True Names, Mood Wanes
| True Names, Mood Wanes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Hail to the Pumpking | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Shadow Spirits | ||||||||
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Babylon Stargazer Mara Tahki | Shades | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | Jack's spirit formula is no longer secured. | ||||||||
Summary
Jack's spirit formula is secured in preparation to destroy him once and for all.
Background
Due to his nature as a spirit, Pump King Jack is difficult to properly kill. Babylon's been trying to get close to him and earn his trust in order to get her hands on his spirit formula, but with little success. After some time, the Black Lodge took notice of a shadow spirit growing concerningly powerful and aided some runners in containing the threat. Mr. Herenight in particular has researched the matter considerably and prepared three alchemical lanterns filled with traces of Jack's astral signature, presumably to aid him zero in on the spirit formula. Babylon doesn't trust him, however, and has decided to find it behind his back.
Still In The Meat
The runners are invited to a private Matrix room, since neither Herenight or Jack use the 'Trix and as a result it's secure from the greatest threats to this rogue operation. Though few of the runners have leads on possible assistance, including Witchblade who offered some useful contacts to Seattle's universities as well as Mana itself, the few scraps of assistance came from Dennis Smith recalling dealing with a member of the Gate of Ishtar some years ago. A small, private group of metaplanar adventurers, they proved too cagey and few in number to find, with trails gone cold in the sprawl. Aside from that, however, Malia Strongoak does suggest that Jack's formula is most likely still in the Metaplane of Man, though probably in the deeper layers such as Id. Stargazer engages in a ritual with Babylon, summoning a great, powerful spirit of guidance to tell them of Jack. A vivid, lifelike vision is granted to them in a cloud of starlight, almost traumatizing Babylon in the process with the vision of Mary and herself clad in coffins and blood crystal. With little else to go on with such an eldritch topic, the team assembles and pops some Shade to enter the Astral Plane.
Deep Dive
Upon entering the sprawling cities of the metaplane, Mara is almost immediately besieged by the local spirits, now formed into a literal lynch mob. It seems that her past acquaintance's spirit had done plenty to dirty her name and now her notoriety comes to play in grave amounts. Stargazer intervenes, presenting a tiny piece of wood acquired from a Great Form Water Spirit called Wusan for her forthcoming nature with spirits. Babylon interjects as well as a spirit champion and they earn a single minute of reprieve as an acknowledgment of those that she has found purchase with. Quickly, the guidance spirit flies the team into a sinkhole of familiar appearance beneath a river bridge. Gravity takes place over their astral forms as they approach and Tahki uses her Levitate spell to move the team around on narrow platforms occasionally protruding out of the sinkhole's bedrock wall.
Once they reach the bottom, the team comes across a powerful barrier blocking the portal deeper into the metaplanes. A gate to keep the rest from coming through, Mara manages to sleaze through but comes back upon realizing the rest are bashing their head against the painfully sharp mana barrier which punishes feebler attempts. Tahki levitates them back up to another ledge where a passageway leads them to the office of a gum toad, one which Babylon has met before during the events of Made in Abyss. A small tribe of anansi gesture the team closer, beseeching them for aid and apologizing for disturbing their affairs. Having arrived to a foreign plane, they had to request the gum toad's aid, but fell victim to his merciless rates of service and are now in severe karmic debt to him. Should the runners provide the tribe's freedom, they swear to pledge their allegiance to the runners at their darkest hour.
Upon negotiating with the gum toad, however, and two creepy-looking tsuchigumo guards, the team realize why the demon is such a piece of drek. He requests karma as well as a vessel to inhabit from a colleague of his, both of which are great costs. The team refuses and just threatens to kill him and take the key to the portal from him, but he openly admits that while he could be killed by the team then and there, the key is elsewhere and they'd never get their hands on it. Infuriated by the impasse, refusing to trust the gum toad's mere word regarding his offer, Babylon notices a more sultry-looking horned woman in the gum toad's office. Upon assensing her, the mage realizes it's an avatar spirit of her mentor, Seducer. Talking with the avatar for a moment, the spirit understands their plight and, as one following the same mentor, the spirit offers to help them out in exchange for feeling something truly mortal: discipline. Not wanting the anansi to remain enslaved to the toad, Babylon agrees and lets the spirit tear away her inhibitions, further deepening her affinity to her mentor spirit. The avatar whispers sweet nothings into the gum toad's ears, offering no doubt a sweet bargain, and convinces it to relinquish the toads as well as the key.
With the anansi escaping and the key opening the path to the portal, the team advance deep into Id. Mara encounters another Avatar Spirit, this one belonging to War, which was drawn to the threshold between the surface and Id due to continuous conflict among spirits in the region. Mara considers her conversation with the Dweller on the Threshold before and tells the spirit what it wants to hear: that she's going down there to kill spirits. War seems overjoyed and offers Mara its sponsorship. As the gigantic flaming spirit absorbs itself into Mara, the team falls into yet another sinkhole and reach the graveyard of Id, lined with a mana barrier and a palisade of skulls. Depressive shadow spirits called shades protect the area, preventing entry from the party members -- unfortunately, the runners aren't in a talking mood with shadow spirits.
The shades drain hope and will to live from Stargazer and Mara, but even as they begin swarming Babylon and Stargazer, Tahki's distracting spells wreak havoc on the spirits' senses and powerful punches from Mara's astral form destroy the shades' ribs. Just as things seem their bleakest, Stargazer goads all four shades to herself and drops a giant comet on herself, destroying the spirits and nearly killing herself in the process. With the death of the guardians, the mana barrier shatters, earning the injured but living party passage to the sanctuary of the spirit formula.
Revelations
Upon entering the chapel, guarded very loosely by an Avatar of Repose posing as a gravedigger, the team try to break the blood crystal growing from the altar with no result. Tahki starts kicking the coffins open, causing the bodies within to confront Babylon one after another. Juliette Burns, her mentor, Cecilia Cross, her dear friend, Asdrubael, a living legend of the Ancients and Mary, the orphan girl in Sophocles killed by Garry Foreman. They all do a number on her mental state, memories conjured up into literal figments, but each weakens the protection on the final, fifth piece: a spirit formula that'd grown onto a piece of Babylon's psyche, her concept of empathy. Refusing to touch the true Babylon, the spirit formula emerges emaciated from the shattered crystal and agrees to come to the real world as long as it's not with her real self. To touch her would make Babylon only more susceptible for Jack's influence. The gravedigger outside knows of a way out, but that the figment Mary had made her way to it as well.
To no surprise, the two Shadow Spirits that'd posed as Jack in Sophocles during the real spirit's absence are there, together with Mary. She's infuriated with the team just showing up and disrupting her rest, intent on killing them and preventing them from leaving her ever again so they can stay together.
Forever.
Fortunately, the anansi show up and distract the spirits long enough for the runners to escape as thanks for being freed -- Babylon tries to drag Mary with her, but barely dodges a violent lashing out as the figment reveals itself to be a wraith, a violent shadow spirit in disguise. With a furious spell, Babylon detonates the wraith to kingdom come and escapes, making sure the formula is embedded into her banishing focus for safekeeping.
Aftermath
The formula is safe for now, but the issue is that Jack's ritual to inhabit a mutaqua as a vessel is still on-going. Moves must be made as soon as possible and they only lead in one direction.
Jack must die. He has to be tracked to Yellowstone and fought fair and square in his powerful new domain where he is at his strongest. It's going to be a risky maneuver but to end the threat he poses for good is going to be all or nothing then and there.
Rewards
- 30 Karma
- 22 CDP
- Mara may buy off "Spirit Bane: Spirit of Man" and may take "Mentor Spirit: War" and "Focused Concentration" at half price
- Babylon must take "Independent: Demanding" because Seducer removed her sexual inhibitions and may also optionally take "Chosen Follower" at half cost. In addition, she may do Ritual of Change for Gomorrah
- Stargazer must spend 5 Karma to rebuy a point of Edge, but may also take "Reckless Spell Master" or "Death Dealer" qualities at half cost
- Tahki may take "Guts" at half cost