Welcome to Dublin

Dublin House Reports

Last week we left off in mid-report, the Irish Knights have arrived in Dublin House, have made acquaintance with the staff, and now are shifting through the last weeks of reports. They have read through the excursions into the castle and how all the Storm Knights here have died. Now they have to go through the last pile of reports, THINGS that have been happening in the absence of any Knights in the House.

Now, Ash and Davie are sitting in the main office and shuffling through the reports. We start with the second man in the Castle.

Man in the Castle, Part Duex

A man arrives at the castle with an army of 40-50 men marching at his side. They set up a camp in the car port and the leader of this army walks up into the castle. The castle goes off schedule yet again, this time it stands for three full days. There is a notation that it might have stood for longer, but events changed that.

Here, Ash pauses Davie in his reading; “This has to be the men who destroyed Castle Derg. Looks like he picked up a few more followers.”

Davie nods in agreement, and goes back to reading.

Late on the third day of the occupation, and army of ghosts materialized across the highway from the mercenary camp. They ranked up into a legion of [Roman] soldiers, though legion is perhaps over kill. It was more a ghostly rabble of 300 men. The 300 faced off against the 40 and they clashed.

Battle for the Hill:

Dublin House watched the battle through the telescope on the roof, as best they could, they expected the [Romans] to smash the mercenaries. But the men held against the ghosts, and soon their lord marched out of the castle. Even viewed through the scope, the man leading this rabble was imposing and powerful.

All night and into the nest day the battle raged between these two forces, the mercenary rabble was transformed into a fighting core unlike any Aysle has seen. The ghost legion was destroyed and Maximus was really killed this time. With Maximus’ final death the armor and arms of his troops clattered to the ground.

The mercs then gathered the remains, Maxmius and all the hollow armor of his ghosts and raised the war mound in the carport. This army then marched away to the south.

Well Informed:

Davey closes the folder on the castle and moves to the next folder, but he finds a single sheet of paper with the neat hand writing of Cheryl on it. She has left the room to take care of errands, so Davey can’t ask her about it.

But very neatly on the sheet on the names of the three Irish knights; Davey, Ash, and Ragnall. Under each name is a list of… data. Under Ragnall for instance it says; Grouchy, nasty mouth, love whiskey and books, gentle heart, healer. Some of the data is a little too detailed for Davey’s tastes. He removes this paper and doesn’t mention how much depth there is to it when he relays it to Ash. He merely mentions it as a warning about the trio’s worse habits.

Last Report:

The final folder is labeled Day 131, while they were on the road heading toward Dublin House. North of the Liffe in the Zoo a number of dismembered bodies were found. Someone took the parts and threw them to the various predators. The wolves and bears and such in the zoo. Any animal that ate the remains was then freed from their enclosures.

Over the next two days several more animalistic killings ramped up. People are afraid that the wolves are literally running through the streets at night. However, there is a note in the report that Guarda tracked many of the animals out of Dublin. The freed wolves and bears quickly left Dublin. Though a few did linger in the massive park around the zoo.

So, what/who is doing these new killings? And what/who did the original killings and freed the animals in the first place? The report is sparse.

Today, Day 135

Arrival of the Irish Knights and Dublin house starting to function again.

Davey sits back in the chair, putting the last report into the done pile. Almost immediately Cheryl enters the room with a tray laden with sandwiches. She looks at the pile of finished files and smiles as she places the tray between the duo. She then removes a key from her pocket and opens a locked cabinet in the corner of the room. Removing a box and another file she places both of these next to Davey and then places the key on top of the box.

Cheryl: “One last file.”

She whisks her way out of the room, moving with speed and purpose. Davey eats a full sandwich before he even reaches for the box. He takes the key and places it in the top drawer of the desk and then opens the file.

Eternity Shard?

The report is about an Eternity Shard which does not function or act like a normal eternity shard. Within the box is a wand that breaks the rules.

Davey opens the box and right on top is a tattered spiral bound notebook, he lifts the notebook up revealing a long black crystal wand. Most eternity shards are red and blue, this is most bizarre. He touches the wand with a finger tip and feels the possibility energy within, a purple glow ignites at his touch.

Looking through the notebook, it was written by the last master of the House, who was apparently of Core Earth, and had little understanding of the intricacies of spellcasting. All of his notes are based off of asking other people with greater understanding, and then trying to render their answers into blunt, core earth speech. Davey appreciates the dumbing down of the notes.

Unlike other eternity shards it doesn’t have possibilities that can be tapped, BUT it does have spell within it that can be used. Where the power for these spells comes from is unknown. The thing just does what it does as long as the person holding it is a stormknight. That includes the Master, who is not a wizard and not of Aysle.

The notes talk about how the master of the house used the wand to cast a massive fireball to defend the house and how he felt a surge of emotions. He likened it to a high, and just as addictive. As such he locked away the wand, for fear of a growing need to use it.

MASSIVE ASIDE

Normally I put information in brackets [ ] if it is out of game or a comment from ME to YOU the reader… I also use for a type of short-hand… such as the [Roman] where it means that the setting doesn’t have Romans but I’m using the word Roman so that you can visualize what I mean.

So, this entire section of the POST should be in Brackets… because I wanted to stop and explain some things to you. Now I can’t be sure how many of my readers have been with me reading each of these posts from the beginning… so every so often I need to stop and bring things up to date and make an explanation.

This game HAD an original premise… and both Manhattan Knights and Irish Knights ended up going widely off focus. ALL of these games are happening in the same timeline in the same world, and ALL of these characters can cross over and work with each other.

GAME BASE Concept:

The BASE concept of this game was that during the first year of the Invasion, many heroes were on the back foot, constantly reacting and trying to fight off the cosms as they invaded. And what I wanted to do was to run a game in EACH of the seven Cosms as this was happening and have some of the characters from other groups regroup with other characters.

The focus of the game was first an intro to each cosm setting, AND then it was supposed to be about the discovery of a different eternity shard relic, each of these seven relics were actually part of a greater whole. In these first 2 games (Manhattan and Ireland) my players and myself just go so into each cosm that we never really concentrated on the short-term goals. As such each of the stories became long and meandering, BUT also super fun.

So, I only bring all of this up because this BLACK WAND is very important, and will pretty much not be mentioned again… and then finally, slight spoiler, the adventures in Dublin House will eventually hit a point where we just stop… because I need to get on with the other parts of the Greater Whole Story.

Sorry for the Digression, Back to the Irish Knights:

Ragnall’s Part:

So, during the above bits, Davey reading the reports to Ash, Ragnall walked off to find the library and the Church.

Lead by a Guarda, Ragnall is brought toward the back of the building and he passes into a large open hall that is lined with book shelves. As he enters the library, he leaves the aegis of the Hardpoint and once again steps within Aysle. For Aysle the library is beyond huge, though for Earth it would be quite small. At the back of the hall there is a door that leads to a covered walkway that enters the side of a small chapel.

The chapel is a very small affair, all stone work and old wood, about 8 long pews and a simple pulpit. IN the back of the chapel is large kitchen and an office, the office has a bed in the corner. Ragnall nods, this will be a suitable home for now.

Searching the office, he finds a cabinet with cassocks and robes. A footlocker with wool blankets and a heavy mace at the bottom. Beside the desk is a rolling cart with glasses and various liquors. A new bottle of whiskey is on the top, next to a single glass.

Ragnall lowers himself into the chair behind the desk and pours a glass of whiskey. Whatever they were supposed to be paying Cheryl, she deserved a raise.

SCENE 6 First Morning:

The next morning finds our Irish Knights well rested in their various rooms and the comforts of deep beds and warm blankets, and even pleasant dreams, are slowly eroded by the sounds of screaming and yelling in the streets outside of their new home.

The trio gather in the lobby, blinking sleep from their eyes, Davey is the first to open the front door.

Outside a mass of people have gathered, but they have their backs to Dublin house. They are actually pressed back against the porch and Davey has to push his way through the crowd to see what everyone is looking at. Ragnall and Ash follow in his wake.

On the other side of the street, facing their front door is a welcome sign.

WELCOME!

Crucified, upside down, is a bloodless man. Pinned to his stomach is a letter.

WELCOME TO DUBLIN—NORTH OF THE LIFFE IS MINE, SOUTH IS YOURS. STAY IN YOURS.

Cheryl arrives on the porch and the guard step out behind her, moving into the crowd and immediately trying to disperse the people. Ragnall turns back and gestures to the Guarda to pull the corpse down and bring it into the medical wing of the building. They nod and start the task.

The crowd moves back and out of the way but most of the them don’t disperse. Ash opens his mouth to say something, when a massive surge in the magical aether rolls over the whole of Ireland. This is the third time such a thing has happened, and the affect is similar though even more intense.

Third SURGE:

Ash can’t articulate words as his knees wobble and he drops down to the cobbles. The magic that runs through his elven veins ignites with power and his grasp of the aether, the source of his magical prowess is so immediate and easy. The flow of power has opened up.

Several feet away Ragnall is snarled in the wake of the surge. The first surge had barely registered with Ragnall and the second had caused him to panic and cower in fear, but this time it is pure euphoria that courses through his veins. He shudders as suddenly he can see the inherent flow of magic in everything, wizardry no longer seems a foreign thing to him.

Davey had barely noticed the previous surges in the past month, but this time even his dulled senses can feel the shift in the air and his eyes are opened to the sight of auras and energy flowing between all living peoples. However, he is not so affected as to not notice that the optics of two of his companions dropping to the street and seeming happy with a crucified corpse as greeting is not good. He grabs Ragnall’s arm before the old man can drop to the ground and pulls Ash to his feet with the other, he heads back inside.

As he reaches the door, he notices a young man in the crowd who is also locked in the euphoria of the moment and sends one of the Guarda to retrieve that man, a teenage elf.

What’s in the North.

Davey leaves Ash and Ragnall in the main office, so they can get through their issues and then he takes to the stairs and climbs to the seventh floor. The telescope on the roof has translated over to Aysle, it is a massive wooden dome that can be cranked to turn 360 degrees and the scope can be elevated or lowered. Since the scope is currently flat, looking directly at Tara Hill, Davey cranks the whole building 90 degrees to the north, then looks through the optics by sitting in a chair on the side of the scope. He has to walk to the crank, turn it a few times, walk back to the chair, take a look, and repeat numerous times but he does get a scan of the north half of the city.

He’s looking for a “dark castle,” but nothing screams “villain’s lair” to him. There is a massive cathedral that does look like a dark castle now and off to the left of that is a tall spindly tower that looks like a typical wizard’s tower. He can’t see the zoo because there is a large hill in the way. Feeling the surge abate he then heads back downstairs to check on his companions.

Now What?

On his way into the office Davey is stopped by the young elven man he had dragged into the building. He is tall, way too pretty, and wearing a leather jacket with band patches all over it. A rock and roll elf?

Roland: “Why am I here?”

Davey: “You an elven wizard?” always too blunt.

Roland: “Yes indeed. I am Roland…”

Davey interrupts, “You need a job? You’re hired.” He moves past, and then pauses, “You know anyone else like you? Storm knights, mages, whatever?” Roland nods. “Good, go out and recruit them. We need more knights in the house.”

Davey then continues back into the office. Where he finds Ash and Ragnall looking over the black wand in the case. Ragnall is reading the notebook and Ash is fondling the wand.

Ash; “It makes me want to use it.”

Ragnall: “It says here that Master used it for fireballs, but that the wizard among his knights could use other effects. Something about lightning. The master has no clue about how magic works.”

Davey: “Because magic was a myth in core earth before the invasion.”

Back on Topic

Davey: “But maybe we shouldn’t play with the wand that makes people addicted to it and we should ask ourselves about who would crucify a body across the street from our front door.”

Davey makes face as he looks at Ragnall sitting behind the desk and he takes a seat next to Ash. Ash nods and places the wand back into the case and closes and locks it. Better to not be tempted by strange relics.

Davey then tells them everything he saw with his tedious search of the north. He finishes with mentioning that he just recruited a new member to the team.

Ragnall; “Kind of buried the lead there… but we do need more bodies in the House. I think we should prioritize finding the guy who nailed the corpse up, and then kicking his ass.”

Ash; “It might be better if we learned everything about our new home first… we’re coming blind into a situation where we have no idea who are neighbors are.”

Ragnall: “I want to be active… nailer first.”

Tension breaker:

Cheryl sweeps into the room as the old man and the elf glare at one another. “The body is being examined by Doctor MacReady, he’ll have a report shortly. I’ve assigned Roland a room. We have camera footage of the front porch, but I don’t think it reaches the other side of the street.”

Ragnall blinks, losing his contest of wills with Ash, he then looks at Cheryl. “Cameras?”

Cheryl points at the computer on the desk and Ragnall stares at it in confusion. Davey sighs and gets up, he shoos Ragnall out of the desk chair and turns on the computer. After a few minutes Davey pulls up the camera feed.

It is next to useless, at 3 AM a few shadowy shapes can be seen on the street, literally just their shadows on the street as they nail the corpse to the wall. But just in the last seconds one of the men steps into the frame. Well, only his left leg, but it is a left leg wearing a pair of boots with silver spurs on it.

Davey; “That’s all we have, a boot wearing a spur. I think Ash has the right of it. We need to find out who our neighbors are and then we need to see if one guy wearing spurs stands out.”

End of ACT 5

With that the session came to an end. Next week the Irish Knights recruit more members, learn about the gangs and politics of their city, and maybe find the man with the spurs.