Dramatis Personae
- Amos M. Humiston (Played by Christopher D): The Linguist and Librarian. He is the brains to the rest of the group’s brawn; but by the same token, he’s slow and cautious compared to the other Orphans, preferring not to charge forwards until he has the answers that he’s looking for. Those same answers that he more than happily provides the rest of the group when they turns to him about the more esoteric aspects that they’re working with and against. Recently Amos has nearly completed his double Masters in Library & Information Science Archives and History and has also managed to get a rather special job lined up. He has also learned from others that he hold the potential to be a Sorcerer which if unlocked would be able to enhance his already considerable talent with ritualistic magic. Tagline: “True alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.”
- Devin Broadhurst (played by Rob D.): There was a blurb here the entire time. But it disappears every time you look away from the screen. Tagline: “You saw it, but forgot it.”
- Gabriel MacAlister (played by Douglas Cole): Built like the natural athlete he is, he is tall, strong, and solidly good-looking, but deeply scarred from much combat. He’s missing his lower leg, which he lost fighting zombies. It is capped by a carbon fiber prosthetic that doesn’t seem to interfere much with his activities. A quiet and hard-working man, always ready to lend a hand with any work, which he will do without complaint or obligating the other person to respond. He is an expert martial arts teacher, and has been following in the footsteps of a carpenter for some time now. Emphatically not a pushover or weak personality, but also not one to purposefully show off. Has been in many horrible places and seen many horrible things; he’s a bit of a compulsive planner as a result, as well as always feeling that most folks don’t really know how lucky they are. He was cursed to carry a magical sword for a while, and gave into its Wrath before it was parted from him magically. He’s since given it up, in exchange for unknown burdens. Tagline: “To serve others is the highest calling; to protect the meek the noblest endeavor, and our works are judged by the effort that went into them”
- Kamali Blackshear (played by Merlin A.): Kamali is a young man in his late teens. He is healthy and is of mixed ethnicity of Caucasian South African and native South African. He is a determined youth who believes in a justice of his own, likening himself to the knight of the round table whom he has read deeply into. Just as they stood against the darkness of their age so too does Kamali seek to do the same. For his sister, for his friends, and for the world. Tagline: “A knight without a sword carrying a faith nobody believes.”
- Lorenzo DeModouco (played by Christian G.): A man with movie star looks and a voice that belongs on the radio. Slowly coming to grips with the fact that he isn’t exactly human, but a “Lupus Dei” – “Wolf of God” – otherwise known as a Benandanti. He’s still cheery and always trying to make others happy, but has become a shrewd student of human behavior, which he uses for the benefit of the rest of his team. Lorenzo’s recently joined the Boston Fire Department as a volunteer as a means to get access to places he normally shouldn’t be able to go as well as medical gear and information that might not be available to the public. He’s become a master of spear fighting and like the rest of his brothers is a highly capable combatant. Tagline: “You can take me to the gates of Hell, but I won’t back down and I won’t be turned around.”
- Markus Walker (played by Christopher D.): Only recently awakened to the world of Ceteri, Markus is a couple things. A survivor of Lorna Rd, an officer of the law, a physical mage. It’s hard to tell where each one leaves off and where the other comes into play. He tries his best to follow the law, but it’s hard when there’s no Massachusetts State laws on monster hunting. Tagline: “Honesta quam magna.”
Previously . . .
Our last session ended with Caoimhe having stabbed a vampire to death, Markus barricading his door with an armchair against Coyote, and the rest of the group trying to decide what to do with the warding and what to bring with them to kill a demon lord. It’s hard to say that this isn’t the largest display of pride that the Orphans have exhibited so far.
To Slay A Demon Lord
Gabe, Kamali, Lorenzo, and Markus
Smolak Farms Pumpkin Patch
Tuesday, October 24th, 2000, 10:00 am
315 S Bradford St., North Andover, MA 01845
Preparations are done, the ward has been cast on a charm, a shiny silver tile that will activate the ward when the tile is snapped. The team has headed back towards the pumpkin field, at least one of them unwillingly and they begin to argue over what to do with the tree, someone suggesting that they somehow drop holy water on the tree via bungee cords or use a druid to do something. The team is really missing Amos’s presence and slingshot it seems.
Gabe runs into the circle and splashes it against the tree like a bad date. The tree bubbles and burbles and out from the ground comes bubbling crude corpse, a woman bound in chains and covered by 30 year old clothes, chained to this plane it’s obvious that this woman is actually still alive. It wanders up towards the mirrored barrier and begins to stare at it while the Orphans take aim. A voice, smooth and deep, comes from the thing sounding like Barry White and complementing the ward.
A shot from a 50 caliber anti-material rifle does nothing as it catches the bullet, the dried flesh sizzling from the heat of the round. It calls out to speak with the boys. Kamali tries to bluff them while Raum mentions that they’ve recently lost a brother. A flash of light and the orphans feel like all their skin has been peeled off like wood glue in grade school as a body drops from within the ward. It’s a familiar person, someone that they’ve all spent time with in the past for a long, long time.
Amos Humiston.
Kamali doesn’t seem to think that Raum is lying and the woman being possessed is an innocent, it makes things harder while Gabe still seems to want to kill the demon lord. A huddle is called and they’re trying to determine what they need to do while Markus is asking to be caught up on who the new entrant into the fray is. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than what can be explained in a couple seconds. A small amount of discussion later and Kamali cries to the heavens and Mr. Black appears, visible only to Gabe, Kamali, and Raum-ette.
Kamali tries to tell him that he can’t just kill an innocent, though Mr. Black seems to disagree. It just hasn’t happened yet. Mr. Black explains that the fallen are bound by their word just as much as the angels are. Gabe is determined to take out the demon at any cost to himself while Kamali can’t bring himself to kill the woman or chance Amos being killed. Lorenzo suggests trading himself for the woman.
Kamali cannot just bring himself to do it after all the conversation and moves to talk with Raum. They demand to know Raum’s plan behind possessing children and it was revealed it was mostly just a plan to get enough people to dig the body up and break the shackles. A deal struck that as long as any of the group is still alive, he will not return to the world and will not harm them. Gabe, still with an itchy sword finger, barely holds himself back while Kamali opens the silver shackles. Finally free, the body cracks its neck in a sign of freedom and then vomits out birds and oil that coalesces in the form of a 9 foot tall demon with wings and raven head.
The orphans drag the woman and Amos out of the ward and then Kamali drops the ward itself. Free, Raum opens a portal to hell and starts walking down into hell. They question Mr. Black about whether or not there’s a way to get out of hell if they go in and he starts smirking, giving the group a slip of paper with a name on it, Mathias T. Shaw. Mr. Black can’t answer the question, but he did give them the information in a roundabout way. Lorenzo checks out the woman, severely dehydrated and in need of some food while Amos is only mostly conscious after a few slaps to the face. Kamali gives the farmer the good news that his mother is alive and that he can farm in that field now. While their backs are turned, Markus notices that John Coyote is back with the Roadrunner and he pops into the passenger seat to yell at him about what has happened.
Aftermath
Barely noticing Markus’s absence, the group haul Amos back to the firehouse where they clean him off and the Fire Chief asks to see the sword, it was the sword of the order the Fire Chief belonged to and he couldn’t see it in life though he would still like to see it in death. The group try to let him adjust slowly as they give him clothes, Death Wings, and his cat. After some back and forth and the comment that they killed Mr. Friendly, Amos asks if they ever checked the store full of cursed objects. They didn’t, but Kamali is certain that things are fine at the store.
Things are not fine.
They find the store mostly boarded up, except for a loose plank and broken window and is now completely empty except for a doll previous noted by Timothy. It wants to eat Kamali’s soul, but he asks a couple questions of it. Does it know where things went? Does it know who they are? Yes and yes. But it doesn’t want to share that information. Kamali tosses it to Gabe who slices it up. There’s now a large amount of cursed items out there doing anything and the entire place has been wiped down, magically and physically.
There’s a lot of loose ends out there now.
After Action Report (GM)
Welp, my players want to go on a raid into freaking Hell. That’s . . . novel. I mean, I get why they want to, but still. Damn. They didn’t like the position I put them in with the choice of killing a demon lord but also killing an innocent woman and likely Amos as well (YAY, AMOS IS BACK!). But that’s the name of the game. The lines should be at once drawn clearly, but muddied. As my friend Doug likes to say “Succeed, but at a cost.” The PCs succeeded tonight. They got two lives out of the bargain and got the better of a demon lord (“I shall not visit this plane while any of you are alive. I will leave this body alive and intact nor harm you as I leave.”). That’s not nothing. The future is going to hold another character change – Rob and I both agree that Devin is . . . not the right character for him for this campaign (something that was my fault, I never should have approved the character concept). Anyways, that’s all for now. Today was pretty fun and I really couldn’t guess whether the PCs were going to attack the demon lord (a bad idea) or bargain with it (a slightly less bad idea).
Other Notes
None.
Soundtrack
“Dance With the Devil” by Breaking Benjamin (Opening Song)
“Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe
“Hells Bells” by AC/DC (Closing Song)