Session 7

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Next: Session 8

• Quanverium University, Denpakant
• We flee, just in time to see mafilus to shoot into the school that we just left and light it on fire
  • Then see him go to the next school, which is locked down
• He wouldve had to skip multiple schools to get to ours without us noticing them
• We head on back with thru roundabout ways
• Rest for the night
• During the time away, the journal was written in
  • Talking abt the time watching the game since Lyka Stars in Water wasnt in good enough health to travel
• Pulya appears on the floor, goes to Vintovka’s apartment
• “Are they coming too?”
• V: we normally meet elsewhere, one of our members is on the larger size. Follow me
• “Of course.”
• Has a bright smile when she goes to see us “pleasure to meet you all. You need to get in with an info broker?”
• H: that’s the ideal
• “Yes or no”
• H: yes
• “Vintovka you vouch for them?”
• V: they havent tried to kill me yet
• (dont give away any info for free, hell have things cost, if u pay for the question he’ll answer, he’ll sell anything we say there)
• She has something for us, a small thing that she’ll give if we dont ask any questions about it. Some preloaded tickets for the train, they seem to never run out
• (theyre almost certainly taken from Wakehands officials. Dont seem to be gotten by violence, since none have signs of scratches, havent been cleaned. But somehow she got them from wakehands.)
• Going to Rudrani, which is next to Lorvus Thane’s operations
• Havkai has an official office, with secretaries who wave at pulya
  • They ask her something telepathically
  • She verbally responds “oh you dont need to collect their ids. They can keep their weapons too.”
  • Shirren man waves behind his desk, shakes our hands
  • “Pleasure doing business. Who am i speaking to?”
  • “Are we talking about Sixlux Stars in Water?”
  • K: uhhh well no but u have info?
  • “I do. It goes for 10k.”
  • (he has statues of dwarves, but doesnt wear aetherion colors. Is from the border region between aetherion and Solara Imperium. Worships Tharaxa Silveneth )
  • “You must have sought me out for a reason. So please help me help you. You can sell info if you need info. ”
  • S: main reason we’re here is for information regarding lorvus thane. We know his whereabouts and some of his recent activities, but are hopin to find additional dirt i suppose
  • “How bad of dirt do you need?”
  • H: how much is baseline on him?
  • “To get him kicked out? 100k. But 1k is decent dirt.”
  • S: how much information regarding the recent happening at quanverium university would get us?
  • “For verification of what we already believe? 2k.”
  • S: we were at the quanverium university, we saw mafilus from The Broken Standard shooting and burning down the buildings that were destroyed.
  • “Perfect. Whos bank account does it go to?”
  • H: ill take it
  • He prints it out, tells us to cash it with his secretary but itll expire in 2 weeks. In case we need to do tax fraud
  • “They wont turn you into ashes by laser, theyll behead you. They incinerate your body afterwards.”
  • S: oh ok. thats fine.
  • S: we’re also searching for info regarding cult activities that-
  • “Youre gonna have to be more specific.”
  • S: im clarifying!
  • Ithax sells the info on the butcher for 1.2k
  • Hands it over
  • S: additional info about Onmagakar?
  • “I can sell the group he was apart of for a mere 300.”
  • We agree
  • “It’s none. He wasn’t part of a cult. He was being used. Sort of. By who, i can tell for a mere 1k.”
  • “He was being used by his son who was also not part of the cult.”
  • We ask abt the name of the cult
  • “I cant sell that to you. There’s nothing i wont sell. I can’t sell.”
  • (orders from higher up could block him from passing it out. Will say that the same way if they dont know or cant speak. Not allowed to give a separate answer.)
  • Sell sinspawn info, get 50 creds
• Bc we did 200 creds worth of person per deal, we are invited back
• Go back to our apartment
  • 6 pages, can decipher a page a day
  • Downtime
  • Day 1
    • 1st part: he sortve wrote a thesis statement, in the correct occult terminology. His understanding that the pillars of senaria can be entered and that someone entering them set off the scarring. They dont know which was entered, all the pillars react the same when u enter based on the ritual that he describes later. A week after the person entered, the scarring began.
    • (7 geographical pillars that reside around the planet, 2 that are directly in the dark and sunside, the other 5 are in the ring where ppl can live. Giant pillars of effectively stone.)
    • Vintovka at the end of the day is offered a job. Look outside an alley, shoot anyone that runs thru it while other members take care of things™
      • 2 days time
    • Sacrament sends a text to her friend, id like to set up a meeting
      • When? Where? <3
        • Sometime this week, my apartment?
      • 2 days?
        • Sure! That works.
      • How about the garden down by your floor?
        • That sounds good to me.
  • Day 2
    • 2nd page: son describes in vague detail a baptism that can be done on others to allow them to enter. Hes come to the realization based on unethical experiments by making a created creature speak it or writing it down, the body becomes inert and the flesh withers away leaving only ur heart beating
    • Now that the building is open, no weird movement for the hologram door
    • Konbini trying to contact the signal saints
      • Sees pizza boys number blasted on the forum
      • Able to get in contact w some people, just send a message with stringfinder’s sim card
      • She sends a message out to Signal Saints, hey love what u guys are doing with the place. Can i get involved more with ur day to day
        • “Connect ur phone to ur VR headset.”
      • She enters their custom VR chatroom, her model is Hiyori
      • Surprisingly active chatroom, ppl moving around. Ppl looking and look down at her. A bored businessman (mocking caricature) “you really arent a fan of her arent you?”
      • Ko: wdym?
      • “Joined once, worst stream of my life.”
      • Ko: i think shes cool, but to each their own
      • “Wahts your name?”
      • Ko: they call me the stringfondler
      • “The Root Witness.”
      • Ko: thats what they call me
      • “No im the root witness. Youre the stringfondler.”
      • Ko: nice to make ur acquaintance root witness. Whatre you up to
      • “You dont happen to be the one that duped that group into taking out the Blind Halloways are you?”
      • Ko: i wasnt there yknow. What happened?
      • “Well. the person that killed stringfinder and took his place understood prisms magnificent motions and sent a group of 6 with them to kill the blind halloways. Prism did sell the info of a hellknight killing another hellknight to their own organization. I do have to ask, what does it mean to you to fondle strings?”
      • Ko: yknow i like to reach deep into the code. Big fan of backend
      • “If youre going to talk like this, we have a separate chatroom for talk like that.”
      • Ko: sorry im new i just got inducted. If u could show me around thatd be great. U seem like such a cool guy. Very handsome
      • He’ll lead her into another server
      • Go in, see he’s changed model into a sexy Highwayman from Reddy.
      • Konbini plays a real sexy maid
      • Ko: daddy kitten does know the rules of the cult, if only someone would teach her
      • Major leadership, gives the 3 in charge: Prism, Last Login, and Archive Ghost
    • She takes off the helmet, sees Al staring
      • Ko: how did u get in???
      • “Key??? Its anime night???”
    • Patch going to the poison floor to grab poison
      • Ixil is operating it, Madrosarai
  • Day 3
    • Page 3: hes figured out the right incantation to enter a pillar, the one in Limaurrio. Allows those that have been baptized to go in
    • Pillar Locations
      • Annwn - Α-Cl2Y1
      • Vitiae - Σ-Co2X2
      • Squeli - Δ-Co2Y1
      • Walqirae - Ω-Cl1Y3
      • Limaurrio - Ω-Co1Z3
      • Center Dark
      • Center Light
    • Sacrament, goes on a nice garden date with a librarian
      • Grabs a book out of her room, gives it to her
      • “Would u like another one?”
      • S: no thank you. Maybe dependin on how this week goes, but id rather not borrow theres a chance i get executed soon. So just in case.
      • “...is this an aetherion joke?”
      • S: no. i wish. I might get executed bc of work. I hope it doesnt happen
      • “Why???”
      • S: just. Stuff. Killed someone i hadnt realized i wasnt supposed to and didnt find out til later.
      • “Surely they wont kill u over a misunderstanding?”
      • S: they would. I have time tho to give info that may be enough so they dont kill me. Im hopeful. Ive got my friends workin on it.
      • “You have other friends?”
      • S: yeah i have friends
      • “I told you you would! U should introduce me.”
      • S: I could see if anyone’s not busy if u want to meet people!
      • Takes her to meet the party
      • S: i dont see vintovka, but u can meet everyone else
      • Her name is Altania
    • Vintovka, she gets the first trickles of ppl running out, initially soldiers. 1 or 2 max for every couple of minutes
      • Taking them out
      • Eventually as the defenses fall, the families start emerging
      • She doesnt hesitate
      • Solid 5 hours worth, 20 dead bodies from the alleyway
    • Meanwhile, we have a time with altania
      • She asks us how we met. Serial killer
      • “A classic whodunnit? Like Dick Mullen?”
      • I: exactly!
      • “Are you the dick then?”
      • I: i am. Would you like to see my boards?
      • “I’d love to!”
      • He shows the boards, particularly the butcher one
      • Shes interested in the board™
  • Day 4
    • Crit success!
    • Baptism is complicated, described next few pages
      • Biggest thing is that it uses poisons. 2 definitive people need to die for it. 1 person is the vessel (imbibing poisons and such) able to mark a person (kill them). The person who was killed has their organs removed, has sigils. The vessel then uses a poisonous knife to allow the people they stab to enter the pillar as they are effectively baptized
      • Once the scarring has started, the 2nd scarring is due in 6 months. This will continue until the population hits 0. Seems to be based on the rate that senaria rotated around itself before it became a tidally locked planet.
        • The next scarring is due in 4 months
        • To enter a pillar will immediately activate the next round of the scarring.
    • Vintovka tells us:
      • A young Wakehands leader, Chiwozivo, is about to make a move to secure a water treatment plant in a month's time in order to exert her control over the populace. She will then rig it to blow should he manage to take it over in order to keep it under his control. Pulya is keeping you posted since she doesn’t know where Chiwozivo is holed up yet.
  • Day 5
    • Vintovka is rewarded for what she did, someone left baked goods outside her door the next day
      • Missed vintovka the prev day
    • Final page: the only way to perma stop the scarring is to enter the pillar. Notes make note of no idea what happens if the person who has a scar gives birth or is cloned off planet. But everyone born on planet has a scar
      • Able to tell that some was transcribed after his death by an autorecording device
• Sacrament goes to the judgement hall
  • Skittermander looks down at her “speak!”
  • S: i reached out bc i gained some info and id like advice what would be the best way to defend myself usin it based on what we’ve learned
  • “A wise decision, what have u learned?”
  • S: we have the names of the 3 leaders of the Signal Saints, and we have access to their virtual meeting rooms. We can continue to gain further info from that, we have someone that’s infiltrated it. The main thing here is that we’ve discovered info abt the scarrin.
  • “What of it?”
  • S: it… there’s a ritual that can be done to enter the pillars of senaria. By doin so it will trigger a scarrin and even if that doesnt happen, they’ll continue every 6 months until there are no people left. But due to part of the ritual, my companions and i were marked as bein able to enter the pillars, which appears to be the only way to stop the scarrin.
  • “Well ur invaluable. The main issue is taht ur assassination is not mine but the black curtain. They’re an anti-gang org!”
  • S: oh! Well. that is a bit of an issue.
  • “Well… you have spoken true, no?”
  • S: yes, i have!
  • “Ah… well… i can claim Subruga. I will act as you and you will do whatever they say. If you fail, i will be executed. If you fail and dont die in the process, know i will execute u myself!”
  • S: well that’s fair. Youd do that for me?
  • “If you can stop the scarring. Do you know how many cultists have appeared since then?”
  • S: idk
  • “Many. they even spread thru unscrupulous means, like the VR chats or the message boards.”
  • S: mmm cultrist. I know it well. I think ur right sir we must do whatever we can to stop these cultists
  • “Kill every one you see. Theyll be given a fair trial in front of every devil they worship. Theyll be sent to hell, but their devils wont accompany them. They’ll be sent to ours.”
  • S: we did hear abt the movements of mafilus of the broken standard is that smth theyd be interested in?
  • “He’s untraceable. He cant be seen on cameras.”
  • S: we saw him with our eyes. He shot me.
  • “It would be interesting to bring up. But dont mention he didnt give chase. It would seem that u were in collusion!”
  • S: that and the possibility of us ending the scarrin might be enough. And the signal saints. Or should i look for more?
  • “Theres a way that works for both of us. U ingratiate urself with the signal saints, and since theyre going in Wakehands territory, take out the wakehands. And become close with the leader.”
  • S: ty for ur assistance
  • “And when u are able to enter the pillar, do you need assistance with it?”
  • S: ummm might be best if we do this ourselves, we know we’ve been baptized for it but the process of getting more people is not an unacceptable loss of life, but.
  • “Start it as soon as possible!”
  • “Do it and i will put my life on the line for you.”
  • He wants us to enter the pillar Immediately
• Go to the apartment to collect people
  • Reconvene, we discuss
• We go to the nice park, walking thru the nice park that was built around the pillar
  • Pillar is several miles in radius, extends far into the sky
  • This area put equivalent of christmas lights onto the area
  • There’s a touristy kinda dock that allows u to get close where u’d normally take photos. Obv not many people post scarring
  • Able to do our chant
  • Able to enter….
  • Kaspar is immediately be able to tell smth is odd bc she can Hear Now
  • Falling thru dizzying colors and lights, body effectively spagettified, feels like we’re falling thru the center of the world
  • Kaspar fortitude save, passes out from the experience
  • Lands in an odd black sea
  • Only one who seems to remain conscious is patch, who lands with the others nearby in inky blackness
  • Odd ruins of spiral patterns, falling in and bobbing
  • Hes able to figure out what happened, all of us switched senses and minds, kaspar got someones hearing and so on so forth. The ritual isnt built for multiple ppl, so causes confusion and uncomfort
  • We wake up 1-3 hours later
  • Can move fairly freely in the tar-substance
  • Patch puts sticky notes on everyone that just say “brb” before looking around and scouting
    • Walks around and gets totally lost. Seems to circle back and forth with an odd nauseating feeling
    • Sun and moon are in fixed positions in the sky
  • Ithax and Kaspar wake up next
  • K: ithax that was so fucking weird
  • I: huh?
  • K: i could hear dude
  • I: that’s super weird. Oh shit brb
  • K: patch isn’t here huh.
    • Can smell where he’s gone cause the black tar doesn’t have any properties
  • K: ithax are u good if i try to track him down? I’m real good at tracking sometimes
  • I: sure, do u want me to stay here?
  • K: yeah cause idk how long– oh wait konbini asked me to do something
    • Kicks konbini over next to sacrament
  • K: i wanna explore but not without everyone. We should explore as a pack
  • Ithax notices everyone’s scars are odd. Look to be bleeding the same black ichor
    • Tastes kinda like blood
    • Not very good
    • Ijtikiri blood
  • I: oh this is the politician blood of the guy i pushed
  • Ka: what????? U pushed a guy off a cliff????
  • I: a balcony!
  • Ka: what??????
  • I: he was- the fuckin children were dying in the mines! Well not really. He was covering up safety violations. Ppl got really sick in the building.
  • Ka: was this for the scarring or
  • I: yeah. What abt you?
  • Kaspar pulls her shirt to the side, its regular vlaka blood. Tho less oxidized than it should be (seems to be from an older vlaka)
  • (its kaspar’s mom’s blood)
  • Kaspar goes to find patch, ithax looks at everyone’s scars while theyre unconscious
  • She eventually finds patch whose. Lost
  • Ka: patch. Buddy
  • P: its been a minute!
  • Ka: its been like half an hour since i woke up, did u just like leave?
  • P: just to make sure
  • Ka: of what??
  • P: we’re in this ocean of black tar therefore there must be something good here. Medicine, poison, something
  • Ka: i think it’s just blood man. Isn’t that fucked up?
  • P: oh does that mean we can inject this blood to save lives?
    • No, it’s entirely mixed blood types, different species, everything. Bad idea for blood donation
  • Ka: nah man it’s probably bad.
    • Patch was not accounting for the fact that this planet has rotation while senaria doesn’t
  • Ka: our shits rotating looks like. Its not the normal sun and moon
  • P: what?
  • Ka: have you been offplanet?
  • P: no ive always been here
  • Ka: makes sense. So the sun and the moon are gonna move, ur not gonna be able to navigate as easily. Can we hold hands and go back to our unconscious friends
  • Next group wakes up: konbini and sacrament
  • Ko: sacrament sama!
  • S: im awake. What. oh hi konbini-chan!
  • Ithax is pushing ppl around to examine the blood. Poke poke. Taste
  • Ko: ithax???
  • I: oh hey! Look at ur scar!
  • S: oh ok. (takes off her glove, looks at her stigmata. She found a criminal who looked vaguely like lorvus to kill)
  • Konbini looks at her wrist, able to see the blood like her own flowing
    • blood as it leaves is normal
    • as soon as it makes a stream it goes black
  • I: the blood is of the person we killed in the scarring
  • S: oh yeah.
  • I: as far as i can tell the floor is everyone’s blood.
  • The rest wake up and patch + kaspar come back
  • Blood analysis is so hard, vintovka punches him for licking her face
  • Cool ass map
  • Floor
    • A lot of these seem to be abt the formations of planets in the solar system, of particular note seems to be drawn to what we’d assume to be a sun but its senaria at the center with smaller fragmenting planets
    • Count up to 7
  • Approach, hear “where do you consider home?”
  • Kaspar: wherever my family is
  • “Then their home will be spared from the future cullings. Those in your pillar, when the week strikes, will now be spared
  • A spike falls into the water, pins the fracture into place
  • We float up
  • Ithax can see our reflections replaced with the silhouette of a woman as we fly, the same woman all the same size
• Potential for level up!
• We wake up in the park
• Everyone who will be in our building in a week is exempt from the scarring
• (whoever set up the ritual last time set up a safe zone without telling anyone.)