Rick's Entry for October 2012

First, you can stop looking for me guys, we're safe. Kind of. It's very long story, I will tell you some other time. What you need to know is that we got out of there... and that we aren't in the country anymore. Getting out of there had been the easiest part, leaving the country without being noticed, now that had been problematic. We were planning on going back to Austin, but we've heard about what happened in Toronto and Amelia insisted we went back there. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the sanest idea, but she seemed so troubled, I couldn't just leave her like that. We took the first plane to Montreal, then we trekked to Toronto over two days.

So, why all of this? If you listened to the news, as we did, you will know that the events in Rome had some repercussions, especially in large cities, where the underground communities are quite large. In Toronto, it's the Changing Breeds's turf. Foxes, Bears, Canines and Felines, as many groups who tried for long to claim hoods around here, and who struggle against the growing influence of Werewolves factions. Or they did. The leader of each faction met in a secret meeting they and came to an agreement, they would rid the city of the werewolves by uniting their force.

Last week, they've stuck. I've seen some of the sites where battles took place, it isn't pretty. Dozens of losses in each camp, the streets are tainted with blood, the forces of order are on high alert. Its being publicized as and intense gang fight and some call it terrorism, but we know better, don't we? The world is in chaos and everyone want their piece of the cake, including our species, apparently. I'm not going to lie, we're probably going to barely win, but we will be decimated. However, Amelia and I are not here to help the fight, I know better but to get involved in those petty fights. If we're here, it's to make sure Amelia's grandfather is fine. He's a feral too and she was afraid that he may have been a victim of this war. We didn't find him yet, which is kind of worrying, but at least, we're alive, so it's a good thing. I won't tell you guys exactly where we are hiding, but it's somewhere in the Toronto Metropolitan Area. Don't worry about us, this place is in no way related to the ferals or the werewolves. If it goes well, we will have her gramp found and somewhere safe soon, and we will go back to the States.

But... enough about us, I don't want to say anything that would betray us. Sorry for this... sudden news. Guess we never do things like anyone else. I've read some of the things you've written since last time we wrote to each other. I'm happy to hear that you made it out of that cave too, Austin and Darrel. Sorry for your losses, though. Seems like we never can have an encounter with those things that ends well for everyone. Hopefully, this whole thing will end soon. Having to hide, to fight, to explore... that has never been my thing, and it probably never will be. You can thanks Amelia for my latest adventures, seems she's always pushing me somewhere new. Speaking of that, she made a few searches on the Internet about those things you mentioned, Chris. It led to conspiracies and occult website, nothing of great interest. What I did notice though was that a lot of these websites are hosted in Europe. So, either there's a lot of crazy people there... or there are a lot of people there who could be our allies, or our enemies. We will keep an eye on that in the next few days. Who knows, maybe we will be on the other side of the ocean by next month. I'm going to wait for you guys' opinion on that, though. Travelling to look up for one's family member is one thing, travelling to follow an unlikely trail in an unknown country, that may be too much. I'm not /that/ crazy. Then again, some vacation in the middle of all this chaos would be welcomed. Can do some tourism while following hints, right?

Either way, I will go for now. Got lots of things ahead of us. Good luck meeting Lizzie and Chris, may you be safe too. I can't wait for the day we will all meet again.

- Rick

PS: Blood really smells... surprisingly not bad. I hope it's not a bad sign...

(( 5PTS: On time, my subplot, mentioning others, a bit of progress on the main plot, World Event. ))

World Event: Huge gang war have stirred up in Toronto, an upset never seen before. The city is considering sending the army in to help the police deal with the insurgency. Some flights have been cancelled, other major cities in Canada are tightening their securities as criminal and gang activities seems to be on an historical high. The situation is under control for now, but Canada isn't a recommended destination at the moment and people are afraid of seeing things get worse. After all, there's never smoke without a fire.

Austin's entry for the month of October

Hello? Amelia? You still there?

I hope you're receiving this. Please pay attention and sound off as quickly as you can. How are you and Ricky doing? I want you guys to know we're looking for you. Specifically, thanks to our wonderful mutual friend Chris we've got some really professional battlemages down there, best in the world. You should stay put and look after Ricky, keep him lying flat, keep his injuries elevated and all that.

Now don't panic or anything, but keep an eye out and be quiet. We don't need to hear you to find you but there's the chance something else might hear you. Anything else down there is going to be really sensitive to sound and movement. Shouldn't be anything too bad if you're still around the same level we last saw each other. Just tell me about where you are. Any little details could help.







And... now for something completely different, I suppose. Well, gentlemen, it's officially a disaster. I should never have gone poking around down there so carelessly. That thing, whatever it is, it's dead now but the whole place stinks abominably and it's only going to get worse until we can decide what to do with the corpse. Logosh is dead. So many comrades in arms dead. June is badly hurt and so now everyone is coming straight to me. I don't know what to do, anymore, June was always the brains, not me.

Ahh, listen I really don't feel well. I'm think I'm going to try and keep this brief. We're in such big trouble still. The whole place is crumbling, huge cracks and holes opening up everywhere. There's water from broken pipes absolutely everywhere and my library is simply ruined. Just imagine, all those priceless old volumes completely soaked. Meanwhile I... I saw things, and now I'm not well, but I still have to put up with Sea Org and kissy-poo's damn friends breathing down my neck. This whole place was dedicated to Yog-Sathoth the dreadlord. The crypts are the foundation for the whole city, they easily, absolutely predate the colonization. Shouldn't be a surprise, I guess.

My god you don't want to know what we saw down there. There were these tiny cephelapods with long, conical soft shells. They were everywhere, thousands of them, on the walls and the ceilings, anywhere that was damp enough. If you got a little too close the tip of the shell would produce this ghastly little needle that followed you around. Fuck, there were FORESTS of those little needles on all sides of us sometimes. Then every now and then we'd run into a nest of crab sort of things with tiny bodies and long legs, like daddy long-legs with big swollen green pincers. They came right at us too, very nasty. I think... there might have been shaggoths, but we didn't see any, just the caustic trails.

Oh gods, I'm sorry. I can't do this right now. I'm too busy. I'll fill you all in next month. You... that gun saved all our lives, Chris. Thank you.

Christian's Entry for October 2012

Holy crap, nothing brings home how much these letters suck as a situation like this. I want to help so much more! I want to teleport right over there now and end this thing with some real magic. Lightning is its weakness? Lightning is one of my greatest accomplishments! I could dispatch that thing in my sleep! But I'm here at a five star hotel while all of you are getting screwed. Alright. I really did not want to do this, but I'm going to. I've ordered the Atlantean Arrow's nearest detachment, located in Ipswich, to mobilize. There are fifty arrow in that detachment. Maybe not immortals, but it's all the service I can actually give right now! I wish I could come personally, but things have... escalated. If I leave now, the alliance would fall apart. Otherwise I would get on a redeye right now and head over. I'm glad that all of you are still alive, such as it is. I need to work on mastering space... then maybe I could heal Ricky right now without even being there. I can't do that, though. I know none of you are children out there - you can handle yourselves just fine. It just sucks when your friends need help and you can't do anything. In case the Arrow don't get there in time, the Zeus can only be fired by humans, though they need not have any magic. Other races like Ghouls will also be able to operate it, but someone like Ricky will not be able to fire it. It was designed as a weapon against the other races, after all. Also, it uses the mana inherent in one's own pattern to fire, so it causes painful burns that magic cannot heal. Just be wary when using it. The Arrow were a little /too/ eager to get rid of it when I asked they send it your way, so I suspect there may be more to it.

The Arrow have orders to leave at your request, though they will remain with you so long as you deem necessary to stabilize the situation. They would probably be able to close the portal Austin opened, though they might not. I guess you'll know soon enough. I'm sorry I could not do more. I hate having all these resources I can't do anything with!

Lizzie, I can't wait to see you again. We have lots to talk about. It sucks your investigations didn't turn up anything, but at least those cultists didn't wake up Cthulhu. If that happens, we're screwed. All of us. There won't be any time to run from the universe at that point, we're just screwed. Speaking of which... I feel bad talking philosophically while you all are in danger... but I suppose if you're reading this than you're okay, and there's no more reason to worry. So I'm going to write all this on the assumption that everyone makes it out okay. Because if you don‘t... then Austin's right. The Elements of Harmony won't work without all of us.

First Austin, I'm not sure that you understand what I'm saying when I say there can't be diplomacy with the old ones. They can talk well enough, if we discovered how they did. But like you said, they think so lowly of us that they wouldn't be willing to change their motives because of us. This earth is theirs in their mind, and us the accident thanks to the Elder Things and their experiments with genetics. But you know what... I don't care if we're an accident, even if all that stuff's true. There is a Supernal truth that is just as real. I know that faith isn't something any of you have anymore, but... There IS more to this reality! Even if in their version of the truth they're higher and better than us, and us the mold on their sandwich. And I'm going to prove it. Do you know how? Lizzie isn't going to like this. But I will explain. I will prove that the supernal reality is more real than the abyss.

I know there is only one way to prove it. That's exactly the way I'm going to do it, though. I am going to prove that the supernal isn't just equally valid in that the magic works, because that's a fact. We know the magic works. But think about this - if the Abyss can be rewritten with the magic of the Supernal, than why not rewrite /all/ of it? Outsiders, Cthulhu, the whole bit. We'll replace it. Here is how I will prove it.

Remember Rami? I do. She started all of this, after all. I think in learning the true nature of the abyss, I have discovered the way to bring her back. The First Words - the words of the Master. I know what they are! "Arise!" I don't care if she's been dragged out into who knows what god-forsaken corner of some higher dimension... the Master's words will bring her back. Lazarus, come forth! This is why I want to visit the Library, you see. The Master's magic died with him, all those years ago. But all dead thoughts are there, all dead knowledge. I'm going to find it, and bring her back! What then? Think on it, friends! Forget negotiating with the abyss! We'll write the Book of Night with Moon, and read it in the face of the monsters! Read them all out of existence! I'm done accepting defeat anymore. I'm done acknowledging that their way of reality is the truth. It isn't. I saw the awful truth outside the universe, but I also met an archmaster. I met the wings of the Aether. Enoch may be the wings, but I will be the fist. Together, we will end it! NO more accepting that they're greater and better and more powerful and all of that - they aren't! They’re different, not better! Our magic is better than theirs, because we've got one thing they don't - a soul. Darrel went talking about how magic works, how mages like me channel the Supernal. That's how we do it - our souls. The Deep Ones don't have them. Cthulhu doesn't either, I'm willing to bet. We're alien to them just as they are to us. That's why they hate us so much! We have a light they'll never understand! These random little mutations somehow ended up shaped to capture a spark of the supernal, a world they cannot ever touch.

I'm sorry for ranting. I think I'm done. I'm just frustrated right now. I don't blame you for not making it this month, Liz. I know you'd be here if you could. And when you get here, we shall take the knowledge we need, and bring Ramira back.

You could say this last month had a little good and a little bad news. Guess who showed up? One of the Ministers of the Seers of the Throne, that's who. He came to us, totally unannounced, along with this huge diplomatic detachment from their Order. Here I didn't even think they were real... He had some surprising news - on behalf of his order, the Exarchs, and everything else he represented... he was joining our alliance. "Earth's true kings" as he called them, had come out in support of our effort to maintain reality. They’re pretty much the most evil mages there are, I thought, but... not so, I suppose. They can't oppress our world if there's no world to oppress. You should have seen the uproar when he announced who he was. But I kept everything calm, and got all the nitty-gritty of the alliances ironed out. The Arrow was pissed, but... in the end, even they had to admit that it made sense.

Only problem, is the Seers aren't a unified organization, but a terrorist-like group of disparate cells. A large number of those cells have risen up in resistance, and are now actively fighting their other Seer cells wherever they are. They call themselves Purists, and claim that... get this... the Outsiders /are/ the Exarchs. So if you ever encounter any mages that want to kill you, that's probably who they are. I don't know if you've heard, but their little war has already decimated Rome, and it's spreading all across eastern Europe, where the Seers were apparently most concentrated. So that's just Geeeereat. There's now a Minister on the High Council. One Minister, one Adrinach, and one General. Oh, and me. Interesting company to keep. We've already had to deal with several attempts at bombing of the building since then... brainwashed humans both times - they're fine now so far as I know. I can't stress enough that these Purists are more dangerous than any cultists. The Seers are puppeteers, they work through others and use subtle magic. They are patient, and they have power ordinary mages lack. Keep your eyes out. But we gained some allies, too! Can't say I trust them /less/ than Scientology, I guess.

((Oh, so 5 points, because this entry has a WORLD EVENT! But End, the short stories would be for January's entry. They would not be letters, and the other characters would not see what was in them. You might include the usual letter in the story, if you want your character to write one, though no extra points if you do.))

World Event: Hundreds killed in Rome by "terrorist action" and "gang warfare". The city has been surrounded by Italy's armed services, who have as of yet not allowed anyone in or out. All flights canceled.

Lizzie's Entry for September 2012

((Another 3 exp points. At this rate, I'll evolve at least once by the end of the RP.))

Hey guys, sorry for not getting around to this sooner. I've been getting ready to head over to visit Kris. I don't have too much to pack, but I did want to make one final push to solve the mystery out here. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to impressive to report. Looks like it was just some stupid cultist wannabes that didn't know how to properly summon Cthulhu or something, so they ended up just tearing a hole in the universe. As far as we can tell, they didn't manage to penetrate out into the void, so we don't have to worry about anything like that coming through, but we're gonna keep a few small ships posted in case there's anything from any of the other realms coming through.

But oh my god, I'm not even talking about the important stuff here. Amelia, contact me as soon as possible once you and Rick are safe. I wish I could send some help your way, but I have no idea where the four of you are specifically, and by the time I found out, it would be too late for better or worse. Hopefully you'll be able to get Rick to safety and hopefully Darrel and Austin won't kill themselves facing off against whatever else is down there.

At any rate, I'm not sure if I'll make it to Kris' new place before my next chance to write anyone. The usual paths through the Underworld have been getting more and more volatile with the increasing violence and chaos up here. I might have to travel by more traditional means, and that involves either relying on Japan's unstable economic situations or getting a ride on one of the Dim Suns' ships. In the case of the latter, that means going with them on their normal operations until they get to the port I want. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.

Well, with my life seeming to be far less interesting than any of yours, I'll go ahead and end this here. Be safe everyone. I know you all far too well, so I know just how much a pain it'd be to put any of your ghosts to rest. More importantly, I know death better than any of you, and I have to say, living is so much better.


-Lizzie T. O'Conner

Rick's Amelia's Entry for September 2012

(( 4pts: 1 for being on time, 1 for progressing the main plot, 1 for a bit of mention of what the others are doing and 1 for the subplot. ))

Hello? Hello? Is this thing working? Hello?

I hope so! I hope I'm not getting into anything I shouldn't here, but I really need help! Ricky is... not well right now! He's stable for now, but who knows for how long!

Ok, Amy, calm down, take a deep breathe... you gotta stay strong and calm, or else we won't make it.

Oh God, it wrote this down?!? How do I delete...crap... craap! Sorry!

No biggie, really, it's only a few thoughts being openly broadcasted to everyone. Gotta focus on what happened...

So... I... we... deep breathe deep breathe... so we came down here to the States on that cool plane, really good flight service by the way, and we arrived in this... dump... sorry Rick, I didn't want to insult your country! It's just... everything looks so broken and ewww... I thought Toronto had it bad, but you guys have it awwwwful, 'eh? I bet China is better... I totally didn't say that, sorry!

So we came down here to help this Austin guy, really sweet guy, hospitable... when you don't argue with him. I swear, I thought I was seeing some snotty Army General when we argued a bit with that other guy... the werewolf... who was totally trying to piss us off with his non-sequitur sentences and his... scent. Bath. Bath! Always take a bath and stay clean! Something Ricko should improve on... I mean... aww.. sorry! It's just something you don't smell very good and it's a bit of a turn-off and...

...

...you totally didn't see that. Close your eyes and forget! Or... brain. Shut your brain off. Or... something... geeze, this thing no sense at all... I mean, you hold this stone and just... stare into that thing... some weird magic at work here. I don't have much of it... I can communicate with foxes, but everyone can do that, eh?

Okkkk, getting sidetracked here, sorry, it's just so weird and embarrassing. I don't even know who you guys are, and it's all Magicky and Rick is laying unconscious right next to me... maybe we shouldn't have come here. Maybe he wouldn't be so...

God, I hoooope he doesn't die! What a dumb idea, going down into that dumb cave with that dumb werewolves in this dumb country in this dumb town! Dumb dumb dumb! I wasn't any better, what an idiot, "Oh look Rick, look at that thing over there, it's so shiny!" What do you know, a minute later, there's a cave in, and Rick got injured by falling rocks and I'm here, talking to a rock! Or with a rock, or gem, or magic. This is so crazy! I did the best I could, I bandaged his leg, and made sure he wasn't like, dying, but what now? I've looked around this cave for anything useful for escape... no, nothing. If I was looking for a creepy place with a feeling of gloom and doom, I would have found jackpot. The air around here... the pressure... the walls... the deeper I went, the more alien it felt. I don't know how to explain it... the natural caves ended and I landed in some kind of temple, it looked indian, but at the same time, not really. Like a place of cult. It reeked too! There was that large circle in the stone, made out of stone, its rim surrounded by strange symbols, like those in those books Rick has about ancient cults of magic. I took a picture with my phone, but I doubt it can be transferred in text, I'm going to try to think them in here.

[A random sequence of Atlantean words follow, seemingly just being random symbols to Amelia]

Wow...! It worked... whatever it is I did there... I hope it helps you guys! But wait, I'm the one who need help here! Creepy or not, there doesn't seem to be a way up through that temple, and there's still a bloacade of rocks and Rick is still unsconcious! Good thing I have food and water for like a week on me, you're never too prepared! If Rick wasn't so lifeless, I would so tell him 'I told you!'!

But... he is, and I hope he wakes up soon. Or that we find some exit. Or that this thing gives us some answers. I'm sorry I'm not really talking about what you guys are doing, I would, but they're not giving me help at the moment! I do have one little thing to say, though... Lizzie and Christian, you should... you know... duh! There's electricity in the air, is all I can say. ;) Rawr!

-Amelia

PS: Help!!! Sorry to be bothering, again!

Austin's entry for the month of September

Oh thank god... ohhhh yes, I was starting to wonder whether I'd get reception right now. Radio's dead. But that's entanglement, for you. Anyway, everyone please pay attention, we may need help. I'm currently stuck with Darrel in the dungeons beneath Arkham city. There was a very big collapse while we were poking around. Ricky and Amelia were with us too but not anymore, and we don't know what happened to them. I'm hoping he'll see this and SOUND OFF RIGHT NOW. I'm told the elements of harmony won't work without him.

Now besides Ricky potentially being dead I get the feeling this sinkhole might have opened all the way up to the surface. Pray that hasn't happened, please. Who knows how much of the base it could have taken with it, and anyway we don't want that attention. We'll be absolutely fucked if the police find out about us down here. I do know that June and company are alive. But now in the meantime I'm trapped in the dark with this loveable fleabag with my pockets full of roast beef sandwiches, NONE of which have enough mayo. AND I've got a plane to catch in a few days.

Anyway. Anyway. Anyway. We're going to do our best. In the meantime, holy crap Chris, thank you! I wish there was some way I could get a look at it right now. I do NOT like the idea of that just sitting there. I'm imagining it'll need a crew. Not sure what we'll do with it, but just having it will be fantastic. Ancestors beckon we, nearer our gods to thee. I was gonna' be mad at you for a while, but now I think I'll put that off for a few months. Still I wasn't expecting YOU to come over all defeatist. I'd rather die than see western civilization end.

At any rate institutionalism must survive; it doesn't even really matter what institutions, I think. That's why I've been so happy to be at the mercy of the Scientologists, of all people. The religion, I've gathered, is mostly just a front and a scam. Sea Org on the other hand is legit. They've got all kinds working for them. Speaking of, they disagree with you, Chris. I've talked to some of them about diplomacy and they told me that's the plan. They want to expose constructs with rudimentary intelligence to articles from the void, and then use them as translators, instruments and what-not. The constructs, that is.

I simply refuse to accept that diplomatic solution is impossible. These are not lesser beings than us, they're greater than us. There's more to them than there is to us. Perhaps we'll never be able to understand them but it must be possible for they to understand us. And only a few hours ago one of their spiritual constructs actually SPOKE to us for a moment.

The real obstacle to communication is how small we are. It's like... if you discovered your forehead was giving birth to a microscopic civilization, would that stop you from showering? Not me. The outsiders know about us but they can't be asked to look out for us. We're too small, it wouldn't be worth it for them. We're so comparatively insignificant and remote it'd be like... avoiding walking on the off chance you might crush an invisible microbial society. This is something we've got to change, obviously. One way or the other. If we can empathize with them somehow, they might help. And if that means sacrificing ourselves to an extent in order to become vaster, greater, perhaps it would be worth it.

But don't take me for some Benedict Arnold. Y'all are the defeatists here, not me. Unlike some I consider ALL my options. Oh yes, you mentioned lord Yog-sothoth. It's a bit premature but my instincts are telling me this temple was dedicated to him. I'm familiar with some of the symbolism related to him, and it's on the walls here and there. The other stuff I don't know, but it's not Cthulhu cult. It makes sense, since for most of the cult's history it was propagated by Africans and this place looks like it might have been transplanted from somewhere in eastern Europe during the 15hundreds.

Anyway, I'm not saying ancient aliens stole the titties, but the clues here indicate they did. Prayer and optimism for all our sakes down here would be put to good use. Hail.

A.A. Merit

(3 points)

Christian's Entry for September 2012

((3 Points, one point off for late. Still people haven’t said anything about the short story idea for the year mark. If there are no objections in people’s OCC for this month, I’ll assume everyone loves the idea and that is what we will do for the January entry. Which is honestly just fine with me, because I really would like to do the short story idea.))

Hello everyone. Christian coming to you again from the Twin Dragons hotel on 10 Capital. You might very justly ask what I’m still doing here while all of you are struggling to survive in your various near-war-zones. Honestly I am almost as surprised as you are that I am still here, and even more so that Asia has remained so stable in the wake of all that is going on. You would be surprised to hear that the bosses of organized crime are the ones keeping everyone in check. I'm pretty sure at least Kazamagi (of the Yakuza) is a vampire, and probably several more of the other leaders we aren’t sure of. They do a very good job keeping the streets clear. I have seen the chaos in the united states: All those little wilderness towns turned into war grounds. Hundreds of lives lost on the sidelines, but not here. Here when the police are too afraid to do anything about something, the Yakuza are not. I suspect they have been dealing effectively with for a great many years. There is already an intimate understanding between them and the Mages here, so they do leave us alone. The situation is stable. I say stable, but in reality, it is far more than stable. But before I go into detail about the efforts of my fellows, I will talk about what has happened to all of you.

Austin, I’m sorry to say things have come to blows with the Free Council down there. I have always loved them and their ideals, and as we speak we are negotiating a tentative allegiance between the Silver Ladder and the Free Council, the most adversarial pairing of spellcasters in the world. This is the most critical juncture of the unification, because on some level the other orders already /are/ united under the leadership of the Silver ladder, though the bonds are only symbolic in most parts of the world. Still, if we can get that odd body to fix within the mix, that would be absolutely ideal. I think it's possible. President Layton is a very open-minded man. But I‘m getting ahead of myself. If we truly are the tumor of the universe, the unnatural growth, I see no reason that we should not struggle with equal energy for survival.

We CANNOT negotiate with the Outside, Austin. whatever else you might believe, you really must understand that simply cannot happen. You are looking at them within the context of human sanity. You must strip away your assumptions about what sapient life is. They do not understand communication as we do. Remember those friends? They are fundamentally alien to us. The only way we could have succeeded was discovering and conforming to their ideas of communication and power. This is the only way we could communicate with the Outside. It would mean giving in to all their desires for us. Becoming utterly mad and subservient. That is the only communication they understand. To me this is unacceptable. It is a good idea, but not good enough. Really what we need to do is... somehow distance ourselves from the greater multiverse. I think we can agree that trying to vanquish a near invincible foe in a world far greater than our own is not feasible. But somehow I suspect that they would be unable to do anything to attack our universe as a whole. Honestly I don‘t think they would even care to, if we had somehow banished them all. If we could do that... that is the answer.

Ricky - I‘m glad you've decided to take action and get into the fight. I wish you well in your attempt to pick up magical learning. I would offer to tutor you, but somehow I don't think that we are considering the same types of magic. Another one of those mysteries I guess, all the different abilities? different sources. I do not know what can be done to unify our ideas about how all this stuff works, but... I wonder. Just how different is my magic than the spiritual gifts of werewolves, really? Or... what you do, or Lizzy, or... so Ricky, the Void is not the higher dimension, but the people from it. "people" here used very liberally. They are not the whole multiverse, just citizens from it. Probably from their own universes at one point, who developed or simply had the ability to travel between, that's my guess. We don’t have to "kill" them, and trying to do that is stupid. If we can just banish them from our universe, that would be all we had to do. So long as we could somehow stop them from waltzing right back in again. Therein lies the challenge. The universe is an awful big place, how can we patrol the whole thing at once? I think it would take powers I sure don't have. Do you? Of course none of us does. I feel like I‘m writing the Outcast again, but really the only way to "beat" than is to change the structure of the universe so they can't get in again. And I suppose if we did, we would have to kill any of them that weren't out at that moment, or else they'd run around ruining our universe like a cat stuck in a very tiny box. How would you feel if you were in a tiny box, Ricky? Inside opinion there. (rimshot)

You have a very valid question Darrel. Why aren't the Gods helping us since it's their world that is in jeopardy too? I think in some ways the answer is twofold. Allow me to explain. First, we must accept the following rules:
1. The Godlike Spirits desire to survive.
2. They have the intelligence to realize the destruction of the material means their end.
3. They have the ability to render aid in their defense.
Given those facts, we must realize that they are, in fact, helping us as directly as they can. Chances are, they are being somehow prevented. There is a Spiritual outsider, Yog-Sothoth, who I imagine is greatly restricting their ability to help. I‘m sure you know that the Shadow is as much a battlefield right now as our world, and the battle is only just getting started. How much worse might things get before the end? Somehow I have faith that the greater spirits are doing all they can, and are probably saving their resources for the moment when their aid will be most useful. Like the night we fought Cthulhu. we had their help then, and I suspect we will have it again.

So you all will no doubt want to know what has been happening here. Things have not been easy, though I suspect they have been easier for me than for any of you. It might be a luxury hotel, but that does not mean living here does not come with its own dangers. The foremost on my mind is assassination. Unlike many of the other races, the Mages have a system in place that someone might actually use to unite them. This is why I took the vow in the first place. I wish it meant that I would be in some sort of leadership position, but things are not so simple. The combination of my position among our company and someone of high standing in the Master’s order means that people must let me sit in council with them, and by extension, makes me someone who would help orchestrate the unity of orders in the awakened nation. A noble goal at any moment in history, but now the completion of the goal is critical. I’m sure you all can see the signs that I see. It is perfectly clear to me that this present situation is going to culminate with the dissolution of all the earthly powers currently existent. Austin, I somehow doubt any action from you will be required to bring it about. When that happens, we will be grateful for every friend, we have when, the time comes. Somehow I doubt that your spontaneous ideal anarchy is going to develop in the environment that we'll find at the end of western civilization.

Lizzie, I look forward to your arrival: The suite has two bedrooms! And yes, I am still single. No, those two statements are not related. I’m not the least bit surprised that you’ve got your own team: for better or worse each and every one of us is meant to be leaders within our own domains, such as they are.

As for my own efforts, I have been diligently engaged in the forging of alliances between the orders of the Awakened. So far only two of the orders have answered the call: The Silver Ladder who is obligated to heed my council by their own law, and the Arrow, who has I very much suspect been waiting for any valid excuse to martial for war. As we speak that marshaling has begun! I have requested that some of those resources be provided to you, Austin. I did not know how to find you, so look into the basement of that hotel you told Rick about. I have ordered an interesting relic be transferred there, and by the time you read this, it should have arrived. It‘s basically an Atlantean anti-aircraft gun, meant for large targets. Use it how you see fit, but do not test it on anyone you like. In the Arrow it is called the Fist of Zeus - a name not undeserved from what I hear.

As to the rest of you: Keep the faith. I look forward to correspondence with you soon. Enjoy your party together.

PS: Rick, you have no right to complain about bad memories about Lizzie! You dumped her, remember! That is all.