreet as Convergence Magisters are very clever I don’t know how he will react if he thinks we are on to him. The other bit of information we need is how many of our Town Guard and Outriders are Convergence. And lastly...probably the most important… When is the Iron Wind going to arrive." He takes another gulp and continues. "I don’t expect you to do this alone. It won’t be easy to figure out which one it is. There are two women who are here now who may be able to help...hopefully they agree. One of them is a very talented interrogator among other skills, and the other will prove more than useful if and when things go to shit. You’ll remember them from the Grush attack a few weeks back. They were able to stop 5 or 6 that had broken through from running amok in a residential section. Many lives were saved. I understand that they’ve been asked to join the Outriders which is most likely a Convergence scheme to remove them. Perhaps if you could get your hands on the one who offered it to them? They meet by the Lake every day away from the main road. Please find them and do what you think is best. At this time of night I’m not sure where they would be, unfortunately. My source does not know where they have taken up residence."

"If you are successful you can expect high honors in White Lake and perhaps a permanent place by my side defending this Town, if you would accept….You will also have my gratitude..for whatever that may be worth." Hervan leans back on his seat..with a final gulp he finishes his drink.


Kalsii and Polaria:
The tremors from this persons hand hitting the ground throw you off balance but you both are able maintain your stance deftly. You begin to notice people coming out of their homes and looking in your direction curious but cautious. As both of your focus is snapped to the crater you become aware as he struggles to slowly turn himself over, that this man’s skin looks like some dense ashy grey mineral like you’ve never seen before. As he is shifting and moving it melds back and forth from firmly solidified to maleable. You see this effect in his face especially as he is wincing and looks like he is trying to concentrate really hard on something. As he is moving around you can feel a gravitational tug on you physically that wants to pull you to him. Almost immediately it goes away visibly coinciding with him stopping and wincing some more.

After a moment his breathing slows, and he begins to try and stand up. His eyes slowly open as he deliberately goes through the motions of gathering himself to get to his feet. He stops when he makes it to one knee. You're taken aback as his eyes are pure white and even seem to be emitting white light. He looks around and with the same grungy metallic voice says: "....where am I?…"

Kasii:
Everything snaps into sharp focus for you. Something horrible has happened to this man. He clearly has been altered in some way by some thing that has physically changed the composition of his body and is progressively increasing his physical density. He also appears to be emitting, or possibly losing control of gravitational forces that surround him. The small crater that he is in now makes perfect sense. He must weigh an incredible amount and coupled with random gravitational fields that apparently vary in intensity this person could be an extreme danger to White Lake just by moving the wrong way at the wrong time. His reactions to these pulses however, may offer some hope. He seems to be struggling with controlling the grav fields and if you could find a way to help him focus his energies maybe you could lessen the likelihood of a complete disaster whereas attacking would seem the riskier path as he could lose control completely or possibly worse… he might try to defend himself.


Polaria:
At the sound of your voice his head snaps in your direction. As much as they can his eyes seem to be searching for you...after a moment he relaxes and looks to be able see you now.

"...White Lake?....but..how?" he mutters as he looks down at the ground. He grabs at the loose earth his impact made and lets the dirt fall through his ashy gray fingers. He looks up at you again and starts to speak..

"My name --"..


"Callard Sebane" you BOTH hear coming from the crowd that has begun to grow circling around the 3 of you. The crowd has kept their distance at about 20-30 yards away, but out of the crowd comes walking three men. The first is an older man and on either side of him a pace behind are two younger men. They are all dressed in similar robes befitting an Aeon Priest Clave of the Beyond. Slung across the backs of the two younger Priests are what look like Numeneric energy emitting weapons. The older man in front is carrying a rectangular box that looks like it’s made of some sort of black synth like material. As they slowly continue to walk towards you the older Priest says.. "His name is Callard Sebane, and his arrival would herald the end of White Lake."






We will need Csinos' next move before this scene can continue. There is NO RUSH. I just wanted to let you all know before anything else happens. I'm also unsure of the PBP etiquette, so let me know if I'm supposed to be doing something different. Kalsii and Polaria certainly may post responses to this but I need to know what Csinos will be doing next in order to advance this particular scene beyond your reactions. Again, No rush. Just trying to communicate. I might be over explaining so I'm sorry for that too. I know I put 1 post per day, but sometimes I get excited and want to post all the time. :) THANK YOU!

Csinos:
Your peaceful sleep montage is interrupted by loud frantic banging on your door. Through the sliding composite panel you hear a muffled voice.."Csinos?....Csinos...Are you there? It’s Balda. Hervan sent me." You know Balda is a member of the Town Guard. One of the leaders in fact that works close with Deil on all matters of strategy in protecting the Town. Back when you would see Deil and Hervan together she would usually be at Deil’s side. It is very odd that she would be sent by Hervan especially as you just left him.

Please roll an Intellect roll for Perception.



Kalsii:
You have seen enough Numenera to know that these are fashioned artifacts. You can’t figure out at this point what their use is but surely they are weapons of some sort.

Polaria:
The two younger Priests pull these weapons out from behind them and train them on the man they called Callard Sebane. The older Priest seems to notice your unease and takes a hand off the box he his holding and extends it to you in a non threatening manner and says.."Please child, step aside. No doubt you’ve felt his power. Let us do our jobs here. No one will be hurt...least of all him." and with a smile he puts his hands back on the black box.


The two younger Priests flank out from behind the Older Priest training their now readied weapons on Callard. "..Least of all him" echoes in both your minds as the devices audibly power up and the crowd starts to back away collectively from this developing situation. At the sound of the weapons powering up Callard, from one knee, extends his hands to either side and a pulse of energy releases from him as you feel the ground begin to vibrate beneath your feet. The crowd feels it too as you hear audible gasps and a scream of surprise. There are some Guards now visible as well working their way through the receding commoners towards you.


Sorry for the slight delay. Had some family stuff. :)

-Kalsii and Polaria:
As if waiting for your eventual move out of the way the younger priests activate their devices and you witness from both weapons energy fields that fire out in a beam. When the beams come into contact with Callard he is immediately enveloped in an energy field of some sort that seems to hold him in some sort of stasis. He appears to still be able to move however as you clearly see very powerful bursts of energy coming from his body acting on the surrounding force field. One instance of which can actually be felt in the ground and air around you. It’s at this point where the Elder priest walks up to Callard and puts the black synth box on the ground next to him. He takes out a small metallic looking canister, removes one end and swabs some oily gelatin substance on two fingers and smears it on the black box. He steps back and the box begins to change form into some sort of liquid synth.

"Not to worry, everyone!" He says out loud with his hands raised. "You can all go back to your homes. We’ll see that Mr. Sebane is taken care of properly."

The material from the black box is shifting viscously and stretches and reaches slowly into the force field surrounding Callard. He starts to scream as it begins to coat and cover him from head to toe. As the black material reaches his head he makes eye contact with you, Polaria. His eyes are pleading, but he does not seem to be in any pain. As the the material covers him completely the younger Priests power down their devices and each one expels what looks to be built up pressure in the form of a greenish gas. The force field recedes from Callard who is now suspended in mid air covered in this black material. Pulses of gravity fields can be seen visibly acting on the black material from the inside. The strange pull you both felt intermittently on your bodies is completely gone. The Older priest sidles up next to you both..

"Please, relax. For now it’s over. We’ll take him to the Clave just outside of town. Hopefully keeping this area clear of his sphere of influence as it were." One of the younger Preists comes up and whispers something in his ear. "Ah, yes. We must be off. Thank you both for keeping his attention so we could do our jobs. Things could have gotten nasty if you two weren't there. It looks like you've saved the town again" With a smile he bows and the three of them slowly guide the floating capsulized Callard Sebane toward the Clave.



-Csinos:
As you get up and head toward the entrance out of the corner of your eye you notice that your back wall is rippling as if it was made of a recently disturbed liquid. This draws your attention and as you are looking at the wall you see movement out of the corner of your eye and a shadow disappear around the corner of your back room heading toward your bedroom….Ok, someones in your home, and Balda is banging again. "Csinos..open the door!"

Csinos:
GM Intrusion: You open the panel and Balda gives you a swift and powerful front kick to the middle of your chest. You sprawl backwards and immediately are caught and grabbed from behind. Balda enters, closes the panel behind her, sneers at you and says "This isn't your lucky night, Csinos." Then jabs her Spear into your shoulder dealing 4 points of Might damage. Your Armor rating with your Ice Armor up reduces this to 2 points.

If you wish. Please make a roll to try and escape the person holding you from behind or lose your next combat action. This can be a Might or Speed roll depending on how you’d like to try and escape. Your target number will be a roll of 6 or higher (Lvl 2 Diff.). If you hit it, please feel free to take an action immediately in the same post.

You receive 1xp for yourself and another 1xp you must give to either Kalsii or Polaria. You can do this now or wait until you all meet in game so it makes more sense.

Polaria watches the priest leave with Callard with an expression of anger and disgust. The scene clearly upset her. She meets Kalsii's gaze for a moment.

"That's no way for the priests to behave", she says, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Then Polaria turns, sheathing her sword. She goes back to the crater Callard created and kneels next to it, examining it more closely.

"What did they mean? The end of While Lake?"

"This isn't your lucky night, Csinos."

"It never is", Csinos says, as he throws an elbow back and tries to twist away from his captor.

continuing...

Twisting free he quickly flicks the ring on his middle finger exposing its needle. "Actually, it may not be yours either..." he says as he attempts to punch Balda with the ring to inject its contents.

---

The ring is level 5 poison cypher as described on Csinos' character sheet.

Kalsii and Polaria:
With nothing but the rustles and murmurs of the crowd returning to their homes after the Priests leave, you both are able to really concentrate on investigating this crater and the larger situation. What you are able to discern is the following: You remember the initial sight of him limping down the street. He faltered and fell to the ground which is what created the first tremor and larger of what you now see to be two crater-like deep impressions. The larger made from his body, and the smaller impression set inside the larger where his hand had fallen to the ground which almost threw you both off balance. The rest is just incredibly packed earth that looks like something fell from the sky. This is in line with Kalsii’s previous thoughts that this man has been altered in some way to increase his mass tremendously, and probably contributes to his limping gait as his condition may be getting worse. Which is also supported by his concentration trying to control some level of ability to manipulate gravity.

As you look further you also notice foot sized impressions in the earth leading up to the larger crater. It’s not hard to infer that these are his footfalls based on your assumption of his condition. The Footfall craterettes can be followed back through town and around a corner. This road, you both would know, eventually leads to the edge of town so clearly he came from that direction.


Csinos:
Your extra effort in this situation was well spent.
You break the hold on you and twist free. You hear her curse under her breath as she struggles to regain her hold to no avail. In one motion you throw your punch and it lands solid into Balda’s jaw. You feel the needle on the ring break the skin, and as she buckles from the punch her hand comes up to her face and she slumps to one knee falling back into the panel she just closed. She visibly begins to shake, and you hear an unsheathing from behind you as the other attacker advances on you.

(Balda takes 2 damage from punch + 5 from the poison. She is unable to act for 5 turns (cypher lvl).

Make a speed defense roll as the Female Town Guard moves to slash your face off of your face with her sword. She is wild eyed and looks way too eager to see what the inside of your head looks like. (Target roll: 9) You may then post your next action regardless of success or failure. If you roll a 1 make another speed defense roll as the free Intrusion will be a second attack from this crazed battle hardened Woman.

AND WE’RE BACK!!!

Csinos:
Your attacker drives you back grunting and spitting narrowly splitting you in two.

You take 4 points of Damage (Might).

BOOM!
You are able to counter and land a blow to her side which she left open with her wild attack You feel and hear a crunch from inside her armor as your strike lands true. She is knocked back and bellows a war cry as she turns to come back at you again! She grips her sword with two hands and lunges forward.

17 gets you one more point of damage. For a total of 5 if I’m reading that right.

Roll a defense (Might or Speed depending on you) target roll 9. 4 points of damage on a fail. You may follow up with another action as well.


Kalsii & Polaria:
You follow the impressions in the ground. They go down the road and turn toward the edge of town. As you make the turn you hear the very familiar sounds of battle coming from a residential pod off to the right. A female’s war cry and the the clanging of swords on armor. The impressions in the ground continue on before you.

Csinos:
Sorry. You will only take 2 points because of your armor. She pretty much does a static 4 with her sword.

She easily parries your attack aside and with a guttural grunt lowers her shoulder into your sternum attempting to knock you back violently into something solid. (Roll defense Target: 9). A fail will result in 3 points of damage but only 1 after your Armor and some other "thing" so if you fail please hold off. If you succeed you may make an action as normal as you are able to absorb the blow in whatever manner you choose.

You can also hear Balda's breathing steadying a little as she seems to be slowly coming to.


Kalsii and Polaria:
You are both able to get to the front door where you can clearly hear violence. There is the clanging of weaponry and the grunting and shouting of frantic combatants. There is also a low humming coming from around the corner of the residence. Most likely imperceptible to anyone other than the two of you.

Csinos easily slips the charge while simultaneously slashing at and connecting with a separation in the back of her armor. The Ice covered blade sings and digs deep into her upper back and her body goes limp as her momentum carries her into the door. It explodes outward as her lifeless body ragdolls through onto the road landing in front of Kalsii and Polaria. As the body rolls to a stop on her back you both see Caila, the guard who offered you a position with the Outriders earlier, cough up blood through her dying breath as the spark of life fades from her eyes.

Kalsii and Polaria: As you peer through the door that just shattered you can see a man who looks a bit worn from battle with the slumped body of a mildly shaking female guard who appears to be struggling to get to her feet.

Csinos, as the body of your slain foe crashes through the door, you see the two "Heroes of White Lake" Hervan mentioned as possible allies in your task standing just outside the doorway. Balda has gotten to her hands and knees, but is still struggling a bit. She will be back to normal very soon and appears to be trying to say something to the two women but can't quite pull the words together.

And by very soon, I mean pretty much after whatever immediate interaction occurs between the 3 of you at this point.

Yes, Csinos would recognize them as the ones who saved all those people from the Grush attack a few weeks back. These are the Women Hervan was referring to that might be able to help you flush out the Convergence in the town. Not having any real ties to the community he felt pretty confident that they hadn't been compromised...yet.

Kalsii:
It's very clear to you that this man standing inside the doorway lives here. It is also very clear that he is more than capable of defending himself against two town guards who are highly trained combatants. As one of them (Caila) lies dead at your feet, and the other looks to you to maybe be poisoned in some way. She is coming around however and is trying to say something to you through gasps of air.

Polaria:
As you leave the scene abruptly and turn the corner to the side of the residence you see a silver cylindrical device attached to the outer wall of the house. It is giving off a faint hum that pulses in time with a pale blue light emitting from a slit that runs the length of the device. There are two buttons, one on each side of the cylinder towards the top. It's a little shorter than foot in length.

Balda struggles helplessly against her bonds and when the spiked whip is applied she lets out a pathetic whimper. A trickle of blood forms around one of the spike’s points of contact and her breathing turns slightly panicked as her eyes begin to dart from side to side. A tiny centipede looking creature begins to emerge from the outer corner of Balda’s right eye. She strains and looks like she wants to cry out as the creature struggles to rip itself out of the eye socket. As it finally wriggles free and falls to the floor, Balda lets out a gasp and begins to sob softly. There is a static discharge from the Centipede as it spasms and stops moving.

Kalsii is the only one who sees the Centipede at this point. But Csinos and Polaria definitely can see the physical reactions from Balda.

As Balda is restrained, we are out of combat.


Gimme a roll, Kalsii. To possibly identify what you just saw. And feel free to continue the dialogue. If you point out the Centipede to Csinos and Polaria, You both can make a roll to identify as well.

Kalsii:
You’ve known people with implants. You’ve seen people have implants taken out in some interrogation settings and how that can effect them adversely or otherwise in order to compel information. This is a bit different. You suspect this thing is sentient in some way as it was trying to escape when Balda was restrained and the whip was applied. However, it died shortly after escaping so it must not be able to survive outside the body, so who put this into her? Was it against her will? Balda’s demeanor has changed as well and she is no longer fighting against you. This looks to be connected to the "removal" of the "implant". You cannot recall ever seeing something like this before. Yet through your experiences are certain this devices removal is contributing to her current state.


Balda tries to speak through a wincing countenance.. "...my head...*ungh*...my head is pounding! What happened?"

Balda takes on a fierce look but you’ve seen such attempts to appear defiant before. She is clearly flustered by you. She notices the "thing" on the ground at your mention of it and appears extremely surprised.

"That came out of me?" She asks confusedly. She shuts her eyes and shakes her head as if trying to clear a mental fog. "I remember Mr. Fiu resisting arrest." She throws an unsure glance up at Csinos. "He is to be brought before Deil for questioning regarding a matter that is none of your concern. Now, release me from these bonds, and if you two are friends of White Lake, help me bring him in!"

Kalsii:
There is clearly something else here that she is hesitant to bring up. She is certainly confused about what is going on and trying to pull herself together.

Polaria:
You hear movement behind you. Looking back you can see Caila’s Body shifting a bit on the ground. The body moves for a second or two then stops. The humming from the device on the side of the house persists as well.

Sorry, I seem to have missed something. Is Caila's body inside or outside the house? I thought it was inside, but Polaria noticing something behind herself seems to indicate that it is actually outside.

Yes, sorry. Caila's body went flying through the door and basically destroyed it. Her body is on the ground outside. Kalsii and Balda are on the floor inside where Balda collapsed after Csinos poisoned her. Polaria is standing in the doorway. To move Csinos between them and the exit you would be approaching Polaria and moving by Kalsii. There's also the side wall that was uncharacteristically behaving like it was made of some sort of liquid.

Balda crumbles under your bindings and tactics.
"I...we were doing our JOBS!....This man is Convergence!...*unggghh* please...I told you what I remembered...We had orders…..from (She thinks for a moment)...from DEIL!!!….to bring him in for questioning...please…..It's the Priests...they want him. They know he's spoken with one of their agents."

Kalsii:
Now that you are behind Balda you notice a circular rash on her neck right at the base of her skull. It is pinkish with a small red colored dot in the center. Balda appears to be unraveling a bit under your tactics and you feel you may have gotten the answer to this question.

Csinos' recounting of the events before you and Polaria arrived do not seem to mesh with a standard arrest from the Town Guard as she appears to be claiming. The mention of the Aeon Priests is odd as well. It wouldn't be normal for a Clave to request an arrest of a citizen like that. Hinky, bruh..Hinky.



Regarding the Rolls. I'll ask for them when I want them, but please feel free to throw them out there if there is something you feel you want to try. Maybe it's my inexperience but I try to keep things free flowing and whenever players want to make rolls for something that comes to mind I like to roll with it and see where it takes things. There will always be cause for Kalsii to percieve her environment and you never know what else may be going on as this situation develops, so Roll away! :)

Polaria:
It's not hard for you to notice the stream of blood coming from Caila's right eye, and the disabled centipede thing on the ground next to her head. It appears Caila had one of these implants as well. It's attempt to escape the dead body most likely contributed to the movement.

Kalsii and Csinos:
You are both now alone in the residence with Balda restrained on the floor. Polaria has vacated her spot in the doorway to investigate Caila's body outside.

DOH!

I think Polaria and Kalsii got switched around there?

ooops. I'll edit so it makes more damn sense. SORRY!

Polaria:
You find the Centipede no problem. It is motionless and appears dead / deactivated. Caila’s body is motionless as well. Very dead. It is about an hour past midnight at this point. The road is empty. You do not sense any danger. As you search you also find a silver cylindrical rod attached to Caila's belt. It is identical to the rod you saw attached to the outer wall of Csinos' home, just not activated. There is also 6 shins. You may add to your inventory if you wish, however, the rod is a Cypher and you already have 2 so you run the risk of something happening to them if you hold on to a third for too long.

Kalsii:
You have never seen anything like this specifically. You are sure they are implants of some kind that appear to effect the minds of the implanted. It looks to have been administered in the back of the neck from the rash you’ve seen on Balda. Balda is not struggling against her bonds. Her breathing has slowed and your instincts are telling you that she wasn’t as truthful as you may have liked. So why was this man (Csinos) targeted?

Csinos:
Balda has basically accused you of being tied in with the Convergence. After the Centipede thing came out of her eye she seemed a bit confused. The mentioning of Deil putting out the order for your "arrest" and eventual transport to the Clave is odd seeing how Hervan has tasked you with exposing the Convergence presence. You were under the impression Hervan did not alert anyone to your mission, but now an attack? Town Guards naming you Convergence?

Kalsii:
Balda answers as calmly as she is capable of "Look. I have no idea how that thing got inside me…*urghh*... Maybe it was snuck in with the Booster we got from Deil a few weeks ago. Those injections help us fight off some of the lasting effects that can occur from fighting off the abominations that exist in this world…*ungh*.... I wasn’t informed of any bug thing being included in the last injection. I do know that my head is pounding and I feel like I’m coming out of a fog." More blood trickles from her neck as you pull on the whip. "...*UNGHH!!*... THAT’S ALL I KNOW! We don’t ask questions, we follow orders! … Damnit! I’m not even sure where the order came from now! It was in my head ..... ‘Bring Csinos Fiu to the Aeon Priest Clave….Bring Csinos Fiu to the Clave...alive’.......please...that’s all I know...We fought, Caila died, and now I’m not sure where the orders truly came from anymore...I’m so confused"

Polaria:
Both Rods have two buttons toward the end, one on top of the other. The top button on the activated Rod is pushed in where the bottom button is not. The rod in your hand has the opposite look. Bottom button pushed in, top button pushed out. You feel pretty confident that if you decided to push the bottom button on the activated rod it would shut down the cypher, and most likely disable it as cyphers are mostly single use. You can visually see that the wall it is attached to is rippling ever so slightly as if it was made of a liquid. The device must have something to do with this.

Polaria:
You reach out and touch the wall. Your hand goes right through it as if the wall was a pool of liquid and you were submerging your hand. Any part of your hand that goes into the wall feels wet. It is not wet when you remove your hand, however. It appears this Cypher changes the properties of whatever it is attached to into a liquid state, yet it maintains it’s shape.

Kalsii and Csinos:
Balda gasps at the removal of the Whip. "Thank you…... We all trust Deil. I don’t think he’d do anything to hurt us. He tells us the Injection is for our protection, we believe him. He’s never steered us wrong. Caila and I never spoke about coming to Csinos’ house. We just ‘knew’ to be here, and do the job of bringing him in. I don’t like this feeling. I’ve been a member of the Watch for years. I know Csinos to be Hervan’s friend and confidant. None of this makes any sense." You can clearly see she is trying to work this out in her mind. Her frustration is obvious. There is anger as well, but not at Kalsii. More at the situation. You both can feel confident she no longer poses a threat here.

She looks at Csinos. "I may be wrong here, but if I just ‘knew’ to be here at this time and If Caila just ‘knew’ as well, then anyone else who may be infected would react the same way. I didn’t get to my position by being easily led. Caila is…..was under MY command. As are 8 others. We all received the injection, so you can be certain the rest of my squad are infected as well…..why you? Why are you to be brought to the Clave?" She ponders to noone in particular.

Polaria:
You walk right through the wall and are now inside the dwelling. You see Csinos, Kalsii and Balda. This seems to be how Caila was able enter the home. It felt like you were stepping into a pool of water, and then out of it on the other side.

Kalsii and Csinos:
Balda responds. "I AM thirsty….I would appreciate some water" She’s almost talking to herself now "I’ll go to Deil and demand to know why this was in my head. Then I’ll sequester the others. They are most likely infected. I need to cleanse them of this." Turns to Csinos.. "They want you, Csinos. What do YOU know about this? Can you PLEASE untie me? I am more concerned now with what is happening here than following some baseless order from some Centipede in my skull! I have to get to my squad! I've told you all I remember, but now it's clear that myself and my men are being manipulated. What's pissing me off is that it looks like Deil has something to do with it, and we trust him with our lives every day! So what's the deal here? Are you going to let me go so we can try and solve this, or am I your prisoner?"

Balda looks up at Polaria...

"The Priest... Anieph. He's relatively new, but is held in high regard by the Elder Priest Alon. He's been able to replicate certain Numenera to varying degrees of success. Most of it is unimportant to me. He provides us with tools, we use them. I did not know Caila had those, however. I remember the plan to take Csinos involved her being in the residence just before I knocked. I guess that's what she used. Anieph has proven to be very helpful to the town. Alon is getting old, and Rone is still pretty young for a Priest."

And we're back! Thank you all so much for your patience. I think I'm out of the woods here :). I like the back and forth going on so I'll let it continue until you're characters decide on a plan, or Balda doesn't like what she hears!

Remember that Csinos still has an XP point to give away. Also..

Please everyone give yourselves 1 XP for coming together and uncovering a core clue, or connection from Hervan's meeting with Csinos and Balda, Caila's attack.


OH! One more thing. It's not going to happen YET, but Polaria is carrying 3 Numenera currently and will need to think about unloading one before what she's holding starts.........interacting........there's a dead body on the ground outside Csinos' residence.

THANK YOU!!!

Balda looks up. "Do I get to be untied yet? Where did you learn to bind like this?"

Balda responds to this:

"Seemed 'necessary'?? You two are heroes to the citizenry. You saved a lot of people. The Grush came out of nowhere, completely alluding our outriders. The Priests took some of the bodies to the Clave to study...maybe find out where they came from. Father Anieph was able to discern where a small tribe of them were located. We easily wiped them out.....Come to think of it, our last injection was supposedly a result from studying them....Something about the Grush's regenerative abilities."

Everyone please make an Intellect Roll. Basically recalling Information about Grush's.

After hearing Balda's statement Csinos realizes that Polaria's initial reaction to his question had more to do with humility than trying to hide any part of the story and decides not to ask any more questions about it.

Drawing his blade he walks behind Balda and starts to cut her free. "I take it you don't need to be warned about making any sudden movements, right?"

"I don't think I COULD make any sudden movements after being tied up like that" Balda says as she flashes a look at Kalsii. "Thank you for untying me. Now, clearly my squad has been compromised and I don't know what the hell is going on other than they expect me and Caila to be bringing you (Csinos) in to the Clave for questioning. I'm not so sure I should be following that order anymore.... what are you going to do now, and how can I help?"

Results of Rolls:
Polaria and Csinos. Something is definitely off from Balda's explanation of the Grush attacks. Grush don't "elude" anything. They are unorganized low intelligence abhumans that could be considered just stupid mindless brutes. You HAVE, however, heard of instances where they were used as "soldier slaves" by warlords and the like, manipulated by more intelligent influential beings to act as pawns as it were.

Balda, while rubbing her wrists, she addresses Kalsii while gesturing to the Wall:

"That Cypher is used. You could drain what power is left while it's active I suppose. They made a few. They all work the same, just on different surfaces. The one on the outter wall here was made for the material that makes up most of the housing in White Lake. I think this other one Caila was carrying works on Stone if I'm not mistaken. One of the Priests would know....and Caila would have known too..."

Addressing Polaria:

"Injections are not actually uncommon..At least for the Guard and Outriders. It's for our protection mostly. We come into contact with a lot of unknowable dangers. Before Anieph, and Rone showed up to help, Alon was the only Priest and he did all of the injections from research on the Numenera that was returned...and most often the bodies of Outriders who were exposed to something strange that we weren't prepared for." She lowers her eyes at this, thinking for a moment, then continues. "When Anieph and Rone arrived, we were all led to believe it was to help Alon in his advancing years. Rone has been the one giving the injections lately, but it's been said that Anieph has been taking most of the research and experimentation off of Alon's plate. Preparing for, you know, when he takes over for Alon completely. Injections are only about once a month or so. If this last one has compromised the city then there is no telling how many Guardsmen and Women are effected."

Glancing back at Csinos:

"I honestly don't know at this point. My orders were simple, bring you in for questioning about your 'alleged' Convergence affiliation. The Convergence is dangerous. We don't like taking chances that rumors are false. This is the Beyond. You can't go picking and choosing what rumors to believe out here...everything could be true. So if you are truly NOT Convergence, maybe nothing would happen. Have you been approached by anyone, or spoken to anyone about the Convergence, Csinos?"

Kalsii:
What Balda mentioned is accurate. This Cypher, when activated changes whichever surface it is attached to to a liquid form allowing anything to pass through it. From the one attached to the outer wall of Csinos' home it appears to effect an area about the size of 2-3 medium sized creatures. You can't be sure what type of surface this particular Cypher is tuned to, but Balda did mention it was tuned to stone. It has it's one use charge in tact and is a level 3 Cypher.

(OOC: Keep in mind that you also have 2 Cyphers on your person already. The one on the outer wall is still active as well.)

Polaria:
Balda answers you "Callard Sebane is what they are calling that thing that came into town today. We had reports of shakes and tremors from a lot of residents before the Priests came and did....whatever it is they did. Looked like his skin was made of something...something I've never seen before. You guys were up close...what did he say?"

Kalsii whispers to Csinos :
"I think it's better to make your house safe again" - she smilers and goes to the device attached to the wall.

She puts her hands on the cypher, and her eyes roll betray the joy she experienced from that.
There is a visible energy flow, which flowes from the device into her hands.

Kalsii uses Drain Machine. Final use cost is 1 Int, which should be replenished from first minute of the drain. She is unharmed so i guess all excess points will be wasted, but at least she have some joyful sensations :P :)

Kalsii:
Oh, the Sensations! You drain the device and can clearly see the composite wall return to it's original rigid surface. The Cypher has been spent and is basically a hunk of metallic material now.... It felt very nice for you...In fact... You still hold the other Cypher from Caila's body....sooooo.....

"BLAM!!!
(GM Intrusion: You cannot help yourself..There was something different about this drain... THE GLORIOUS SENSATIONS!!! You NEED to drain the other one as well. 1 INT cost (edge) Ability replenishes Might or Speed according to your sheet. -- You have 1 xp so you could spend that to ignore the temptation and refuse the intrusion, or take 2 xp and drain the other as well. If you accept you will need to award 1 xp to another player while keeping one to yourself. Csinos still has 1xp to give away too.)


Balda speaks to Csinos and Polaria:
"Capture you, huh?"....she thinks on this for a few moments... "What about these two?" She gestures to Polaria and Kalsii. "If you all think something is up with the Clave then we'll need all the help we can get. Maybe we could say they helped bring you in?"

Addressing Polaria:
"We certainly needed help before. If he wants me to bring him in under the guise of being captured I'm sure it would help if the heroes of White Lake helped. That's just what I think...Good way to get all of you in the Clave without suspicion."

OOC: Flipped a coin and the extra XP goes to Polaria. Don't spend it all in one place!

Balda speaks up.

"It was not unexpected that you would fight back. I do not believe Deil or the Priest Anieph would think too much of hearing that Caila needed to be patched up. The presence of Kalsii and Polaria 'should' reinforce that we needed their help to bring you in."

She begins to take out what looks like wrist restraints made of a thicker-than-you'd expect alloy of some kind.

"I'd have to restrain you. I doubt they would let me in on the interrogation but perhaps they'd let you two in. Seeing as they would have no reason to dis-believe you helped. Kalsii seems to have a talent for that sort of thing." She says rubbing her neck. "They'll be expecting a report in soon...It would look better if you had these on when exiting your residence, Csinos." She says not approaching until you consent.

"If this is what you decide to do...we'll need to do something with the body. When I am dismissed I can come retrieve her and try to make the story work..but I'm afraid it's a bit of a loose end if things don't go your way inside the Clave."

Balda approaches Csinos from behind and moves to put the restraints on.

"You should know that these restraints will shock you a bit if you attempt to break out. Too much strain on the bindings or the filiment links will trigger the electrical pulse....I can't turn that off. It would probably look suspicious anyway." She takes out a small jet black smooth circular object no bigger than her palm and hands it to Polaria. "This will deactivate the restraints. They'll search him. If you plan on using force either one of you will need to carry his weapons. Just wave this over one of the clasps and both will release."

With that she clamps the restraints closed around Csinos' wrists and you all hear a soft electrical hum.

Csinos you can almost feel the electrical field these things give off. Testing their limits will hurt quite a bit.



(OOC: If anyone would like to use any recoveries you will be able to use either the Action or 10min recovery before reaching the Clave. Feel free to do that now if you wish. The items Csinos wishes to take with him will need to be carried by either Kalsii or Polaria. Keeping in mind that carrying more than 2 Cyphers could be......risky.. BWAHAHAHA!!...*ahem*. excuse me.)

Excuse me, the GM intrusion is finished? Draining extra cypher takes 1 minute per cypher level, thats why i didnt posted action, because it wil take more than just one turn. I mean, thats all, I suppose other can rest for 10 minutes while Kalsii finishes second cypher?

This is fine. I didn't realize the timing involved in the drain. It works out with the 10 min rest. Thank you! :)


Kasii:
You return from your drain to hear Csinos and see that he is bound.

Balda would offer to carry things as well if needed.

Just want to make sure I don't just jump in and begin the next part until you guys are ready to head over to the Clave. Polaria has taken Csinos' Sword and also has the jet black rock that apparently unlocks the manacles.

Balda does offer to carry the Teleporter belt Cypher.....if you are comfortable with that. Other than that if you all are ready we can begin the next part.

Everyone can take an XP for joining up and working together under the circumstances.

If anyone has anything to cover beforehand please chime in.

Balda regards Kalsii coldly...

"As you can see, I've restrained Csinos here. Polaria will be carrying his sword, and We will be taking him to the Clave as I was instructed. I've given Polaria the device used to unlock the restraints... Oh, he shouldn't be moving his arms around too much. They give off shocks when strained against... When we get there they will most likely dismiss me and take him down to interrogate him about his involvement with the Convergence in White Lake... This is when you two should offer to help... You CLEARLY know what you're doing so this shouldn't be a problem. I'm assuming you all can figure out what to do when you get inside. I've never been in deeper than the entryway so I couldn't tell you what happens once inside." gesturing to Polaria and Csinos she adds "If I've missed something please feel free to fill her in.... Should we be off then?"

Balda grabs Csinos arm and begins to lead him out of the residence.

Your walk to the Clave is rather uneventful, again, anyone needing to use action or 10min recoveries may do so. It is just after the middle of the night. Anyone out and about at this hour would not give a prisoner being escorted by a guard a second thought.. 'Probably some drunkard out causing mischief'... is no doubt the thought that would go through their minds although it wouldn't occur to most of them that you are not heading in the direction of the prison, but to the opposite side of town where now looming before you is the front entrance of the Aeon Priest Clave of White Lake. Not a terribly large building the Clave is modest looking accept for an extravagantly carved wooden sign bearing the symbol of the Order of Truth placed above the double doors that serve as the entrance. There are no guards posted, but there is a small panel that as Balda approaches with Csinos flips open and presents what looks like a glass bowl filled with a clear liquid. Balda walks up and speaks into the bowl. "City Watch Captain Balda Indora turning in suspect Csinos Fiu per the order of Deil." As she speaks into the bowl visible vibrations seem to match her voice and intonations. When she is finished the bowl retracts and the panel flips back up. There is clicking sound from the doors and they begin to open.

You enter into a hallway about 15 wide that seems to go on for quite a ways. A few feet into the hallway and after the doors close behind you another panel opens up with another bowl of clear liquid. Balda walks over looks down into it. The liquid begins to vibrate and a Male voice seems to emit from the bowl. "Welcome, Captain. Please proceed with the captive to antechamber 6 to complete your orders."

Csinos: you recognize the voice as that of Deil. Hervan's husband and the other defacto leader of White Lake. He is also the commander of the various guards and outriders that keep the peace and the people safe. You haven't seen him in a while but you recognize the voice.


Balda leads you all down the hall a little farther to a steel door. Again with the panel with the bowl of liquid where she identifies herself and her purpose. The door slides open and inside the antechamber are a few seats and a pedestal in the center of the room. Balda leads Csinos over to the pedestal and pivots him 180 degrees. The bindings on his wrists pull hard and magnetically attach to the pedestal effectively keeping him in place. As if coming from the walls themselves you all here Deil's voice speak..

"Captain Indora. You have done well and are dismissed. Report back to the barracks for full debriefing. Your recommendations that Polaria and Kalsii be allowed as escort will be taken under advisement."

At hearing this Balda nods, turns and walks out the door. Another door opens from inside the chamber and a man in a chair that seems to be held aloft by some sort of anti gravitational device hovers through.

"Kalsii, Pollaria. White Lake and myself owe you a debt of gratitude. Please come with me." He beckons to you both to follow him. He is an older looking man but it may just be the years of combat were hard on him. Clearly his body is failing him as he is bound to this hovering chair, but Polaria, you can clearly see that he was once a fierce Glaive in his own right, and probably would have adapted quite well to his circumstances to still be able to handle himself in a fight.

Csinos is held firmly in place by the magnetic hold the pedestal has on his bindings. Your back is turned to the door that Deil is coming from so you cannot see where he is or where Kalsii and Polaria would be going. In fact if you tried to turn you can feel the restraints starting to charge for a shock. You remember that Polaria has the device to unlock the restraints.

Using the Action recovery.

Would it be possible to slip the unlocking device to Csinos somehow undetected, somewhere from where he could activate it himself? How big is it? Does Csinos have a suitable pocket or something?

Bit busy right now, will post at today's evening with "edit post"

You can absolutely attempt to do this.

I'll need Speed rolls from Both Polaria and Csinos to first carefully pass the the device to Csinos and then for Csinos to stealthily keep it hidden.

"Difficulty 2 (roll of 6 or better) to conceal this sneakery from Deil. Who appears to be the only one other than you here.

Polaria, your Careful Movement skill will reduce your half of the task to a lvl 1 difficutly (Roll of 3 or better) as always you both can apply effort if you'd like.


On successes you can describe how this happens. HELL! go ahead and tell us how you fail if you miss the rolls. :)

No worries. I've had a crazy string of days myself lately. Take your time. :)

Nice. No roll necessary from Csinos to conceal as Polaria deftly and skillfully executes perfectly. Hey, Csinos. There's a device in your coat pocket that unlocks the restraints..HOORAY!

Now....

Seeing how Csinos' hands are bound and the bindings are magnetically held in place on the top of the pedestal in the room. A couple choices exist for Csinos from here...


1. You can roll speed Diff 5 (roll of 15 or better depending on Effort) to strain against the bonds and withstand the jolts to get the device. Remember, your hands are behind you. Depending on when you want to attempt this it will take your action just to retrieve it on a successful roll. A failed roll will result in 5 damage and no device. Either way, success or failure, you will have alerted no one.

2. Take a GM intrusion: You successfully retrieve the device and are able to free yourself, but your straining against the magnetic bond between pedestal and restraints sounds an alarm throughout the entirety of this complex, and Deil will assuredly suspect Kalsii and Polaria might be helping you.

Also, Polaria still has your sword.

The decision doesn't have to be made now. That's just the choices that lie ahead for you. I also want to make sure Kalsii is good to go before moving too far forward. NO RUSH KALSII!! Just don't want to accidentally move to far. :)

OOC: Oops, I seem to have understood the situation bit wrong. I thought Csinos would be able to get to his coat pocket easily.

Would you like to change where you flipped it? I may not have been as clear as I should have been about the restraints. :)


Kalsii:

You notice quite easily a red dot from an injection on the back of Deil's neck same as Balda and Caila. He's bald so that jumps right out at you.


Deil is just inside the room beyond awaiting the ladies.

For some reason I assumed that his hands were restrained in front of him. Does Csinos have any other place on his body, except for the pocket, where the device could've been flipped to for easier access?

His hands are restrained behind him. The only place you could really flip the device for him to use it without a reaching situation would be his hands. The pedestal and restraints appear to be designed to keep movement to a minimum, but if he had it in one of his hands he could do it no problem.

Sorry guys. Life both personal and professional has been making me it's BITCH lately. I'm tired of it and I want to get back here. If you are still interested, and I understand if it's been too long, I'll continue here. Again, Sorry.


(Assuming the device is flipped into Csinos' Hand)

Deil leads Polaria and Kalsii into a room just off where Csinos is being held. The door slides closed behind you both.

Deil turns in his hovering chair to face you.

"White Lake owes you a debt. You aided one of my best in the capture of this spy. Tell me, did he say anything about his plans, or the plans of the Convergence?"

Looking around this room you both notice some things.

Kalsii, you are immediately aware of a collection of Cyphers kept safely apart from one another on the far wall. Perhaps your eyes glaze over at the site of all that wonderful, siphonable, absorbable Numeneric goodness.

Polaria, your eyes are drawn to wall off to the side that has a dozen or so assorted weapons. Confiscated perhaps.

As you both resume focus on Deil after he speaks please make an Intellect Roll as you are getting a closer look at this man before you.



I do feel horrible about how much time has passed. This is something I've thoroughly enjoyed and missed a great deal.