RR 1-15: Gatriel Explains God Trapping, Then Confronting the Infestation

Mission Report

Tue, Jan 29, 2019 ((2022-04-09))
Team: Delly (Cael), Fonn (Dragon), Ikhilzis (Schizo), Lae'eni (Aslene), Lottie (Basil), Smokes (Aunne), Ulthane (Sielic), Zenovi (Dae)

You discussed how best to treat and confine Billy Banks. You decided to direct Lisette to have a R3M-trusted contractor meet you on the surface and transport Billy to near the Bunker. From there, RJ took him to the Bunker. Zenovi coached RJ on treatment. The team proceeded deeper into Storm Culvert 5. You detected and killed several leaper sentries. You met Gatriel, who taught you the basics of restraining a god and confining it in Adinzar. You snuck into the heart of the infestation, aka Ground Zero. You found a trash mound with a divine spark, oozing the black oil and feeding off an infested college student. You began to battle the infestation.

Details

• Alpha: Zenovi
• Beta: Fonn

• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... there's a lot of. Leaping. And ... kicking. And.. things. It's rather beautiful, really." She waves claws. "You know. All of it."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Delly smiles. "It is. I rather like it."
• Lae'eni: "Complimentary styles allow our strengths to cover our weaknesses. It's mostly like dancing... I can't wait until we get good enough we can add weapons into the mix. That's when it gets really lovely. Beautiful deadly..."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Delly grins wider. "First and formost, Coronal Sand Cat Style is designed for swordplay. Wait till you /really/ see it in action."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: The kobold considers. "... You know... I think.. I'm going to ... hmm." Out comes the book - and a quill from nowhere. She scribbles in it, thoughtfully.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "You think what?"
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "I am hardly an expert - but.. in theory, couldn't we draw on the weave *and* the Chain to .... connect you to other strengths? Perhaps even to each other? Let me think for a bit."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): ",,,,That could be effective, but it would be /quite/ odd. I'mnotopposed mind yu, just."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... it is already possible... in.. for.. stronger ... uhm. Practitioners. To .. use the historical aspects of animals totemically - to give you the supposed 'grace of a cat' or 'cunning of a fox'. Why couldn't I give you the 'fashion sense of Lae'ni?"
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Or.. something similar. If. not that I'm that capable, but it's an interesting idea, righT?"
• Lae'eni: Lae'eni giggles a moment. And then starts laughing outright. Her eyes light, utterly delighted. "The fashion sense of Lae'eni. Very nice."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw smiles, rather wryly. "Well, perhaps not as useful as 'the piloting reflexes of Lae'eni, but... "
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... I know Ikhilzis could certainly use the help."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw says that VERY innocently.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood suddenly feels a sense of horror and doom.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "It is a prejudice to think that swordsmanship is meant solely to slash an opponent. It is meant not to slash an opponent, but to kill evil. It is a way of allowing ten thousand men to live by killing a single evil man."
• TAG stands for Treat, Analyze, & Gather. A TAG Team is a group of professional but mundane personnel specializing in security, battlefield medicine, and forensic science. A TAG Team is dispatched to control the site of an incident and collect evidence. They can triage injuries and transport patients to emergency care (either a public hospital or a private clinic).
• Billy is being transported to the bunker and Zenovi gave medical advice to Lisette.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): As they walk, Delly stands close to Billy. The heat that suffuses the air around her when she wields her sword will hopefully help.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Delly, on Comms: "You're the best Lisette. Thank you."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Lottie - thank you. For - not requiring me to swim. It is kind - and, being honest? I am not very good at it.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... I also am not fond of cold."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: ".. or damp."
• Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe: "I could teach you to swim, if you wanted."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: ".... perhaps. I should learn, if only to shore up a certain weakness. It just.. it's /wet/."
• Lottie: "I do not feel cold or damp anymore unless I wish to. I do not mind."
• Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe: "What are we if not mostly water, my friend."
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn wrinkles her nose in distaste. "There is a lot more than water in these sewers."
• Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe: "Well, we're all a little bit of that, too."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... the water is bad enough. I had done very well not considering the /additional horrors/ that lay beneath the surface."
• Fonn Razorenth: "Does paramatter have water in it?" Fonn asks no one in particular.
• Ulthane and Lottie decrypt a memory bead
  • Two young men are walking in the sewer, holding flashlights. They are both white and dressed in brand-name casual clothing.
  • Billy Banks: So tell me again.
  • Gil Hadrick: It's all good, man. You met the sales target, you moved the needle, you showed that you have the goods. Now you get the private meeting with the Man.
  • Billy: This isn't some kinda multi-level marketing bullshit, right?
  • Gil: Oh fuck no, man. This is a chance to get in on the ground floor of something big. You wanna leverage this low-threshold opportunity. We're going to the moon, man. You'll have equity in the next big thing. No second thoughts, I hope?
  • Billy: OK, OK. I'm here. I just don't... Why the sewers? I mean, this is some dark and smelly... shit.
  • Gil: I told you. This is off the grid. We gotta keep it closed loop for now. Too much competition. We're going to be first to market, and it's gonna be epic. It's gonna be righteous.
  • Billy: Sometimes this sounds kinda culty.
  • Gil: Just wait for the download and listen, man. Just wait.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "It does if you think it does. Such is the nature of paramatter."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): `"Sounds like a lot of buzzwords and not much substance."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Is that so different than any cult?"
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: "Reminds me of our infiltration team's work."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: ".... cults have a particular methodology. They must offer belonging, alongside 'specialness'. They use special jargon as a path to isolating members. Then, as the member becomes more alienated from the world outside of the cult, they offer companionship, purpose, and direction. Rewards can be fictional outside of the feeling of belonging. Of /specialness/."
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: If there's any further zombies, attempt to take them down nonlethally. If we can remove the spirits, we may learn more.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Note 'wait the download', 'closed loop', 'going to the moon'. Yes, these seem inoccuous, but.. are they?"
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: "Having their own language and terminology would add to their 'specialness'."
• Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe: "What's on the moon?"
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Mm-hmm. It also serves as a way of expressing cult goals and values in a way outsiders cannot understand."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "be advised - the thing ahead is far stronger than anything we have encountered."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: {"... and it... feels as though it is connected to.. " She hmms. "Belief. Somehow. It is likely fairly potent in both a magical and physical sense."
• Fonn Razorenth: "Belief? The tutorial mentioned belief powers unbound, if I remember correctly."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "I cannot say if this is unbound - only that it is connected to the Frayed, which.. is belief-based."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw humms softly to herself. It's ... a rather lilting, bouncy tune- Celtic? No. Wait. It's.. "henery the 8th".

Effect ['Jack of All Trades; INIT: 1'] -> [to Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe]

• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn stiffens ever so slightly when she fires. "Firearms are quite loud. If we were around civilians, they'd be panicking right now."
• Lae'eni: As Delly departs the Swift, Lae'eni shifts to try and give Smokes a bit more cover.
• Gatriel: Tell Proud it's not that I think he'll get caught. It's that I believe that Imperial Navy access codes are not a toy and he should only use them for mission-critical activities.
• Gatriel: They're almost here. I have to go. I'll see you night. I love you, too.
• Gatriel is a celestial warrior. She wears black plate armor with elaborate engravings featuring kraken tentacles and profusions of fungus. Her features are fierce and controlled. Gatriel has dark eyes and long, dark hair. She carries a massive maul that radiates power.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: Proud, somewhere: ".... but they make *the best* coffee!"
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: ".... that's certainly to the point."
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: I have no idea who this person is.
• Gatriel: My lady favors your cause. The corruption afflicting some gods is an abberation. It must be cleansed. The Wheel must turn.
• Gatriel: I was supposed to be present for your briefing and initial training. Instead, I learned from our allies that you are awake and in the field.
• Gatriel: You are here. You are also always in Adinzar
• Gatriel: You need three chains and one embrace. You can do it with more chains, but three is the minimum.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: ... interesting, but.. what do we know about these chains? Metaphysical? Conceptual? Literal chains?"
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: Mental SHRUG.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "... and an interesting use of the Laws. Likeness is Sameness."
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn absently rubs her head. She feels like there might be a lot of headaches in her future.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood is getting the same headache Fonn is.
• Ulthane Stonebeard 2.0: "Game recognize game," Ulthane nods.
• Gatriel: Like almost everything in the multiverse, fungus can be good or bad.
• Gatriel: Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungi
• Gatriel: The god your are hunting is Avinos. He is a godling, really. His portfolio is primarily gambling. He won a powerful artifact of Zuggtmoy in a game of chance, and he's used it to claw his way to divinity.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "I /like/ him!" [Sujo]
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood stomach rumbles suddenly when Gatriel says something about souls....
• Fonn Razorenth: offers Khils a granola bar from her pack. The packaging is a bit soggy from storm water, but the food inside is clean.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood considers, then shakes his head. "Not the one that's hungry. I think." He shudders.
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn nods and puts the bar away.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw [Sylvan]: [Translation] "I bind thee, I bind thee - be bound! I bind thee!"
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Snow makes a terrible, pained noise, dropping in his flight, one of his wings half blasted.