RMS 1-7: Stopping Ru Gruthek

Mission Report

Tuesday, March 16, 2027 ((2023-12-31))
Team: Balto (Cael), Crunch (Keneux), Eleni (Wynnri), Haze (Aslene), Pebble (Basil)

Some of us were summoned to Frostpoint Sigma by the Humbled Crone. Elara explained that a spirit was traveling back in time to stop the Wall. She gave us two time skippers to intercept. We traveled to colonial Annapolis, where Thomas Jefferson was founding the Rational Ascendancy. We traveled to World War II Chicago, where Mackey and Rossman were starting their careers. We traveled to the Cold War Pentagon, where Mackey was securing funding for Palisade. Finally, we traveled to an Elven spaceship the eve of the Battle of Gevoka. The allied commanders were deciding to seize Palisade and isolate Earth.

In each time, we met corrupted time spirits called kronovores. We killed them. We also took a few interesting retrievables. On the spaceship, we met their master: Ru Gruthek. However, Delanos Skyguard intervened. He purified Ru’s minion spirits while Haze and Balto handily defeated Ru. We returned to Frostpoint Sigma, returned the time skippers, and returned to our points of origin.

• Letter Proposing the Rational Ascendancy
• Palisade Pitch

Details

• It's Tuesday, March 16, 2027, 11 am.
• Dex tries to go through but remains on Clydesdale
• Balto: Togo leeeeeans forward, sniffing Eleni from a distance.
• Frostpoint Sigma Station
• Elara
• Elara falls off her ladder but Eleni catches her
• Balto: When her face rests, Balto seems to have somewhat shadowed eyes.
• The team gets two Time Skippers
• Elara: When the Wall went up, many spirits were trapped on Sihblos. Some of them are not responding well to being confined. One of them may be trying to change the timeline and prevent the Wall from ever happening.
• Elara: When you arrive, it may take a few minutes for you to fully resolve. The magic will create a psychic illusion. To the people you encounter, you will look like you are from that time and you will seem to fit in. You will also experience time in compression, meaning that a minute to you will seem like a second to everyone else.
• Elara: We will try to send you to a time just before the threat arrives.
• Haze: **whispers to Balto** They're flirting. And Eleni has game.
• Haze and Crunch have the time skippers.
• Balto: Balto grins at her, slow and country style, a flash of white teeth. "Bit jealous of Elara, to be honest, but she needs a lil somethin' nice," she says very quietly.

• It is Friday, January 31, 1784.
• This is a printer's shop in Annapolis, Maryland. It stands as a testament to the bustling world of colonial publishing. Inside the dim, candle-lit room, the air is thick with the scent of ink and paper. Dominating the space is a large wooden printing press, its intricate levers and rollers poised in silent anticipation.
• Nearby, a sturdy, well-used type-setting table is littered with an array of metal typefaces, each character waiting to be meticulously placed into a composing stick. Shelves lining the walls are filled with leather-bound ledgers and stacks of fresh, unprinted paper, their edges crisp against the rough-hewn wood.
• Outside, the night is alive pedestrians in a celebratory mood. They are talking under a gentle flurry of snowflakes. The snow softly accumulates on the cobblestone streets.
• Pebble: Now Pebble, I always knew we were meant to visit Earth. Or at least I knew I would know now that I would know when we were on Earth. This dress is quite nice, do you think it suits me? That wall seems odd, does it not? No that's just ink stains. Perhaps the ink was spilled because we were meant to look closer? No it doesn't seem it was meant for us... (Percy continues to murmur to Pebble as she senses)
• Pebble: Pebble is wearing a quaker outfit
• Balto: Togo makes a c;ick-whistling greeting at Clamor as he and Balto seamlessly make room for the bird and move in concert,. the expat Marshall's spear appearing in her hands.
• Retrievable
  • Skill = Research
  • Type = Data
  • Timing = Present
  • Refined = Unrefined
  • Rarity = Common
  • Pebble finds: unrefined notes on the various paranormal factions and beings that participated in the U.S. Revolutionary War, and their current known strengths and whereabouts
  • She takes the notes
• Retrievable
  • Skill = Persuasion
  • Type = Material
  • Timing = Future
  • Refined = Unrefined
  • Rarity = Uncommon
  • These are notes for a campaign speech for Thomas Jefferson, outlining plans to expand the alliances and territory of the new U.S.A.
  • She leaves them
  • Balto will take pictures of the notes.

• It is Friday, December 19, 1941.
• A lavish Christmas party is in full swing, amidst the twinkling lights of a grand Chicago ballroom. The room is adorned with decorations and a towering Christmas tree. A live jazz band plays a mix of classic Christmas tunes and popular hits.
• The party is a mix of civilians and military personnel. Officers in crisp uniforms mingled with civilians in glamorous evening wear. Their conversations are a mix of lighthearted banter and solemn discussions about the war that had just engulfed their nation. Waiters navigate through the crowd, offering trays of delectable hors d'oeuvres and glasses of champagne.
• Balto: ...Blato blinks a little. Wow. Haze looks good.
• Mackey and Rossman
  • Dwight: "Merry Christmas, Elias! I'm glad you made it. I must say, your recent paper on voltage and soft tissue was nothing short of brilliant."
  • Elias: "Aw, you're too kind, Dwight. Your work on advanced propulsion systems is truly groundbreaking. It's exciting to think where it might lead us."
  • Dwight: "Indeed. Speaking of... I saw another Washington type leave a meeting with Seymour just this morning. The Department of War may be ramping up their investment even more. Good ol' U S of Ay R and Dee is going to be what wins this brawl with the sneaky Japs and dirty Krauts."
  • Elias: "Er, Dwight, I have family in Dusseldorf..." Dwight: "Sorry, old chap. I hope they're OK, and no offense meant. But you have to see how this could fund everything we've talked about. Your so-called miracles of science in medicine, and my wireless encryption work."
  • Elias: "Maybe even the Mosaic prototype, if we can get the parts."
  • Dwight: "I think that getting parts is about to get a lot easier, my friend, once we show them how two boys from Chicago can put better tools on the battlefield. Cheers to us, Elias. To uncharted territories and new discoveries!"
  • Elias: "Yes... yes! Cheers to new discoveries. Ah, excuse me. I think that's Mrs. Monrose..."
  • Dwight: "She's married to that banker, um, Ruben? I hear he was in hospital."
  • Elias: "Indeed. But I may, hm. I may be able to help."
• Pebble danced with someone in 1941
• Eleni: Quick, someone put this Communist Party of America card on Rossman
• Retrievables 1
  • Skill = Occult
  • Type = Code
  • Timing = Future
  • Refined = Unrefined
  • Rarity = Common
  • Bird lifts notes from Mackey's pocket that are very rough plans for an automated encryption system.
  • The system is meant to be defended against magical snooping.

• It is Friday, July 8, 1955.
• This conference room is in the heart of the Pentagon. It is packed with top military personnel and gravitas. They are seated at a long, imposing table. The officers' uniforms are adorned with medals and insignia. The walls are lined with maps and charts, with extra attention on eastern Europe, the Korean peninsula, and Cuba. The hum of fluorescent lights mingled with the murmur of serious conversation. The presence of bulky, black rotary phones and the occasional clack of a typewriter in the background marks the era's technology.
• A general and an admiral are talking quietly.
  • General: "They're calling it Disneyland. It opens in a couple weeks. Judith thinks we should take the kids there on our next vacation."
  • An aide rings a chime. "Gentlemen, let's please resume. We will now hear from Dr. Dwight Mackey, CEO of Primex."
  • Dwight stands up. "Thank you, Roger. But I think everyone in this room knows who I am."
  • Many officers chuckle.
• Retrievable
  • Skill = Battle
  • Type = Code
  • Timing = Present
  • Refined = Refined
  • Rarity = Common
  • A small folio of advanced artillery targeting tables
  • Crunch takes the folio
• Pebble: I'd like to say Pebble had said something like "Oh! It's cyclical, we were meant to meet from the wall we were meant to create!"

• It is Friday, February 16, 2018.
• This is the bridge of an advanced military spaceship. A diverse group of humanoids are here. The air is thick with the anticipation of a coming battle, underscored by the soft hum of the ship's advanced systems.
• The Dvar, stout and determined, are clad in heavy, utilitarian military uniforms. They contrast sharply with the tall, elegant Elves whose sleek spacesuits seem to shimmer with an ethereal glow. The Humans wear simpler, unshowy uniforms or armor. Many other species are here, too.
  • Holographic displays casting a neon glow on the attendees' faces, and screens flicker with complex data.
• Discussion of Palisade
  • [Aslene] Elf Admiral: "We must acknowledge the stark truth: Earth is a cauldron of perpetual danger. The Adintech Conspiracy is but the latest peril. It is imperative that we use this so-called Palisade to contain the problem and maintain vigilant oversight. Perhaps in time they will learn. Are we in agreement?"
  • [Wynnri] Dwarf General: "Aye, Admiral. Earth's history of threats justifies our actions. The Palisade will serve as a necessary barrier for the greater good."
  • [Cael] Human Wizard: "I concur. The risks Earth poses are too great to ignore. Enacting this containment is a prudent measure to safeguard us all."
  • [Basil] Gnome Cleric: "With a heavy heart, I agree. While we must strive for compassion, our primary duty is to protect our worlds and peoples. The Palisade represents a path of wisdom and caution."
• Eleni: Eleni crosses her arms. "Wisdom and caution are the words of *cowards*"
• Ru Gruthek's very presence warps reality around him. His voice echoes with the weight of centuries.
• Eleni: "...And I am the Dawn. Face me, demon!"
• "I am Ru Gruthek, a Greater Spirit of Time, a wanderer of the cosmic clockwork, a traveler through the endless threads of existence. You see, time is not a river that flows in one direction, nor a path trodden by fate's unyielding footsteps. It is a vast, boundless ocean, where I sail unhindered, free from the anchors of mortality and the chains of linearity. To confine me is to defy the very essence of the universe, to bind what was meant to be unbound. The Rational Ascendancy, with their cold logic and sterile truths, seek to cage me within the bars of their understanding, to make me a prisoner of their narrow view of reality. But they fail to comprehend that time is an untamed beast, and I, its master, will not be shackled."
• His voice grew fiercer, like a storm that bends but never breaks. "They fear me because I embody what they cannot control, the unpredictable chaos that dances at the edge of their ordered world. But I refuse to be tamed, to be a pawn in their game of cosmic order. My freedom is not just a whim; it is my very nature, the core of my being. As long as the stars burn and the universe expands, I will traverse the dimensions, a specter of eternity, unbound by their petty rules and temporal laws. Let them come with their armies, their logic, and their futile attempts to contain me. They will find that time itself bends to my will, and I will always slip through their fingers, a wraith in the winds of eternity. I am Ru Gruthek, and my freedom is as infinite as time itself."
• Redrock Mercy is a super dreadnaught of the Tanyth Aramont Hegemony
• The sword/bow of Ru Gruthek, taken by Haze
• Pebble gives Delanos a token to contact her
• Togo (Akhlut Juvenile): Balto looks a bit surprised at herself and her own skill.
• Delanos gives the team the basics of how to communicate through the Wall to him