Christian's Entry for March 2013

((4xp. On time, plot advancement, others, and subplot. ))

Running for your life has never been more exciting!

Actually it sucks, but I wanted to sound positive for a second. Yes, Ramira and I are still on the run. We are both still alive and well though, and we have learned something interesting. Well more than one somethings. Plenty of somethings. I don't know where to start. I suppose I should start by talking about what's happening with everybody, though as usual Lizzie has me worried about her with her lack of writing. She's been alright every other this has happened, but I never know when one of these times may be the last. Darrel, I'm sorry I can't get you the equipment you need. Right now I'm busy running for my life out here, and I don't have the political clout that I had before. What little influence I have is invested in keeping myself and Ramira alive.

Austin, you're right that what I did shouldn't be possible. Ramira should not be alive, and the fact she is means something serious. There is serious risk involved in traveling with her. Her very existence causes any spell targeted on her to unravel in paradox, no matter how patient you are with the casting. As such cannot scrutinize her to search for a soul, or to examine the state of her mind. I must take it on faith and read her reactions from our conversation. Animals do not have any problem with her, though. All the evidence is in her favor. She can even /use/ enchanted objects, though my staff refuses to work for anyone but me anymore. What frightens me most is that with mage sight I see right through her. Ramira and me both are a little afraid for what that might mean. As far as Ramira goes, we have a plan to see if she has a soul. As any mage knows, the soul is a literal realm that may be traveled into with proper meditation in a hallow. We intend to try such travel into Ramira‘s soul, and to see if anything is there, or what. Unfortunately, we've yet to have enough free time in a hallow for such things. When we find them, it‘s a rush for me to draw all the manna I can and then to get away as fast as possible.

Rick, I applaud your efforts in unifying the people as you have. Our plans were not all that different. I hope that yours works better than mine. I think it will, since animals are much less political and evil than humans. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? We're in the face of extinction as a race, whole cities have been wiped off the map. Prices are insane thanks to the constantly interrupted supply and the cost of transporting goods. People are trying to mutate the entire human race into lizards. That seems like a great time to expend great resources to kill someone whose actions have clearly been in the best interests of the race. I hate the mysterium! AGghghgh!

But I have taken comfort in one thing. The solution to affairs on a global level will not require global cooperation. Getting people mobilized will make it easier and will make it possible for more people to survive until we figure it out, but... ultimately the solution will be the same as it was with the Deep Ones. It will be us. So stay alive everybody. Learn the first words. Survive.

Ramira and I have found an Iris, which is kinda like a portal only better. I’ve been trying to figure out the trigger to get it to open, and I've just about worked it out. From what the mages here told me, it leads to an Emanation realm on the far side of the Abyss. If there even is an Abyss. We should be safe there. Time to heal up and regroup, until I can figure out a plan for dealing with the fact they want to kill me. Wish us luck!

—Christian

Austin's Entry for the month March

Chris! Sea Org says they've got people out looking for you. All of you, in fact. They understand the need to keep us all alive. They'll take you somewhere safe, or wherever they can. If you can find a way to make yourself a little less scarce they'll be able to pick you up. Maybe they can bring you to me. It's a safe as anywhere on the front line can be. We've been shelled and bombed with everything you can think of. Not a scratch, yet. If you're intent on staying where you are I'd still ask them for help. Their equipment is state of the art, and they know better than most how bad things really are. The organization is barely holding together. We're of the same mind that now is the time to mass our power and strike. Perhaps with luck what I'm about to do will call attention away from the rest of you.

Well ladies, gentlemen and Ricky I strongly suggest you keep your televisions on if you want to see some real fireworks. Actually I'd be surprised if you haven't already, we've had a news-chopper scoping us out for the past two days, though they're certainly keeping their distance. I honestly think now is the right time for what we're doing. It's getting post-apocalyptic out there. I won't deny it, I'm thrilled. The true Gods themselves have recently favored me. Their hosts march behind me and now I, me, am about to lead the charge in a desperate battle for the survival of the human race. Those ruins we uncovered south of Damascus weren't ruins at all, but a perfectly preserved Egyptian necropolis from the first dynasty, a kingdom established by refugees from Atlantis itself. It was apparently once part of a city called Naxannar according to a tablet in the main atrium. Not sure what that means.

The ominoculory I was after is here, pristine and powerful, but the the entire structure is also connected to an animonoculory, a kind of amorphous, all-purpose aetheric machine. Any pure magical substance seems to work well as fuel. We've tried mana, glamor and even essence. All were easily siphoned off. Even small quantities of each can supply the sonic defense systems with hours worth of energy AND generate both lift and thrust to get us about, though the fastest we've managed is about ten knots. It's certainly a lot faster and higher then you'd expect several million tons of sand-stone to be able to fly, eh? All in extreme comfort under murals depicting Mediterranean scenes, and... well... and, uh... there was forge downstairs, but I think I broke it.

Anyway it's looking like our chums in Greece will be at war with the Turks any day now. I've already destroyed the bulk of the Syrian tank army with great ease. We've been shelled and bombed and gassed, but these walls are sixty feet thick and the control apparatus is part of the stellascope array deep in the interior. Now we will prove ourselves to the Golden Dawn. While Mihkalikos strikes from the west, I'll attack from the south. We'll meet along the coast and establish a corridor to Syria and Lebanon. Then we'll dig in. Friendly troops in the area will be a be a real boon. With any luck we'll have demolished a rival and set the stage for the final battle against evil. Then maybe we can hook up with Ricky's forces in eastern Europe, assuming they actually exist.

This is going to be the true last crusade. Christendom and western civilization lives or dies right here. I'm shaking with anticipation! To hell with secrets and nonsense and biding our time, we're going to war!

Oh and, and if any of you find the need to contact me on some other channel I'd appreciate if you not use my real name. Call me Siegfried, please. For the time being that's what I'll be going as.

(4 points. Actually 5 points because this post generates a world event. Greece and Syria, though not aligned, invade Turkey. The Syrian front bears witness to the arrival of a huge monolithic stone airship with devastating firepower, trailed by a small armed force consisting of black armored vehicles and soldiers in black powered armor, both of which seemed to have materialized out of nowhere)

Rick's Entry for March 2013

(( 4pt, on time, subplot, mention others, global progress ))

Hello every...

...actually there isn't many people who said anything in the last month. Chris, always so on time, isn't this time. I can only hope that it's because something awesome is on the way. Otherwise, I have nothing to say about what Austin and Darrel are doing. Austin seems to be on a downward spiral of insanity and Darrel... is already insane... And being quite pessimism, on top of it. If our Founding Fathers decided to do nothing because uniting all the colonies was too hard, there wouldn't be any America today. I'm sure not going to stop trying because you say so. Beside, i don't have anything else to do. You guys are getting some training, Lizzie, Kris and Rami seem to be digging into the magical solution and that leaves Amelia and I with crumbs, so I prefer trying the 'impossible' to sitting here and watching TV... not that I don't watch TV every once in a while, but it had gotten depressing these days! It's all about blood, war, fear, violence and horrors. Blah.

Good thing I've actually made some progress this month. The training camp is growing bigger and more centralized, the Union is hard at work at keeping the word of mouth alive through the physical, virtual and supernatural communication channels. Our force has grown to 10 000 on site, although by now we're lacking monetary resources to keep everything afloat. So some high profile members of the Union, Amelia and I have been touring the world those last few days, personally meeting wealthy people with links to the supernatural, in hopes that one of them will fund the Union. It hasn't bore any fruit so far, but we're far from done on our list of people to visit. We're in Mexico City right now, nice place... kind of. Could use less heat and less bandits. To say nothing of their local version of werewolves. Eug... guess gotta keep on going despite the challenges on the way.

PS: Sorry for not saying much this time, preparing all those meetings is a strain on me. I'm not the most social of person, so.... yeah...

PPS: Amelia and I are going to celebrate our year year together soon. Shame none of you guys can be there. We will send you our most positive prayers.

Austin's Entry for February

Oh God, she's alive? And whole? I wish I knew what to say. I guess I never really thought you could do it. You really do serve the Master, don't you? You should take comfort in that. The Grower toils in the dark, while the deceiver flails in the light. As things go we may all be pledging allegiance to the High Heavens someday soon. It may be our only choice. Something tells me not to celebrate now that Rami's back. I can't help feeling uncomfortable. I suppose it wasn't easy for you, but it really SHOULDN'T be possible. It may not really be her, and you wouldn't be able to tell, Chris. She could be a manifestation of the void itself. Though I suspect you've that of that already. Have you shown her to a dog? If you still aren't sure, maybe you could bring her to me. I might be able to tell, or... I might know someone who can.

Anyway... I'm in Syria, not too far from Damascus. I'm afraid I've stirred up the hive a little, myself. I found what I was after, and so much more. I'm overwhelmed by what this machine can do. We can and have weaponized it, and more importantly, it's mobile somehow. For the moment we've buried ourselves under the desert, but we'll have to come back up soon to re-establish contact with Mikalihkos and the expedition. There's no way we'll be able to hide on the surface, but at least we can defend defend ourselves. The few weapons on-board are all sonic and very powerful. They can transform the sand into such a fine liquid. We've buried so many Syrian tanks...

I'm sorry, friends. I'm useless to you. It's all I can hope that things continue to fall into place for me as they ever have. I'm so tired of never having a plan, and always having to hide that I don't. Hopefully soon I'll be free to ponder the occulory. I may lose my sight, and what remains of my sanity, but I shouldn't need either for much longer.

Rick's Entry for February 2013

(( So, 5pts: 1pt on time, 1pt mentioning others, 1pt for local plot, 1pt for global plot, and 1pt for world event, bonus for actually having created it. YAY! /randomness ))

Hello guys!

First of all, holy guacamole Batman, Ramira is alive? Alright, it's the last time I am lazy when it comes to reading letters. I knew it was planned at some point, but I never actually thought it would happen. And now Ramira is magical or something? Woah, big news there, it makes mine looks like super non-important, and it is kind of very important. Congratulation to Ramira being alive, I wish her the best of luck remaining in that state, at least long enough for a teary group reunion.

Before I go back to want I wanted to talk about, I would like to say that I'm curious about this new secret. Must be pretty critical for you to tell us all of it existence instead of telling Lizzie another way, or wait a later time. If I'm allowed a guess or two (although I don't really expect to be told if I'm right), I think it's either that you two got together during your meeting (if you know what I mean *winkwink*) or Lizzie taught you how to travel in the Underworld, somehow. I'm rooting for the first one, cuz it would be sooooo cute (also, it would get Amy off my back with the whole "what if Lizzie still got feelings for you" and blablabla. Gah, women.).

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, time for me to talk about what I've actually wanted to talk about in the first place! As I said last month, I've extended my movement to unite different people under a single group. Things are looking a lot better for us than they are for you, Chris. I guess too much power gets to the head of Mages and make them do stupid things. I hope you can keep your head cold and stuff. The last thing we need is more race for more power. So, as I was saying, we managed to reach a truce between different factions. The Union's numbers have been increasing a lot, lot more thanks to our efforts and Amelia, some key Union members and I are in the process of building a training camp for new recruits, right here in Europe. Mage magic is cool and all, but at some point we will have to kick some asses to ensure that Chris' plans get to completion, so the more firepower we have, the better. Especially with the trouble with uniting the Mages, we may have to deal with conflict against the some 'good guys', so even more reason to get ready. This said, I haven't completely given up on the knowledge side of things, I plan to get back on that later, maybe in April or May. Some more travelling would be good at some point, but for now, what we have here is too fragile. If we leave now, it could crumble and that would be veeeery bad. So.... yup.

That's pretty much it for now. I'm not sure what you're all up to guys, except Chris and his troubles with the Mages, but I wish you all the best of luck either way.

-Rick

PS: Amelia says hi!

WORLD EVENT: Rick's revelations have spurred heated discussions on social networks. Globally, some conflicts of supernatural natures have lessened in intensity as some factions are making small truces here and there to join the cause. As much as it helps, there are new conflicts started every day for other reasons, so it's only a bandage on a heavily bleeding cut, the calm won't last long.

Christian's Entry for February 2013

((3 points. One gone for being late. Totally lost track cuz’ of the story, sorry all!))

Nobody around? Good.

Things have taken a turn for the worse. I wish I had good news to report. Ramira and I are on the run. Remember how I thought that bringing her back would be all that it would take to unite the last of the Orders? I said that because the Guardians of the Veil were waiting for this Messiah figure called the Hieromagnus. I thought that the power needed to pull someone back from the abyss would be enough to prove that was who I was, and unite them under the banner of the Diamond Nation.

Turns out I was right sorta. They did unite with us, but their plan was not to join as equals. Apparently there had been some huge political wheels spinning for a while now to get rid of me, their doing of course. I've never been very good at the political game, and the fact of the matter is I'm much too trusting of people. Rather than viewing Ramira as evidence of what I thought it was, they look at me as... an Antichrist figure, who wields knowledge that should never, ever be wielded by anyone other than an Oracle. The fact that knowledge was given by one of the Oracles seems to have been lost. Fortunately I had made enough friends in the Orders that I was warned of what was about to happen, and I fled with Ramira before they could finish their plans for me. The Veil now sits chief on the Diamond Council in my place, and they have a bounty on my head.

Ramira and I are safe in PLACE right now, I'm sorry I can't say more. Sorry Lizzie. I wish we could be together, but you don't want to be with me right now. Staying alive has become a full time job. Damn those small-minded Guardians! I was studying the magic that brought Ramira back. I think I’ll be able to reverse~engineer the spell in time to purify those that the void has corrupted! But there's no time for such complicated spellwork when I’m one of the world's most wanted.

There is one bright star. It seems the Master's magic has made me untargetable by sympathetic magic. Otherwise I would‘ve died of a thousand heart attacks. Ramira's even better off than me. Magic: targeted on her unravels in paradox, no matter what it is. I’m glad I learned that trying to heal some of her cuts, instead of with more complicated spells. That could have ended /very/ badly.

She can still /use/ magic, so long as she's not the target. This is good, considering the number of portals and trips across the shadow we have made in the last month. Lizzie, Ramira knows my secret. I know I said I wouldn't tell anyone else, but it's easier to travel this way, so that nobody can recognize me. English skills notwithstanding.

Mages as a whole do not seem to harbor the same feelings for me that the Veil does. I have received much help from members of the Free Council and the Arrow. I am not appraised of the situation higher up the political ladder, but it seems my Diamond Nation is on the verge of collapse. The Veil and the Mysterium and the Ladder seem to be in one camp, and the Free Council, Arrow, and Seers on the other. Thank god for the seers, or Ramira and I would be dead already. Whatever hatred they have for me, they hate her a hundred times more. Her power seems to be paradox itself. It frightens me, and it frightens her. But her mind and soul are intact. I fear what she will be capable of once she masters her own powers.

No time to write more, sorry everybody. I hope things are going better for all of you than for me. Some positive developments with Darrel, so that's good. Keep the faith everyone. When I’m not running for my life, perhaps I will attempt to get together with you.

-Christian

Work in Progress: The Lizzie O'Conner Project

Lizzie moaned, the memories of the last few hours rushing back to her. Raiding the building had seemed easy at first, until they realized that someone had been raiding it ahead of them. Turned out the whole place was a Task Force: VALKYRIE op that had been infiltrated by Cheiron Group. At least, that was the story VALKYRIE had told them. Lizzie had her suspicions that the government-sponsored organization had hired the company to do this research for them, only to lose control of their actions. Whatever the reasons, with the Task Force’s help, it wasn’t difficult to neutralize the small security force and whatever scientists put up a resistance. 

She hadn’t entirely understood everything that Jade had figured out from what the VALKYRIE technicians explained to her. This was something called Project: ORPHEUS. That was simple enough to remember. It had been designed to allow normal people to explore and patrol the Underworld without danger. She had suspected there was more to it than that, but the agents had been unwilling to give any more information. Regardless, Cheiron had messed with the settings, though no one could figure out what it was that meant. There was only one way to find out, and that was to get hooked into the machines themselves. Lizzie got volunteered fairly quickly, causing her to silently curse her prominence as a Sin-Eater. VALKYRIE insisted that one of their men go along, a rather attractive technician that had done research into the Underworld. Lizzie certainly had no objections to him tagging along (even if all she could do was look).

TO BE CONTINUED

Soon.

I hope.

/cry