Rifts Adventure IC

[Rykon]

At mention of this, Zephiron narrows his eyes and begins to concentrate on reaching this demon's mind. It wasn't a muscle he flexed often, but given his self proclaimed royalty he'd be ashamed if he could not prove capable of such things going forward.

Zeph is activating both Empathy Superior and Telepathy Superior to read the Broadkill's emotions as well as thoughts while he is being interrogated.

 

[Sherwood]

With your psi powers, Zephiron can tell that this demon is quite scared, but is hoping to be able to lure you into a trap and use the resulting confusion to escape you as you are getting killed by the rest of the defenders of the pyramid.

 

[Rykon]

The childform-dragon steps calmly toward the Broadkill, leaving his weapon stuck in the ground like a flag pole. He reached a small hand up to the demon's throat and takes hold of him. Zephiron applies enough grip pressure to get a good hold of the insolent wretch but not enough to kill him before dragging him down to eye level with a sudden jerk of force. "Listen whelp. I can tell you're trying to lead us into a trap. You have one chance to sell me on keeping you alive before I stick you on that pike and roast you for my pre-dinner snack. If I or any of my companions smell a whiff of crap, I will make crap out of you. Do you understand?" While the child sized Zephiron bellows aloud, he makes sure to do so telepathically to the demon for added effect.

 

[Psychie]

Terra's grip on her blade tightens and she glares at the demon. "You are damaging my calm. Time to come clean or it is dinner time for my friend there."

 

[Purr]

Snowfall continued to watch from afar. He was amused by the methods Terra and her team were using; he wondered, would Terra follow through if pushed? But of Zephiron, the furry messenger of Inari had no doubts.

He attempted to communicate with Terra via their Atlantean Communication Crystals. "Miss Terra, does it not strike you as odd that the Brodkil demons seemed to know right where we were? But how? Did someone send them? If so, whom?"

 

[Mirgris]

It has been a long trip, but finally you are in sight of some civilization once more. Dr. Curie and his traveling companion, a young Cyber Knight named Sir Alan, are now on the outskirts of a small city called Chiquimula. It is not quite the upbeat place you were hoping for. In fact, as you along the main road into the city, it seems that the people here are very jumpy, and if you were to shout 'boo!' it would make them jump out of their skins! Sir Alan looks over at Nickolas with a frown. He says in a quiet voice, "There is something very wrong going on here. I can feel it. For now, I would prefer to keep my identity as a Cyber Knight quiet until we discover the truth behind what is troubling these people. My best guess would be that there are a large number of vampires here, keeping this whole place under control through fear."

"Truly the giant glowing man shall be a bastion of subtlety that none may assume your nature" The doctor whispers back in a droll monotone voice as he continues on his way.

Vampires though, it brings to mind That Project. He has yet to give it a name, the more abstract it is, the better, safer in a way. The doctor is aware that in the creation of it, he would take upon himself responsibility. However, it is almost the prefect response to such a beast.

He walks while he mentally crunches numbers and toys with the design in his head.

'Twenty Five Carats of gems are a small fortune, and personally I could not even swing it a half dozen times before I ran out of power, I would need a better wielder than myself, I may trust Sir Alan with such a thing, but no man is immortal and eventually it would find it's way into spilling no small amount of blood, do I wish to have yet more blood upon my bloody hands? Do I have a choice? Is a man not responsible for inaction as much as he is his actions?'

These thoughts occupy the doctor as he walks through the town.

Before long, you come across a small hotel that shows that it has vacancies. It is not a five star facility by any stretch of imagination, but it seems to be clean enough and the cost is right, so it will do the trick. It is not until you are about to pay that you are informed that a part of your fee for staying in the hotel is that you are both required by city law to donate a pint of blood at the main city medical center. You will not be allowed up to your rooms until such time as you bring back a card showing that you have made your donation.

What do you do?

"Of course, we will go do that" The Doctor responds to here as the two of them quietly leave.

A few seconds after being out the door he whispers to his companion. "I do not trust what great magical fuckery can be summoned with a persons blood, and obviously we shall have no part of it, it may be wise to camp outside of town after purchasing what we need"

 

[Sherwood]

Mirgris

Alan gives the person behind the counter a pleasant smile and asks for directions to the medical center, then turns and heads on out to the street. Outside, he says, "I agree with you that there is too much that can be done with a person's blood to just sit by and idly make some donation like this. It is very troubling, and I am wondering just why there is a city law that requires people to give over their blood." He glances around to make sure that there are no eavesdroppers trying to listen in on your conversation. In a quieter voice, he says, "I am guessing that it has to do with the vampires that I have heard run rampant in this area. Perhaps it is their effort to make the harvesting of blood more 'civilized' for the people that they are feeding off of."

Heading away from the hotel, Alan says, "I am wondering what it would take to cleanse this area of the undead scourge. It would not be easy, but the benefit to the people here would be immeasurable."

 

[Sherwood]

Purr D. Rex Psychie Silanon

The demon is looking none too happy right now, and Zephiron can sense in his mind the overriding urge to get the hell away from you people and maybe be able to survive to tell the tale. He says, "If you let me go, I will leave here and never return. I wash my hands of this place, and will leave it to you. Just don't kill me!"

 

[D. Rex]

"I say we kill him." Daisy said simply, moving her boom gun to center on the demons chest.

 

[Psychie]

The very thought of this thing breathing the same air as her makes Terra's stomach turn. She glares at it some more, then asks, "How did you know to find us here?"

 

[Sherwood]

The Brodkil eyes the various hostile people, and says, "We were tracking after him," and with that, he points over at Eron. "The demon lord Salnesh has a hard-on for having his head on a pike. We have been hunting him for a while now."

 

[Mirgris]

"I am guessing that it has to do with the vampires that I have heard run rampant in this area. Perhaps it is their effort to make the harvesting of blood more 'civilized' for the people that they are feeding off of."

"I'm not sure such a method is objectionable if the vampires are keeping the area safe and providing good governance, an odd form of taxes, and if people do not like it they may be free to leave, though it certainly is a complicated ethical ball of yarn to untangle."

Heading away from the hotel, Alan says, "I am wondering what it would take to cleanse this area of the undead scourge. It would not be easy, but the benefit to the people here would be immeasurable."

"Well, It depends on the number of... enemies. The cheapest Special Weapon I know of it 10 thousand credits, but in theory if I only needed it to hurt these special enemies, a particular spell is very low level and can be used for that effect, so lets assume I can produce it at half the cost of the cheapest one, that is 5 thousand credits each still. We can scrounge up a lot of the materials in raw materials, and I have spells to process wood and metal if are near a ley line, so much of that cost we could source ourselves. A single broken down collation vehicle, or giant robot of some sort could provide almost everything we need.

So depending on the number of enemies, we need what a hundred special weapons? Maybe 250? Town isn't that big if we equip a fair chunk of it with these cheap weapons, it becomes more costly to attack it and try to rule than you would gain from ruling it. Alternatively, we could go the opposite route, a few large weapon platforms, fortify the town with my special breed of gun and, I can turn even wood fortifications into incredibly potent defenses, again as long as we are near a ley line. In short we need more information about the threat, and if the people even want us to do anything about it, and of course, funds, gems and raw materials would never go amiss."

Sherwood

 

[Psychie]

The Brodkil eyes the various hostile people, and says, "We were tracking after him," and with that, he points over at Eron. "The demon lord Salnesh has a hard-on for having his head on a pike. We have been hunting him for a while now."

Terra glances over at the Crazy with a feeling of satisfaction. If this demon lord is interested in hunting him, he must be doing something good to get on his bad side. She says, "Well, congratulations. You found him. Good work. You can take the satisfaction of a job well done to your grave. Zeph, he's all yours. This one is already dead to me."

For a brief moment, she feels a pang of regret at giving the order to have the Brodkil eliminated, but then she comforts herself with the thought of all the innocent people that this monster has terrorized and murdered, or been a part of their deaths.

He has more than earned his punishment. May the gods have mercy on his soul, because I will not.

 

[Sherwood]

Rykon Purr Silanon D. Rex

Do any of you have anything to say about Terra's order?

 

[Purr]

If the faeries were still about, Snowfall tried to dig or find them the best little hiding spot to save them from having to see these unfortunate moments. "Take cover in here, ladies! What is about to happen should not be seen by fair eyes."

In Snowfall's native land of Japan, Shoki (Demon Quellers) and samurai slew oni (demons) in great numbers. Indeed, from the holy Sohei warrior monks of the New Empire to the godless Ninja Juicers of the Republic of Japan, everyone who could fight and kill demons did. There was no question, for the oni held entire domains in Japan and far more in China. It was a matter of survival. But Snowfall was a Kitsune by birth, holy messenger and Dimensional Voyager by trade, and long-lived by fate. He was no warrior or slayer if he could avoid it. But if he could not avoid it, his fangs finished the foe quickly and mercifully, to send them onward and not to suffer. To the kami (spirits) of the Japanese world, all life was considered precious, even those who sought to end it.

So... Snowfall thought. Miss Terra is willing to order the oni's death, but reluctant to carry it out herself. Her order is all but assured. But... what if?

"Hold!" Snowfall requested. "If there were another way to remove the oni, er, demon and his threat from this world, would you consider it?"

Snowfall slipped his hand inside of his pack, curling his fingers about one of his holiest items - his Heavenly Speaking Flute. Solemnly, his humor put aside, Snowfall waited for reply.

 

[Psychie]

Terra stops, then looks over at Snowfall. She is visibly upset, but it does not appear to be aimed at the Kitsune. She finally says, "What do you propose?"

 

[Purr]

Snowfall transformed himself into his youthful human appearance, his red silk robes adding to his visibility. Then he stepped out of the woods in plain view of his party and the Brodkil demon and withdrew one of his most-prized things, his flute. He held it in both hands as if it were precious. With great seriousness, Snowfall said, "I have banished possessing demons and spirits with this. Once banished, the creature returns to the world from whence it came, which I imagine for a Brodkil demon, is pretty far from the one we now inhabit. Never before have I attempted to play the flute to banish a demon without it first possessing something or someone."

Snowfall glanced once at the demon as he tapped his flute, the one thing that currently kept this demon alive.

"With your permission, I would like to try."

Spoiler: Heavenly Speaking Flute

Here it is to save everyone the trouble of looking it up. See Song of Summoning or Banishing below.

Sherwood It states, "he can banish a spirit, possessing demon, or similar creature." Whether it can banish a demon that is not in possession of something or someone I leave to your interpretation. However, if it needs be that the demon must possess something, Snowfall is ready to offer a single piece of tofu for it to possess in an effort to peacefully rid Rifts Earth of this Brodkil. What do you think?

Heavenly Speaking Flute (Ame-no-nori-goto) (Book of Magic, page 299)
A flute, often carved out of bamboo, bone or wood, with no obvious marks or signs to show it is special. Some Taoist and Shinto mystics create this item to facilitate communication with entities, ghosts and other spiritual beings. The flute has three powers, each of which has its own tune that must be played. Each tune can be played three times a day, for as long as an hour at a time. Fighting monks, monster hunters and mystics are often given this magical item as a gift or reward for services rendered.

The Powers of the Flute include:
Song of Heavenly Senses: While playing this melody, the character can See the Invisible, including any entities, energy creatures, etc. The character can also feel when he's within 5 miles ( 8 km) of a ley line, a nexus point or other place of mystic power, and he gets a sense of the distance and direction of the place. Also, the flute player can feel the presence of supernatural evil (60 feet/18.3 m radius).
Song of Spiritual Comfort: This song is pleasurable and amusing for spirits and entities of good alignment, and painful and fear-inducing for evil entities (spirits of a selfish alignment have a 50-50 chance of being affected either way; generally, those who mean well towards the player will feel pleasure). Good spirits will typically help the character with information, advice and small tasks in return for an hour's worth of music. Evil spirits must save vs. magic (14 or higher) or will be forced to flee the area, but even those who make their save will only have half their number of attacks, bonuses, and skill values as long as they are within 300 feet (91 m) of the flute player or if they can still hear the music.
Song of Summoning or Banishing: The music can summon an entity of the character's choice, or he can banish a spirit, possessing demon, or similar creature. In either case, the entity in question gets a saving throw (16 or higher) to resist the summoning or banishing. In addition, other characters performing an exorcism while the music plays, are +20 to have successful results.
Cost of the Flute: Very rarely sold; will only work for people with good alignments (Unprincipled and Aberrant characters who have vowed to fight demons and the supernatural have a 50% of being able to use one; roll once to determine whether or not the character can ever use these flutes). In the few cases where it has been sold, the price has ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 credits. (It "cost" Snowfall: 75,000 credits)

 

[Sherwood]

I am thinking that the flute, while cool, will not work on the Brodkil. They lack the ability to possess other beings or items, or any supernatural abilities at all for that matter, making them more a large DBee that has just come through a rift and is not as much of a demon. It was a good idea, though!

 

[Purr]

Snowfall examined the Brodkil from tip to toe and came to a conclusion. He put the flute away.

He glanced at the demon and shook his head. "No, it won't work. He is not capable."

Snowfall then spoke in Dragonese/Elven, in the hopes the Brodkil did not understand the language. While Daisy and Eron might, Zephiron certainly would or so the Kitsune messenger figured. "Miss Terra, everyone, there is but one other peaceful solution open to me, and I cannot do it alone. I can, at great cost to Potential Psychic Energy, open a two-way portal to other dimensions I am familiar with. This also comes with no small cost to my personal constitution for some hours, but this way, we do not slay a surrendered foe. What do all of you think?"

(See OOC, team!)

Snowfall whispered these ideas to Daisy and Eron (and even the faeries) if they were willing.

 

[Silanon]

The Crazy rejoins, yet stays a few steps away. Bobbing up and down restlessly in place, with a message to share where there's not the right moment to do so. Discussions what's right, what's wrong, and how to avoid making a mess. Not just physically - philosophically, too. And then the young, wise-speaking shifter-creature pulls out the flute, and nothing else even matters. "Put that away", the Crazy hisses, his hand almost redirecting the sword's pointy end away from the demon, and towards Snowfall instead. "Nothing good ever comes out of that. Maybe you think you know better, of course you do, but it ain't better, trust me, I understand." Likely, the messenger does not - but having different reasons to do the right thing still yields a fine result. Of course, it wouldn't have worked, that's the point of these things. Instruments. They try to play a part of the melody, but just drown it in dreadful tunes. But with the flute gone, the danger is, as well. For now.

"Anything but that." It's the free hand that points out where Snowfall stored the flute away, eyes accusingly resting on that spot. "Portals are fine. Spit out foes en masse, sometimes, but that's alright. Just not that thing." The free hand retreats, grabs the pouch around his neck instead. Calming down, a little. Then a little more. "Wouldn't slay the demon, not with the sword. Surrendered, and all. Can't defile the Sir's sword like that, that'd be wrong. Maybe not, but it's not like I can ask him. Better safe than to live with that. Might come and haunt me, otherwise, that'd be a bother." A pause. "Need help, you said? Here to help, myself. And to stop him, but it's not like he came with them, so there's some time. Just not too much, he might smell the trouble once this patrol does not return. Some hours - we need those to get in position either way, maybe it wouldn't be that bad, in the end. Oh, and it's dead. The creature, I mean. Not this one, of course, the one over there."

A thumb points where the retreating demon died. "Gone for good - good shot that, really. Not much left, other than a mess. Better to surrender, I reckon, at least spares you the running. Maybe more, that's the question, isn't it? Think it'd be good, myself, better than the killing. Wouldn't use the sword. Shouldn't use the hands, that's just cruel. Couldn't ask anyone else to do it, then, either."

 

[Sherwood]

"I'm not sure such a method is objectionable if the vampires are keeping the area safe and providing good governance, an odd form of taxes, and if people do not like it they may be free to leave, though it certainly is a complicated ethical ball of yarn to untangle."



"Well, It depends on the number of... enemies. The cheapest Special Weapon I know of it 10 thousand credits, but in theory if I only needed it to hurt these special enemies, a particular spell is very low level and can be used for that effect, so lets assume I can produce it at half the cost of the cheapest one, that is 5 thousand credits each still. We can scrounge up a lot of the materials in raw materials, and I have spells to process wood and metal if are near a ley line, so much of that cost we could source ourselves. A single broken down collation vehicle, or giant robot of some sort could provide almost everything we need.

So depending on the number of enemies, we need what a hundred special weapons? Maybe 250? Town isn't that big if we equip a fair chunk of it with these cheap weapons, it becomes more costly to attack it and try to rule than you would gain from ruling it. Alternatively, we could go the opposite route, a few large weapon platforms, fortify the town with my special breed of gun and, I can turn even wood fortifications into incredibly potent defenses, again as long as we are near a ley line. In short we need more information about the threat, and if the people even want us to do anything about it, and of course, funds, gems and raw materials would never go amiss."

Sherwood

As the two of you are pondering your next step, Doc Nickolas glances over and spots a familiar face from your past: a fellow Coalition soldier named Eric Foss. You were working together for a while, up until the day he was exposed to some bizarre energies from a Rift and was suddenly transformed into a superhumanly strong and nigh invulnerable being! He was set for a full scope of examinations, up to and including dissection when he went berserk and ran to try and save his own life, killing a squad of soldiers and a couple of Borgs in the process. He then escaped, and has, up until now, vanished and has been wanted by the Coalition ever since.

He is not in any Coalition uniform, and is instead wearing a light jumpsuit with a heavy shotgun slung across his back and a sidearm pistol on his hip. Glancing over, he spots the two of you and quickly looks around as if expecting an ambush from somewhere. After a moment, he seems to realize that there is not a hit squad about to try to take him out, and he seems to relax a bit. Looking a bit uncertain, he walks over to you.

"Dr. Curie? What are you doing this far south? You are quite a long ways from home."

 

[Psychie]

Terra looks pensive for a moment, pondering her options. Then, she nods. "I can assist, so long as we can get this thing out of here for good. What must I do?"

Purr

 

[Mirgris]

As the two of you are pondering your next step, Doc Nickolas glances over and spots a familiar face from your past: a fellow Coalition soldier named Eric Foss. You were working together for a while, up until the day he was exposed to some bizarre energies from a Rift and was suddenly transformed into a superhumanly strong and nigh invulnerable being! He was set for a full scope of examinations, up to and including dissection when he went berserk and ran to try and save his own life, killing a squad of soldiers and a couple of Borgs in the process. He then escaped, and has, up until now, vanished and has been wanted by the Coalition ever since.

He is not in any Coalition uniform, and is instead wearing a light jumpsuit with a heavy shotgun slung across his back and a sidearm pistol on his hip. Glancing over, he spots the two of you and quickly looks around as if expecting an ambush from somewhere. After a moment, he seems to realize that there is not a hit squad about to try to take him out, and he seems to relax a bit. Looking a bit uncertain, he walks over to you.

"Dr. Curie? What are you doing this far south? You are quite a long ways from home."

The doctors first, reaction is to shoot him.
The doctors second reaction is to dive behind cover then shoot him.
The doctors third reaction is to shoot him.

Eventually he realizes this isn't a collation solider.

"Home... my home is buried"
After all home is where the heart is

The doctor approaches with both hands raised to show he means no harm.
"I am an enemy of our former employer, and they would be quite glad to see me dead, for more than a few reasons. I am currently debating going on a small war path to kill a bunch of vampires, what are you doing here though?"

 

[Sherwood]

The doctors first, reaction is to shoot him.
The doctors second reaction is to dive behind cover then shoot him.
The doctors third reaction is to shoot him.

Eventually he realizes this isn't a collation solider.

"Home... my home is buried"
After all home is where the heart is

The doctor approaches with both hands raised to show he means no harm.
"I am an enemy of our former employer, and they would be quite glad to see me dead, for more than a few reasons. I am currently debating going on a small war path to kill a bunch of vampires, what are you doing here though?"

Foss nods, looking around to make sure that you are not about to be overheard. "I get that. Some friends of mine and I are about to do some serious damage to these fangy bastards, and I'm here trying to find some people with enough backbone to take up arms with us. So far, no dice. The vamps have this whole city under their thumbs, them and their cronies. Everyone is too scared to do anything about this. But if we are successful, we may be able to free this whole region of their power by wiping them out in their nest."

Alan looks over at the good doctor and says, "If there are those willing to fight the vampires and help the people out, we could do much worse than to meet with them to see what they are all about."

At this point, a group of four can be seen walking up the street. One is a massive full conversion Borg that stands just over seven feet tall, one looks to be some regular gun-toting thug in light MDC armor, the third is a woman in robes, but the fourth one is a horror to behold.



It looks to be some sort of zombie, with tatters of rotting flesh hanging loose from the bones. A closer look shows that it is wearing some kind of Juicer injection harness, and it is armed with both a sword and a automatic rifle of some kind. You can try a Demon and Monster Lore roll to try and identify just what it is.

The crowd of people on the street are doing their best to not be noticed or vanish in one way or another. Obviously, these four are bad news.

As they walk down the street towards you, the four are eyeing the three of you in a very predatory manner. The woman in the robes stops and says, "I see some new faces in town. Have you made your deposit at the medical center yet? It is a crime to pass through and not do so."

 

[Sherwood]

Mirgris

If you don't have Demon and Monster Lore, you can try a straight IQ roll instead.