Christmas Tree Monsters: a Samingan creation.
David 2.0, Archangel of Stone: a hive-mind.
Dmitri, Mercurian of Creation in Service to Wind: PC.
Etecius, Seneschal Seraph of Judgment: runs the Supreme Court.
Ethan Howe, Seneschal of Trade: you want it, he's got it.
Evi: a black hat on the wrong side of a Divine Intervention.
Gaia: Ethereal Goddess of "the World".
Gerar, Malakite of the Sword: PC.
Lacey, Kyriotate of Destiny: a helper sent by Yves 2.0.
Lyta Aram, Soldier of Trade: Scale hunter and book translator.
Mary Anvil-of-God, mummy of Death: an aquatic brain.
Midian, Malakite of Creation in Service to Nobody: PC.
Pimpernel, Malakite of Trade: horseman and trader.
Regenerating Monster: a creature with two granite yo-yos.
Roger Ebert, Cherub of Creation: a film critic.
Sakyamuni Buddha, Archangel of Perception: helpful fellow.
Saminga, Demon Prince of Death: chief black hat (temporarily).
Seven-Forcers, demons of Death: armed with dragonsbreath rounds.
Tentacle Mass: sadly, little of this quirky creature was seen.
The Magician, Impudite of Death: a nasty chap with a hundred tricks.
Xavier, Balseraph of Death: not so hot in person, is he?
Unnamed angels and demons.
Dmitri: a dashing, stylish Mercurian with Eli's Malakite Attunement and an invulnerable umbrella.
Gerar: a fairly straightforward Malakite sworn to give challenge before making an attack and never to lie for his own sake only.
Midian: a boisterous Malakite of Creation.
Crown of Aesculpius: a healing artifact.
Dmitri's Umbrella: an invulnerable umbrella-talisman.
Endless Blade: a dagger that keeps doing damage long after it hits.
Liber Mors Mortis, the: a book compiled by an Empty Habbalite on Saminga's demons and practices.
Magic Helmet: an artifact of Mary's.
Metal Handkerchiefs: they're hankies and terror weapons!
Metal Scarf: it's a scarf and a terror weapon!
Orders from Eli: adaptive orders document. Eli in a box.
Scale of Baal: a mysterious artifact hand-crafted by a Demon Prince.
Shuriken-Shooter: an automatic shuriken launcher, with an infinite supply.
Gerar returns Ethan's Vessel, because (obviously) Ethan has a job to do. Ethan reminds Gerar that the PCs also have an urgent job to do. Gerar tries to get a Vessel from Laurence, but can't get an immediate appointment. He heads towards the Halls of Creation, to rendezvous with Dmitri; there, he makes a last-ditch effort not to go to Earth as a boa. Pleading with the local Creationers, he manages to borrow Roger Ebert's body, and descends to Jack's House with Dmitri.
Midian, a Malakite of Creation and a guest PC, is sent to Jack's House by Eli to consult the Liber Mors Mortis on Saminga's "brains," particularly one Mary Anvil-of-God, and to assist the angels there in retrieving her if possible. Midian drives by, noticing the dead snakes on the street and the battle damage in the restaurant, and concludes that a honorable battle has been fought. He goes in and congratulates the Malakim there on the battle, dodging a hint that he could help clean up. Ethan Howe returns to Earth and speaks with Midian briefly, filling him in on the general situation. Then Gerar and Dmitri return to Earth.
Midian greets "friend Dmitri," and claps him on the back. (This probably hurt; Midian is 3x as strong as either of the other PCs.) Then they go upstairs to deal with the Scale. Lyta meets them outside the room and explains that the Scale has been demanding -- in an unceasing Latin chant -- that its guardians claim it. So Dmitri and Gerar enter the room, and Dmitri touches the Scale. There is a flare of light, and Gerar sees a mark appear on Dmitri's brow. (C.f. the marks visible on Tenchi Muyo Juraiian foreheads.) The chant changes slightly; Lyta interprets this as (colloquially) "Now the other one." Gerar does this thing, hoping that Roger Ebert will forgive him for being transformed into an alien.
The PCs go back downstairs, prepared to head out on some random quest -- Midian has forgotten his orders -- when Pimpernel asks if they want to see the prisoner. This, it turns out, is the "zombie" who was trapped by a Divine Intervention last session. It turns out that he was never actually dead -- he is one of Saminga's Captains, with the ability to assume the appearance of death at will. Dmitri's Saminga knowledge fills in that this demon, Evi, earned his position the old-fashioned way -- long, hard labors. He did accomplish one mission in a sterling manner, however, and was rewarded with a private Song of Saminga's, the Song of Shadows; this is what he used to fall into and rise from a shadow in the previous session. The PCs then go to the back room, where the demon is tied thoroughly to a post in an extremely well lit room. He seems fairly resigned to his fate, but has difficulty answering the question, "Tell us everything." (Wouldn't you?) The PCs torture him a teeny amount, and he has a good deal of fun at their expense -- he doesn't actually care very much about pain, as one might expect from a Death Servitor. Then he exchanges a few morsels of information for his soul's existence: that Jamin is being sought because he holds part of the verbal key to some of Saminga's treasures; that fields like the one holding Tryphosa are usually maintained by remote generators; and that Saminga created the current mess by mummifying Gaia, using her as a symbolic link to the world. The PCs haul him outside and let him die -- having pricked him earlier with the Endless Blade. No one is watching save Jeezer, who manages to annoy Midian more than the Balseraph did. The PCs wash the street and head back in.
Our group heads upstairs, and Lyta informs them that Ethan told her that Marc told him that Eli told him that they should look up Saminga's "brains." The name Mary Anvil-of-God comes up once again. So Dmitri opens up the Liber Mors Mortis and begins his researches. There is no reference to her in the demon section, but when Dmitri reads up on mummies, he discovers that Saminga has been a bad boy. Some centuries ago, he apparently took eight of his elder mummies, shackled their wills, piled on Ethereal Forces until they were as smart as they could get, and linked their minds mystically to the minds of Saminga and the others. When he has a problem that he wants solved, he assigns it to one of them, who then thinks about it obsessively, 24/7/365, until a solution is found. He has a good deal of security around them. Mary, in particular, is in a subterranean complex beneath the bomb shelter beneath the Capitol -- when the humans were building the shelter, they were Balseraphed into keeping up the good work. She has also been modified physically to an aquatic lifestyle, with flippers for legs, fins on her arms, and gills.
The PCs decide that they will have the David hive-mind dig a tunnel into Saminga's shelter. They pile into their Lexus and drive off for Overlook Castle -- but no one answers the door. Peering in through the windows, they see a Stone Servitor body sprawled on the floor. They immediately head inside, and Dmitri rolls a Buddhism Intervention on his Move Silently roll. The PCs hear a level-15 disturbance from deeper in. Inwards they charge, finding a short corpulent fellow taking notes on a scene of moderate carnage. He introduces himself as Sakyamuni Buddha, the Archangel of Perception. (As he explains it, Eli always liked the philosophy, and so when he was making Archangels anyway, he made a Buddha. The original believed that by freeing oneself from the shackles of perceived reality, one freed oneself from the universe. As an Archangel, the new Sakyamuni believes very strongly in observing everything so that reality stays strictly put.) Midian goes off to look for villains hiding in closets, but only finds a demon who had been dragged away from the scene of the crime, with an assortment of weapons laid out next to it. The Buddha peers around with his super-percipient eyes, and notes that the battle bears the signs of Death and Theft presence both. There is one Thief moving around in the catacombs outside the Tether; Thieves inside the Tether are beyond his power to see. There is also a demon of unknown quality in the heart-stone room -- where the spiritual center of the Tether is kept -- attempting to destroy that stone. (And there are a bunch of Christmas Trees there.)
The PCs charge up the stairs to the tower where this is taking place, and look up the last flight at the bushy collection of Christmas Trees. Then Dmitri comes within range, and a tangle of electric lights whips out and grabs him, dragging him forcibly up the stairs. The Trees throw a hail of ornaments, some of which actually do damage, at the PCs below. Midian charges through the Trees to get at the demon, while Gerar cuts Dmitri free. Razor-sharp tinsel lashes out at the PCs, but misses. Dmitri uses the scarf and a rafter to swing through where the foliage is less dense, and lands by the demon as well. He turns to fight Dmitri and Midian as a Christmas Tree attempts to fall on the former. It rolls Divine Intervention.
Suddenly, there is the presence of God, and a glowing star appears atop each of the Christmas Tree monsters. They have realized that Christmas Trees are supposed to be good and kind and bring joy to all the little children of the world. In short, they have been Redeemed. The demon, realizing that he is now very outnumbered, dives out the window acrobatically. Unfortunately, he rolls an 11 TN (failing his Acrobatics) and a CD 6 (failing it badly.) He goes splat. Midian yells after him to come back and let him kill him properly.
Dmitri decides to call David, and is remarkably successful. A giant statue of David appears, just the right height to look in the window, and a voice asks him why he has called. Dmitri explains that they have stopped the attack on the heart-stone, and that the Christmas Trees have been turned to the side of good. David's attention -- not his eyes -- turns briefly to the dead body on the ground. Then he asks the Christmas Trees if they wish to serve with him; they temporize, but agree to defend the castle for now. He gives them his Cherub Attunement and departs.
Midian spots a Kyriotate approaching from the distance, in celestial form. He hails her, and she greets him, identifying herself as Lacey. She serves Yves, who suggested that she come and assist them in handling the situation. (Destiny Kyriotates are extremely good at handling security, she explains.) The PCs decide that this assistance will suffice. After Lacey possesses one of the surprising number of winged mice that are hereabouts, and slips it into the car, the angels head to the Capitol.
Our heroes decide that the simplest way to get to the bomb shelter, and beneath it, is to assume celestial form. They stop at the Supreme Court and give the relevant password for entrance -- it being night -- and soon Etecius, its Seneschal, approaches. It takes him an "Um" from the PCs to hear the whole truth; he grumbles about Creationers and what they have done to Dominic, and Gerar sympathizes. Then he lets them in. Inside the Tether, the PCs assume their celestial form and head down beneath the Capitol. (Lacey heads for the security above, since they're planning to go out in corporeal form.) The bomb shelter is nicely appointed, but the ground beneath it is laced with a relic-metal. Midian smashes through it, with luck and strength, and the PCs drift down into what appears to be the attic of a haunted house. Dmitri reassumes his corporeal form, as does Midian. They hear a faint, steady disturbance from elsewhere in the complex. A Balseraph's voice welcomes them to the Thanatorium, and lets them know that they want to surrender themselves to Hell. Everyone makes their Will rolls, amazingly, and Midian charges to the source of the voice, tearing open the wall and revealing a P.A. speaker. Gerar dives into the wall, still in celestial form, and traces the wires to the source of the broadcast.
Dmitri and Midian head down the stairs. A demon comes up the stairs with two stones in his hands; at least one is revealed to be a yo-yo, with which he lashes out and breaks the wooden stair they're on. Midian cuts the demon in half. Its legs, still moving, scramble away. Dmitri hacks those apart, and Midian knocks the still-moving torso through the wall and into a yuck-filled bathtub one floor down. Dmitri and Midian continue downstairs, exploring the horrible place. Then they enter a bedroom, and the door locks behind them.
Gerar discovers a nicely-appointed chamber, with many cool paintings on the walls, and a bank of controls and viewscreens. Behind the controls is a corporeal-appearing winged serpent. Gerar challenges it, and it dashes for his eye. Unfortunately, it's really not a good combatant, and Xavier the Balseraph is sent quickly into Trauma. Gerar, standing at the controls, has the really funny feeling that if he wanted to, he could lie as convincingly as the Balseraph did. At around that moment, a tentacle lashes out from under the bed and grabs Dmitri's ankle; when Midian hacks it off, the bed gets thrown at him, and Gerar says, "Okay, everyone wants to stop." Dmitri stops, Midian makes a Will roll, and the tentacle-mass that was under the bed freezes. So Midian tears it apart. Dmitri, as he recovers, also has the odd feeling that if he wanted to, he could lie as convincingly as Gerar did.
Dmitri and Midian break down the door, and a man in a magician's suit dives out of the way as it crashes down towards him. Midian and Dmitri come out to fight him, and he dodges like a ninja. There is a flash of bright light, and when the PCs' eyes clear, a moment later, Dmitri is wearing handcuffs. Midian grabs the magician and slams him into the wall; he falls out of his coat, leaving Midian pinning that coat to the wall. Midian rolls, and sees how to use the coat as a Power 3 weapon. He also slashes out with his sword at the magician on the ground, and manages to break a mirror, instead. There are more nasty dodges, but the man takes a few points of damage. He pulls the handkerchief out of his pocket, revealing a huge python attached to the other end, tosses it at Midian, and runs. The PCs pursue. He gets hurt a time or two more, and Sings; a brick wall appears between him and the PCs. They guess right and run right through the Ethereal Light illusion. His last effort is to throw his glove backwards; Dmitri flips over it in the air, and it swerves and banks to attack Dmitri from behind. However, Dmitri's Acrobatics roll gave him another Buddhism Intervention, and a short fat Archangel picks the glove out of the air and studies it. The magician dives into celestial form -- he's an Impudite -- and tears off through the ceiling. The Buddha broke Dmitri's handcuffs with a touch and wandered off.
Gerar, meanwhile, heads out, discovering that the control room is behind a secret door in a bathroom. He walks out of the bathroom, and discovers two men and one woman, kneeling and sighting, with nasty-looking guns in his hand pointed in his direction. He dives back and slams the door, but takes a dragon's-breath bullet anyway. He yanks it out as a few more splatter into the door. Then the demons roll Infernal Intervention, and the door and Gerar explode. Up in Heaven, awakening immediately as Malakim do, he goes and appeals for a new Vessel in-a-hurry. The Laurentine secretary apologizes, and informs him that he's been placed on Class-F Vessel Replacement Status. He can get -- she consults some papers -- a five-year-old kid. Gerar takes it, and heads back down to Earth. There, he finds himself to be -- Sasami-chan! (For non-Tenchi-watchers, this means a little girl with blue pigtails about as long as she is tall.) The demons with the guns are crouched over his old body, looting it; Gerar sneaks out past them. One, brushed by a pigtail, looks up, and Gerar Sings Ethereal Form. The demon, having seen a strange little girl appear out of nowhere and then vanish, says nothing to his comrades. Gerar hears the disturbance of the Buddha appearing, and heads off in that direction -- he has a pretty good idea of the layout, based on the monitors and his massive Intelligence.
Gerar catches up with the others shortly after the magician left, still under Ethereal Form, and the PCs decide on revenge. They go back to the demons who killed Gerar's Vessel, and slaughter them before they even get their guns out. (Well, they were 7-Forcers!) Then Gerar shows them the control room and they look for Mary. The two possibilities seem to be a deep, large rocky pool outside, and an indoor pool with sharks gliding around. They decide on the latter, and head outside.
By the pool, they encounter more Christmas Tree monsters -- but these were also Redeemed! A Calabite-style Vessel is impaled on a branch. They proceed through them to the pool, and see a miniature shipwreck down below -- a thirty-foot ship or so, but in the style of the old pirate ships. They decide that before they go for Mary, they need more Essence, and Dmitri attempts to succeed at three Precision rolls in a row. He gets a Divine Intervention while throwing his handkerchiefs at a tree, and everyone gains a rush of Creationer Essence from his virtuoso performance.
The PCs go by the pool, and call Mary, who darts into the shipwreck through a hole in its side. They hear Ethereal Motion being sung. Then Dmitri uses his umbrella as a raft and floats out over the pool. A spiky anemone is flung into him with said Ethereal Motion, and he goes "ow!" and gets drawn back to the other PCs by his scarf. Mary fires a spear-gun at the umbrella's underside, but this does no good whatsoever. The next bright idea is to turn the Calabite's body into a Power 3 weapon and hurl it at the ship. This does some structural damage, and Mary swims out, grabs the body, and drags it inside. Gerar turns invisible and swims down inside, seeing Mary eating the body and a helmet hanging on a hook. He tries to steal the helmet, and that Ethereal Motion takes it away from him. He swims back to the surface, frustrated. Then he tries again and stabs Mary with the Endless Blade. He makes a roll to see whether he can hold his breath at this point, and gets Infernal Intervention. He loses track of which way is up, as well as getting a lung full of water. Mary, once the next hit from the Blade hurts her, realizes what's happening and dashes for the surface to surrender. (She has 6 Ethereal Forces, remember; she can figure out that this wound is Bad.) The PCs heal her and tie her up, and before he dies Gerar thinks of assuming celestial form, does so, and manages to find his way out.
Dmitri decides that extracting Mary is bad, and summons Eli with 8 of his Essence. Eli doesn't show, despite a good roll -- but he sends a representative. Jean 2.0 slams through the ceiling as a bolt of lightning and reforms into a cyborg shape. He explains that it wouldn't be a good idea for Eli to be around Mary at this point, but does heft her into his arms. The PCs ask if he can help them out, too, and extra metal arms, hugely long, unfold from his back and pick up one PC each. Then he bolts back to Heaven with them.
Gerar attempts to get a Vessel to replace Roger Ebert's. Laurence isn't in the habit of providing Vessels to Creationers, even in the new order, but the Hall of the Order of Guardians (Lightning) shows a debt to Gerar in its records -- the helmet, an interesting artifact. So Gerar gets the Vessel, and drags it off to Ebert. Then the PCs decide to rest in Heaven for a few days.
TSING Index.