Ok, so I'm getting a little behind on these since I've been busy trying to get my Space Wolf units painted (pics of them still to come). So I'll try and catch up now.
Winter had started to lift and the smells of spring had started to crop up around Austin. It was odd that winter had held on this long this far south, but these things happened. It was said that the mages of old could control the weather and Calin wondered to himself if he would ever be powerful enough to do the same. He was running outside today. Weeks of being couped up in the house with only meager training equipment made this night run feel especially good. The night air was chilled just enough to give a little bite and stave off the perspiration that would otherwise be forming. A ring of his cell stopped him. Mary Ann, one of the others of the area (he was still unsure what she was exactly) was calling to ask if she could see and work on the translation of the book he was keeping. Being curious about the contents as well, he agreed and told her to meet at the Cemetery house as he began making his way there.
When he arrived at the house he found her already waiting outside. "No one home?", he ask. "No, Memento's here. But the house won't let me in." she replied. Calin looked at her in puzzlement. "One of these days he's gonna have to tell me what the hell is up with that." Realizing that they needed to be someplace that was free of prying eyes, and since the house was off limits, he ask her to wait in the groundskeepers shed around the back of the house while he retrieved the book.
Not wanting to make her wait. Calin moved quickly to the library, removed the wards rendering the safe invisible and began entering the combination. As he was entering the last 2 digits it struck him. A spell from out of nowhere, that he did not detect. As he thought of who and why, the light faded from him and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Slowly he began to see the ghosts of the house, the other multitude of residents there, gravitate toward his lifeless body. He realized he was floating, becoming lighter and lighter, moving out of the house and into the night sky. He stopped and felt as though he were hovering, then he saw it. The graves burst open releasing zombies into the night. They wheeled and turned directly toward where Mary Ann was waiting, the only sound was her screams. Terrified Calin began looking around trying to figure someway back down but to no avail. Turning his eyes back to the now empty graves, he saw a vortex begin to form. Swirling faster and faster a "dirt tornado" was the best way to describe it. Except that the formless vortex began taking on human characteristics. Arms and hands jutted out of the dirt, a face, mis-shapen and half rotten began to appear getting clearer with each spin. There was little doubt in Calins mind now. The owner of the book had found him and was going to take back his property. As soon as Calin had that thought a deep rumble of a voice shattered the night. "YOU HAVE SOMETHING OF MINE!!!" "YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME AND YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE IT BACK!!" At that one of the massive hands grabbed Calin and began to squeeze the life from him. Calin reached for the power of the AEther, but it slipped from his grasp. He begain to pray, asking the Lord and Father to strike his enemy down. Just then a powerful bolt of lightning tore the night sky and cut deeply into the vortex. Calin could now see that despite having form, it was still hollow inside. Calming his mind Calin began reciting the Lords prayer and calling out to the Heavens with even more fervour. Another streak of lightning and another, split the vortex and released him. As soon as he was released his body began to feel heavier and started settling down to the house. As he descended a black object began to appear in front of him, a soul shard, a very powerful artifact, Calin passed right through it but was unable to glimpse the soul of the mage stored inside. Blackness. Calin awoke to Memento shaking him, asking him if he was alright. "Was it a dream?" Calin thought. "no, it was much to real to be a dream." He rolled over and propped himself up against the bookshelves and tried to regain his composure. Looking at the safe in front of him he knew that whatever had done that to him was now gone and he could just take the book and go to Mary Ann. Now more than ever he just wanted to be rid of the damn thing.
He found Mary Ann waiting where she should be and she informed him that over 40 minutes had passed since he told her to wait. Hastily and without explaining what had happened Calin handed her the book to begin the translation then turned his back to guard the door. Half listening to her and half listening outside the door Calin heard her say something to the effect that the owner had been to the supernal realms again, and was trying to gain the power of a god. The explanations cut off in a shriek however as masses of beetles and worms and maggots began to bubble from the floor engulfing her legs. Jumping up from the ground to a table a mist of dirt began to surround Mary Ann eventually solidifying into glass around her. Thinking she was being attacked Calin called to her and she confirmed that she did that to herself, which got him thinking that whatever she was, she might be useful. With that under control Calin turned his attention to the swarm of nastiness coming from the floor. His gun was useless, bullets would barley do anything to the mass, so with hesitation he reached out to the AEther and channeled the fire celestrial at the swarm. Barely any effect. The disconnection from the realm must have weakened him more than he thought. Summoning more strength he channeled the fire again, nothing. Calin winced as the pain of realities disapproval of his actions ripped through his body. He called to Mary Ann and told her they needed to finish now and get the hell out of here. Agreeing she closed the book and handed it back to him. Calin, book in hand, opened the door to the shed and was greeted with a shock. It seems that the owner had found his way there in the flesh, so to speak. A man, as tall as Calin dressed in black robes, stood at the doorway. His face half ripped half reforming strips of flesh, the same as what he had seen in his "vision" earlier in the night.
"I've come for my book."
"Really?" Calin answered "I don't really want to give it to you."
"I've come to get what you stole from me."
"Nah, you've got the wrong guy. I didn't steal it. Someone gave it to me"
"Regardless how you got it, your foolish reading of it has lead me right to you."
"Yeah, I kinda figured it would, took you long enough though."
"You will give me back my book."
"You keep threatening me. You know my power comes directly from the Creator. You've felt His wrath once tonight. Do you want another taste?"
"The your Creator puts his power in the hands of idiots. I can see the blackness swirling in your chest. I can make the wounds you feel permanent. NOW GIVE ME MY BOOK!"
Calin could feel his willpower being sapped from him. Unwillingly he found his hand reaching toward the stranger. Silently screaming at himself to stop and yet he couldn't he watched himself hand the book over to the stranger. His will broken, Calin looked on as the stranger started off. "Thank you." he added, "you know, I might just let you and your friend here live through this. Oh, yeah, one more thing." He pointed at Mary Ann's journal where she had written the translation and it crumbled to dust. The stranger then turned, opened the earth in front of him and disappeared into the ground.
Broken, Calin slumped to the ground. Before he could fully grasp what had happened, Mary Ann was yelling at him to hurry and follow her to the library. Seemed she was able to memorize everything that she had written in her journal and wanted to go to the library to write it all down before taking a chance she might forget something. Maybe hope was not lost after all. Within a few minutes of arriving at the library Calin's phone rang again. This time it was Reece on the other end.
"Hello."
"Calin. Reece. I was just calling to check that you still have that book."
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no particular reason, save for the fact that I just saw our guy walk through the sewer wall carrying it."
"Yeah, about that. The bastard showed up here and mind controlled me into giving it back to him"
"Ahh, so this is about to get worse hunh?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so."
Taking his leave of Mary Ann, he returned to the house. He sat down on his bed and contemplated his next move. The only one left to him was one he was wanting to avoid. He needed to contact the temple and go back to better be able to fight this upcoming war.
OOC notes. To date this was my single most exciting night of roleplay in this game, maybe ever. Also for one of the first times, I was able to explain away my crappy rolling in game. I was rolling maybe one or two successes on 9 dice for my fireball spell, not good at all. Then as the ST and I are having our in character banter, I realize that with everything that has happened to him during this session, my character had to be feeling some doubt and it was going to become harder for him to resist the stranger. So, gathering my 7 willpower dice, I roll. Zero successes. Not one. Utter failure. I look at the ST and just say, "Ok, I hand you the book." In character Calin has no idea how one of the most willful mages in the game could just hand that book over, so his explanation is that he HAD to be mind controlled into doing so, there just is no other way. I had a lot of fun with this session and even got the extra XP point at the end of the night. Ok, that's a wrap on session 7, now on to session 8. Stay tuned.
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