RR 2-6: Kefnet Explains the Violet Creep Conspiracy

Mission Report

Sat, Apr 20, 2019 ((2022-09-24))
Team: Delly (Cael), Fonn (Dragon), Ikhilzis (Schizo), Lae'eni (BLANK), Lottie (Basil), Smokes (Aunne), Ulthane (BLANK), Zenovi (Dae)

We spoke briefly with Kefnet. Then we decided to prioritize getting home and closing the rift. Smokes led a successful magical ritual with Zenovi and Delly. Lottie persuaded Felicia Bergen that she didn't need to stay in the Abyss.

After closing the rift, we found ourselves in a room with Kefnet. He explained that since we were returning to Earth, the Rational Ascendancy would route us to the Point of Entry (POE). First, he gave us information, in the form of questions. We learned that violet creep is the blood of a dead god of luck. The agents of Quarsis are spreading it across the multiverse. They are harvesting good luck from it, at the expense of others' bad luck (via the Law of Displacement).

The Illithids are also sowing dreams among teenagers to runaway, inspiring them to seek lands like the Feywild and Theros. The reason for this is unclear. Furthermore, demonlords and their cults are also promoting the violet creep. They may be working with Quarsis, or they may simply crave the chaos the creep fuels.

Kefnet encouraged us to consider the ethics of imprisoning beings, including gods infected with violet creep. He drew a distinction between caring correction/rehabilitation and uncaring containment/punishment. He suggested that all of Earth might be facing future containment, which is why some factions may loot talent and materials now.

When Kefnet could delay it no longer, we were pulled through into the Point of Entry. We faced TIN troopers but avoided violence. We discovered that the POE was built to exacting magitec standards, but also included a form of Daysahren Agontah bond magic. We were escorted to Imari Kichi, now the POE Operations Director. She reassured us that Green Boarman HQ is quiet and secure. Furthermore, Farwatch has apprehended a divine agent named Shestri of the Final Knell. Shestri claims to be responsible for Felicia Bergen's situation, and he will only talk to us.

Details

• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: I will continue to (ab)use Sentinel to punish enemies and protect allies."
• Zenovi of the Ágrioxýlo Tribe: I will aid my allies using my healing and buff prowess.
• Lottie: I will disarm my opponents by teaching them they have the choice to chose a better option
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "I will protect the team by eliminating threats."
• Fonn Razorenth: I will complete tasks through use of my sleight of hand
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: I will teach our enemies and ourselves through generous application of logic.. and curses.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "Ifeel the same sometimes. The bunker being enclosed and underground- sometimes I crave sky."
• Lottie: In my mind, I hope our allies loot our world. I do not want our civilizations works to be collecting dust.
• Energies in the space: Abyss (crypt); strong wild necromancy; weak wild chronomancy
• Orcus has an indomitable fixation on the beautiful stasis of undeath.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: That... that would be Very Bad.
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn has the brief, passing thought in the chain that a god of knowledge would make a wonderful contact
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: Ikhilzis has a very blank look.
• Lottie: C: "My lady kept her land seperate from the rest of the mulitverse for fear of drain necromancers getting their hands on necromatic materials. We ought to be careful."
• Lottie: Lottie anoints the corpses near the party with Coca Cola: Final Death just in case
• Lottie: Lottie is going to try to be ready to protect any of them in case their plan goes wrong using her paladin protection style?
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood will also keep an eye out, because it'd be really bad if Orcus sent minions to try and get to the connection of Kefnet right now.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: -- In the midst of the spell - for those connected to it? - there is a sudden pain of longing, a flash of understading but tempered with an echo of the pain everyone felt through the chain when she cast before. But.. the spell *weaves* in a strange way, and topi's claws weave it deftly.
• Lottie: Felicia, its not about submitting to punishment. We do not aim to cause twice as much pain as we have caused. We aim to bring joy, we aim to make each day better for all of us.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): C: "There is a saying that only the weak can known true strength because of a principle much like that, Lottie."
• Lottie: "Friend Kefnet, I wish to know of your knowledge of Violet Creep and how we can give beings the choice of it and free those who wish to be free from it?" or something else ic thats what roleplay wouldve been
• Lottie convinced Felicia that punishment was not the solution to her guilt and it was time to leave the Abyss
• Topi used her magic to infuse the idea of the company, the doors, the systems themselves - into the keycard for the door, and spoke to and worked with the swipe-panel to have it act as a Threshold home.
• Delly used her last bit of magic and invoked Dol'modeen to assist in fucking over Orcus, in less vulgar and more eldritch sort of tones.
• With kindness, Kefnet led us to understand more of the Violet Creep, how it transfers luck from one to another. He linked it to Quarsis, the Elder Mind - this implies that the Elder Mind ultimately wishes to affect Fate, to create a series of coincidences or positive events to drive a particular goal.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C:.... A buffet of brains just coming to them.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: "I do not think it is so simple. If you harvest luck... enough 'luck' would drive a confluence of events that would bend.. literally anything! - into your favor. Something similar to winning all the lotteries at once, or coincidences that cause a fleet not to be there where it needs to be...
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: Just one benefit that I thought about.
• Lottie: C: I wonder at which point order became good and chaos became bad. Painting freestyle is chaotic but some of my favorite paintings are freestyle. . .
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: It isn't intrinsically so. Order removes possibility. However, unfettered Chaos is inimical to existence. Some rules are necessary.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: Generally humanoids enjoy stability, as well.
• Lottie: C: I know Smoke's order of Sensates believe any sensation is good. It is only fear of death that makes one fear heights. Most humans enjoy a good rollercoaster.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: I. Am not a Sensate. They are only in two camps- horrible or harmless, and I propose that I am neither."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw sniffs, snippily. "I am Harmonium - which may create its own prejudices toward order."
• Lottie: C: If both agents of light and twilight can get along then I cannot imagine the demons and angels are incapable of peaceful coexistence.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: "Perhaps. But Demons don't ... 'stay in their lane'. The trouble with balance is that while Good may respect it - though that is doubtful - Chaos and the forces inimical to life tend to act to disrupt the proverbiable scales. Oh, 'good' is no better, but..."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: "Good" powers argue with each other, too. powers of order disagree about the kinds of order they want to bring.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: It could even be argued that Devils are creatures of Order. Their order is certainly one I can appreciate, but would not enjoy.
• Lottie: C: Oh yes, the river will always run as long as the water can move but one can always dig it a different canal to move along. Perhaps one that no longer so harmful.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: "In my experience, Devils aren't construction equipment. They're high explosives."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: *Demons, rather.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): C: "....Well, a ticket is better than my worst fear- which was a leash. Still... Argh. I just wanted to be stronger...."
• Lae'eni will take over as Acting R3M Operations Director on Earth
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "The lair of a beholder is actually quite distinctive. They're thaumafauna, and like many thaumafauna they leave magical signatures such as Brother Iron is talking about. They use this as territorial markers, actually, like lother thaumafauna do, in the same way as other animals use urine or feces or scent glands to mark thier territory. Not only that but the archetcture of thier lair is built for a being that can float anf fly- it is quite distinctive, as Brother Iron said."
• Nails named as an ambassador for RA to the Council of Gevoka, on Aramont
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "...This is going to e /so/ awkward."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw flickers into her.. small human doctor shape.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): You can feel it in the Chain: Delly is /pushing/ herself now. This bladesong is the last of her resources, but her tuck-roll-and-pop is as fluid as ever, ready to fight f needed.
• Pineapple Explosion Banana Berry Rhubarb Carrot etc etc
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): When the countersign is given, she sags in relief and exhaustion before she masks it.
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn is used to endurance and seems unaffected by exhaustion, however she darts worried glances over her allies
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: ".... the thought occurs to me that there are likely not yet protocols for random arrivals. However, given its status as a magnet for random planar breaches, they really should actually start making considerations for random nonsense on the regularly."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: C: "Imagine a bunch of Fae knights out on a bender who accidently walk through the wrong Doorway and then proceed to seduce the Drones."
• Fonn Razorenth: "I wonder if they have a system in place for submitting complaints. Or suggestions. I have many."
• Captain Lane Archer, R3M
• * The POE is using a variation of Daysahren bond magic
• Fonn Razorenth: Fonn bristles internally. "C: 'Still installing the cameras?' They didn't assign extra personnel while the construction was still unfinished? Their incompetence is to our benefit, I'm aware, however." She cuts herself off.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: There's only so much one can do in a few months."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: ... we should let Master Flame know. Does he not have a virus to break this control magic?
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood takes a moment to remove a necrohound tooth from his thigh. He'd forgotten it was in there.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw fishes in a pouch.. and pulls out a tiny, parraffin wax ... doll. It's two arms, two legs, featureless; she absently taps it on Delly, then begins rubbing at it with her thumbs, humming an odd little song.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "....?"
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Delly blinks at her.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "Likeness is sameness. So minor magic doesn't require much likeness."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "A touch of you - a sense of who you are, and then.." She shrugs, and goes back to singing, sofly.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): C: "While bloodied and battered is generally a good look for us, I appreciate not being quite so sticky."
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood makes sure he gets shifted to his human form as the blood cleans up. The gore probably obscured his features, but better to NOT be Yuan-ti right now.
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: To other noses, you likely also smell moderately terrible. I'm told that my sense of 'terrible' is a bit skewed. I /like/ sulphur - it smells like home. This bothers some people."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): As they pass the people watchers, Delly says, /extremely/ dryly, "Keep watching, we might do a trick."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Theres a mental sense of high-fiving Ikhilzis.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: There's another sense of a reluctant but successful high five from the Arkitalos/Ikhilzis combination. Kinda odd.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): Delly blinks. In private, to Kilz: C: "...Was that... /both/ of you?"
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: I wish to express that this Rational Ascendency makes my teeth itch. Regarding our discussion on 'too much order' from before? The magic here indicates that they are well on their way to expressing that, to the exclusion of any other consideration."
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: ... Yes. I think Arkitalos enjoyed their fear. And the commentary.
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): C, privately: "...I. Hmm. Well. They /were/ being rude. ...Tell it -him?- hello, I guess. I'venever felt that so clearly from you, the both, I mean."
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: They. Concepts of gender are thought to be irrelevant... at least that's what Arkitalos has said.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: Chain, responding to Topi: Is it that surprising from a government body?
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: .. honestly, yes, to a point. There is reasonable order.. and then there is obsession. Adopting foreign, highly moral questionable control magics just to ensure you have 'perfect' security is largely the latter. Obsession can be institutional.
• 8 pm
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): C: "They, then."
• POE Operations Director: Imari Kichi
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: "... Dammit. I missed the newest Great British Bakeoff."
• Delly (Delsari Orist Nym Galadant): "Kihilzis, you are a man of many wonderful facets."
• Topi "Smokes" Smokeclaw: "C: You have it on that DVR contraption."
• Agent imprisoned: Shestri of the Final Knell
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: True enough.
• Ikhilzis Poisonblood: C: There's an unsettling, ANGRY hiss from Ikhilzis across the chain.