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Post by Rule Hound on Aug 2, 2016 13:45:01 GMT
Tyr
You stick one of the gems into your arm and as soon as is breaks the skin it is drawn in. In what is but a moment in reality seems to be several minutes to you. Your "soul" is ripped through a hellish land with demon faces and arms reaching out to you, screaming and hungering for your flesh and mind. As your mind starts to unravel your "soul" rejoins your body and you are back in the real world. The creatures you encountered have fractured your mind for the time being and you enter frenzy.
You come to in a mad frenzy. A combination of hunger, anger and fear. In your frenzy you rip apart and devour a few mortals as you rampage through a small unknown town. You manage to harness your willpower enough to direct yourself out of town before destroying all the inhabitants.
Out in the hills you vent your beast on the surroundings and eventually manage to regain control.
In the not to far distance you see a great walled City. You notice a few penants flying over the city of some of the Crusader orders that you recognize from the recent wars.
Tyr - Some sort of puzzle to figure out how to use the ritual he found to create stable teleport spots he can use. Maybe slowly corrupting him?
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Post by Rule Hound on Aug 9, 2016 15:57:57 GMT
Tyr:
I will start by calling upon animals to feed upon and sate my hunger. After I will travel to city and in the outskirts I will find a vagabond. In the dead of night and out of the sight of any watchers I will make him my ghoul (spending the required xp for a single point retainer, he will specialize in presence)
I will send the ghoul inside the city as my herald to the crusader base to see if anyone therin recognizes my name. If they do I will ask them to meet me at a neutral location within the city and discuss the matter of me returning to Trento. I will request maps and a mount to be provided.
If all of this falls through then I will take the ghoul with me and start traveling on foot in the direction I believe Trento to be in.
Us:
As you approach the hill you start noticing more, you feel moisture on your skin, the area must be close to the ocean, indeed, taking a deep breath you can smell the salt in the air.
You start working your way to the city only to discover that it is MUCH larger than you thought, the angle of your approach let you see but a small portion. On route you are attacked by a foolish bandit, shouting something about revenge for his daughter and you heathen crusaders raping the innocent in God's name.
Rather than kill him you make him into your messenger. You quickly discover that the city before you is Sicily.
Following your instructions the man becomes you messenger he heads into town and goes to the flag that matches the order on your tabbard (what order are you?). He returns with a offer of a bed and a feast for the great hero, the devil slayer.
Seems someone remembers you.
You arrive early into the night, as normal the order is well into their cups and bragging of their great deeds. A one legged man stands before the group as you enter and starts regaling them with a VERY stretched version of events in Zara. You recognize him as one of the men who fell before the Infernalist just as you encountered and attacked.
His story comes to an end with you being the sole contributor, shouting and fighting in the glory of the order and how you exemplify what the order knights should seek to be.
The Great warrior Tyr my friends. To whom I owe my very life. My wealth is at your command. My ships can take you anywhere. My daughters to your bed, just name it.
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Post by Rule Hound on Aug 9, 2016 16:01:12 GMT
the following night when Tyr Awakens he will be invited to the one legged mans place (a minor noble of some means). He will see the library that has been collected from the ruins of Zara and other places since this man lost his leg. enough random lore to draw Tyr into study for some time.
In the volumes he will discover bits of information about the teleporting.
When he heads home the ships will deliver him to Narses's city for a visit with him?
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Post by Rule Hound on Aug 22, 2016 15:31:20 GMT
Tyr:
(I'm not sure what orders there are let alone which one I belong too. Is there a list somewhere? )
Tyr regales the rooms with a few stories of Zara before taking asiDE the Crusader. He asks "I would ask of you a few things my friend." Tyr looks around checking quickly for eavesdroppers. "Have there been any talks of heretics in the area?" Tyr says "Devil worshippers, doomsayers, missing people perhaps?" He continues "I believe I have been brought here to assess and deal with a threat on par with what we battled together in Zara."
"Another thing while I have you here." Tyr takes a fake drink from a glass "How far could you take me towards the dukedom of Trento when my time here is done?"
Us:
The one legged man replies
My friend, My ships trade in many ports let me look at my ledger tomorrow and see what I can do for you.
Come, tomorrow, you come join me for dinner and I shall have an answer for you. You can meet my daughters. Perhaps one can convince you to settle here?
After humming and hawing you convince him that you are going to look around the town on your own tomorrow but would be happy to meet him for a visit and drinks say shortly after sundown.
Very well, tomorrow night it is. I shall see you then. It is late, I should go and get to my bed.
you also make your excuses and find a inn or something that you can lock yourself away in for the day.
The following night you head to the mans house. Seems he is a minor noble of some sort. you are escorted to his library where you can discuss things. As you sit in a comfortable chair and look around you notice that his library is quite impressive.
Entering the room
Ah, I see you made it. He looks at you, you seem to appreciate my collection. Not many warriors can appreciate a good book or the knowledge there in. I recently have acquired quite a plethora of books on almost every topic. Some even talk a little about things best not mentioned. And others I have yet to have translated.
If you are in no hurry you could stay and read them if it interests you. Perhaps you have some understandings of languages I do not and can make sense of some of the more exotic writings. I have a merchant friend that sometimes comes and purchases the ones that are beyond my ken or often just has them translated and copied for me in exchange for either the original or a copy for himself. Colorful man he is but he always pays with good coin, product, gems or sometimes tips that ALWAYS pay out.
As he talks he walks around showing and pointing out some of the books and several crates in the corner. when you ask about them he says they came from Zara. Payment for his leg. Picking up a book from one of the crates and blowing off the dust you notice the spine of a book a few below. You are pretty sure he has some arcane knowledge among his collection if even these few samplings are an example.
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Post by Rule Hound on Sept 7, 2016 19:34:50 GMT
Your curiosity gets the better of you and you dig into the books. You end up spending several months combing through mostly the occult books gathering shreds of knowledge and piecing it together concerning some events that occurred in Carthage.
You manage to learn that the Baali created several gates around the city and in other outlying areas. Those in the know were able to simply disappear and reappear at great distances. In many of the locations that these infernalists had appeared there are references to floating skulls. The only way to destroy them was to utilize mortals and the very few Cainites, usually Salubri, that were utterly pure of soul or in the case of Salubri both pure of soul and extremely potent.
The Skulls were deemed to act as channels for the power that enabled the transfer of both the physical and spiritual over distances. It is assumed that there must be a second item in more remote locations that allows a anchor point for transfer. Some sort of gem that is charged with the energies needed to act as a beacon when transporting.
You piece bits of information together that suggests/theorizes that demons grant power for consigning ones soul to them. that they feed through chaos and energies sacrificed up to them. Many of the more devious Baali were able to imbue the soul energies of their sacrifices into gems that they could use to empower themselves or to offer up to their demonic masters.
The infernals apparently do not find other beliefs a threat to them but rather a source of energy they can corrupt. Even in Carthage they gathered items that had been imbued with the power of various faiths and were able to twist and corrupt this to their own ends.
You learn that once a pit is created they can draw off natural powers of the earth and use them as a battery to empower. This is debatable in the many sources but some believe that once a Baali pit has been created they can call upon some of the greater demonic gifts and gain the potential to summon actual demons. This is debated by some. There are some few scholars who suggested that they are not actually calling lesser demons but rather gain the ability to corrupt and twist mortals and creatures, making them demons and bestowing gifts and powers on them. Like rising the dead or twisting the flesh with Vicisitude only different. But to do so on any mass scale would require a whole lot of power, sacrifices and knowledge. something that no Occultist has been able to theorize on HOW it would be done. The very few who stick to this belief simply suggests it could be done but unlikely. It would be easier to just open a gate and call minor demons and imps through.
From everything you have learned, you yourself are making a guess that these crystals are somehow tied to the Gates and teleportation. That where ever you and the others are there is some anchor gem/or receptical that grabbed your soul when you were thrown through the infernal realm. Pulling you out and depositing you here. You also find no referance to anyone other than the infernals having ever "teleported". Either to disappear and never re-appear or anything. BUT, with your knowledge of time and the sheer potency of your blood you think you can somehow force yourself to or others with a gem in them to be drawn to you if you can find a site that allows teleportation.
If you go to the site from which you all initially left you think you can throw back time into a loop and bring those lost back into the current and back to you. With enough collaboration and knowledge gained from your experiment you might even be able to figure out how to thrust yourself through time and distance to teleport yourself to another location with an anchor. But that is for future study. For now you are pretty sure if you can get back near the Shield of Safety outside it's wards you could call all those you know well enough that have a gem in them to be forced to come through time and space to you. (Bring the others to you). You do NOT know what the cost will be though.
It will be dangerous, especially to the others and who knows what can happen. If you are caught and things go bad or you are distracted it could go very bad for everyone. Best to return secretly, try your makeshift ritual and tell people after if you succeed.
ST NOTE: As he is untrained and not the originator of the gems, it will burn 10 blood per person to force them through time and to appear before him in the radius of the receptacle outside the Shield of Safety wards. Total will cast 256 blood as he will concentrate as hard as he can but just not be able to draw Johan to him. There will be a residue of Johan but no actual arrival. After study and thought (at a latter time) he will determine that somehow the gem has been pulled from Johan's body without his final death.
ST NOTE 2: Chris, you mentioned wanting to possibly force him to encounter Narses also in some way. By making him travel secretly back, he will be dropped in Venice and you can also set that scene.
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Post by Rule Hound on Sept 19, 2016 17:24:58 GMT
You secretly make your way back to Gaul. Your new friend arranges for you to get dropped in Venice.
You find yourself watching the dock approach as you are rowed in and then next thing you know you are on the outskirts of town heading towards the Shield of Safety. Being True Brujah and always knowing time you realize that you have lost a week of time between arriving and leaving. Not much you can do about it now but who can say (other than us devious ST's) what transpired while in Narses's hometown. (We will let you know at a latter time)
You make your way towards the Shield of Safety knowing that it was from there that you were ripped after the failure of the wards. Using your deductive reasoning you are pretty sure that would not have been possible had Chronicler's wards not been down. So you assume it is somewhere nearby that you are looking for.
You bypass the Shield and decide to start at the crossroads. A point of ever ensuing trouble. From where Samuel disappeared and other events seem to originate.
After, meditating and such you are sure there is something near by that you just can not see. Taking up a habit you seem to have acquired you begin tossing the large gem you found up and down int he air in agitation to calm yourself. Strangely it seems to catch a flicker of light a one point. A flicker of light that does not exist.
You examine the gem. looking into and through it but can not seem to find what ever it was that you saw. In frustration you try to squish this annoying gem in you potence enhanced hands and only succeed in shredding your hand on the edges and shedding a little vitae onto it.
You draw your arm back to just throw and be rid of the damned thing when again you see something in it. This time employing Temporis to get it to your eye before the scene disappears you see a vision (spirits touch) of the crossroads in which you sit. A great but futile battle, men in true fear calling on the gods Samuel holding forth his cross and calling on his faith... then it is gone.
Wow, amazing, so that is what Spirits touch is like. You do realize that as you looked at Inquisitor Samuel calling upon the Gods you had begun to focus in on him draw the scene to be more focused. Something that by what you have heard is "NOT" part of typical spirits touch.
Sitting back you cut your now healed palm and will your vitae to flow into the gem. Again the same vision appears, but try as you might you can not focus it more. You then try to channel your time magic through the gem and now it is as though you are a disembodied observer. With you being able to choose the object or person of your focus. You watch and draw in Samuel and see him being brought down by a pack of wolves. Taken down but not dead. the rest of his troupes are easily captured also by Donahue and what appears to be an Egyptian Mummy. Shit, the one you thought you destroyed while on the crusades....
All Prisoners are taken to a large tree from where they step around it and disappear. As the vision tied to Samuel ends you see the Mummy raising his staff and beginning a enchantment that has started a small whirlwind that is erasing traces of the short battle...
After coming back to yourself and now down 3'ish blood you head to the tree to inspect it. Nothing out of the ordinary. You keep searching the area and manage to find a fallen dagger and so keep looking. Eventually about halfway between the Shield of Safety and the Crossroads you find a small cottage. More by sheer luck than any skill as it is not visible in any way unless you are on top of it. Not even from above would it be visible.
Cloaked and hooded you head to it and take a close look. You notice that the entire cottage has no windows and is built very soundly. So much so that there isn't even a crack that could let light in or out. You put your hand on the door and enter, ready to fight. It is empty.
Using the gem again by powering it with blood and then channeling your temporis through it you see nothing. The place is wiped clean of everything. However, you do get the sense that this is where you should do your ritual.
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Post by Rule Hound on Sept 19, 2016 17:37:50 GMT
From symbols garnered in your research you draw what you think is an adequate casting circle with half understood symbols at the 5 points of the pentagram. Setting candles to burn as though they had been burning for different times you start calling out strange occult words, using them to trigger images of the other individuals who were teleported away. Calling upon your most potent gifts you reach back through time, mentally and almost physically grabbing hold of Isis.
You feel the immense struggle of ripping them through time and space Isis appears and you feel like you wrestled a Elephant you are exhausted and can feel you have lost much of your vitae in the effort. The very fabric of this reality seemed pulled. The walls of the shack seem to be warping in and out, in and out. Brilliant colors are flashing from the center of the circle.
Reaching back into time you find and grab Gunnar, drawing him through time and space as you did Isis. You are even more wiped out, both your willpower and blood are fading. The lights and warping intensify.
You reach out again once more, trying to find Johan, you feel a sensation of where he was but can not lock on him. You expend more willpower and reach deeper into yourself. As you do so the door to the shack opens. All you see before being frozen there staring is Fia opening the door, a massive pulse of dark energy flashing out almost like a nuclear explosion.
And you sense days and nights going by. You can even see the light of day come and go from the partly open door with Fia being frozen in the doorway. What ever happened has frozen you four outside of time. The sun though obvious behind her never quite touches her. The sun rises and falls over what you presume to be several months. You can see the days come and go but your time sense is frozen as though no time is going by even though you are visually aware that it passes by.
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