Outside 46

[bc56]

Ruined Village

"Even. You should leave. My forces will arrive shortly." Johnathan turns and stalks into the village.

[Morty]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

Beyond the crude fence is a small office-like space, with more bare rock walls, floor and ceiling. It's lit by a glowing head-sized faceted crystal held by a statue of a naked, hermaphroditic angel, carved from polished dark grey haematite. It's also clearly the most valuable item in the room. The other furniture is a battered oak desk, missing one of its drawers, with deep scratches and damage to the surface. There's a battered office swizzle chair, with a crude stitch in the padding to repair a rip. A rusty steel three-drawer filing cabinet leans against the wall, all as flat as it possibly can be, given the circumstances. On the wall is a poster of a large monowheel, like that ridden by the club president when she went to MERC. On the desk is an audiograph player, with one of the punch-cards inserted into the device. Three more are stacked haphazardly next to it, and more are in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet.

Road Pirate Pitstop

Erasmus doesn't see anything he should immediately look into, so he lets Fayaad search first.

"Is this the manager's office?" Fayyaad wonders aloud. "A bit out of the way for that. It looks like the zombies were rifling through here."

He starts by turning on the audiograph.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

Erasmus knows what the zombies and the necromancer did when they searched somewhere. This place is just disorganised.

Playing the audiograph is probably the best idea. "So I've deciphered some of the writing in the chamber next door. Enough to know some of the history of the Blade of Hope Removed. It was made by a cabal of demons to kill the Goddess of Hope, but one of the demons betrayed the plot, to remove rivals. Angels swooped in and stopped the process, so the sword isn't as powerful as it was intended to be. Still very powerful, though. The angels nearly killed the demon whose plan it was, so it deliberately trapped itself into the pommel. The angels couldn't take it to heaven with them; if the demon got out in heaven, it would be bad. These demons were powerful, and the angels were scared of them. Demons get power if they are feared, and in heaven, it'd be surrounded by scared angels. So they hid it here, because mortals have short memories, and they hoped the demon would be forgotten by the time it escaped. The Blade itself was nearly forgotten, near as I can tell. We wouldn't know about it if it weren't for that crack. I told the Wild Amazons about it. They've got better mages than we do, so I'm hoping they'll be able to provide me with more info. I'll record more thoughts on other audio things. This one's nearly out of sp."

That sounds awfully like the clue that the necromancer was looking for. There's five more audiographs; three on the desk next to the player/recorder, and two visible in the slightly-open bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. The three on top are labelled 'Amazons', 'Angels' and 'Demons'. The two in the drawer are labelled 'Chamber' and 'Monowheel'.

[Murkus]

[The Forest]

"Yes, I agree," says Div in regards it looking fetching on Batu, nodding quickly, and then coughing as he adds, "I, err, thought it would suit you. And the river spirits should favor one such as you!"

"If you like, er... maybe we could amble by the river a ways?" Div bites his lip. "Are you sleeping out here? Do you have a camp or something...?"

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

Erasmus takes out the "Monowheel" recording and inserts it into the machine. Compared to the three on the desk, the two in the drawer seem out of place, a good place to hide information.

[Zefir]

Ruined Village

"Even. You should leave. My forces will arrive shortly." Johnathan turns and stalks into the village.

Ruined Village

Arkant shrugs and heads off as well. He at least thought Jonathan would do anything like killing him and rise him as one of his undead minions. How strange. While walking away Arkant slowly fades away into the wind using a spell to get back to skyside in an instant.

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"That's pretty direct," Fayyaad remarks. "Odd that the necromancer didn't find it, though."

[The Forest]

Batu shakes his head.

"I don't have a camp. I haven't camped out in the wilds in... some time," he says, as if surprised by his own admission. "I don't know how river spirits feel about me, but I wouldn't mind walking along it for a while."

[Murkus]

[The Forest]

"Great!" says Div, hopping up and collecting his things in his satchel again. He grins as he goes down beside the river. "You're welcome to share my camp, then, if you need someplace to rest tonight."

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

The necromancer was searching the buildings, because he thought if records were anywhere, they'd be in a building that was nice, secure, and waterproof. Plus, with the waterfall, it's quite tricky to see the cave, so he might not have noticed it.

The monowheel recording is very interesting. It talks about building, maintaining and operating a monowheel, with advice on how to avoid 'hamster wheeling', the best speeds for steering, and other useful mechanical and technical tips. It's either really about monowheels, or in a very technical-sounding code. Maybe it was in the drawer because it wasn't relevant to the President's current research?

((The problem is, I know why what's where, and it's logical, but the characters don't. The chamber has been present since I gave the necromancer a quest for the Blade of Hope Removed, but this area, like many others, is almost wholly improvised.))

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

" 'e must not 'ave know the cave was 'ere. Otherwise, 'e'd've torn the place apart." Erasmus tries the "Amazons" disk.

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"That's probably the reason. I thought his zombies might have been here, but it seems all those scratches were caused by something else," Fayyaad says.

[The Forest]

Batu's ears flick as he considers it.

"It's not very far to the tower I live in. I didn't exactly wander far enough that I couldn't get back easily. But I wouldn't mind seeing your camp."

[Murkus]

[The Forest]

"Well, come on then! If it's not far, maybe I can walk you back to your tower afterwards. And..." His ears point down. "Maybe I could come and see you there, some other day?"

[Morty]

[The Forest]

Batu's thoughts fly rapidly as he walks along the river. Out of all the possible answers, he settles on:

"...sure, that sounds good. We don't get many new faces there."

[Devixer]

[The Spirit World]

"Ugh, looking yourself in the face can get so weird. Are the more powerful ones dangerous?" Willa asks, with odd familiarity with the aforementioned issue, it seems.

"They can be. It depends on exactly what they imprinted on, and on their contact with the material worlds. Spirits aren't evil, or good, or dangerous, or anything really, by nature. If they're left alone, they just exist.

Chapel

There's some clear areas amongst the ruined town that the Chapel stands upon the edge of. The most secure area is a small courtyard completely cut off by piles of unstable-looking rubble. Sleeping there, it may provide some advance warning as people slip over the rubble. Alternately, there's the shell of a two-storey house, with no doors or windows remaining; the walls look sturdy, however, and there's no roof. There's an old car park home to a variety of scrap cars and wrecked vehicle parts, which is pretty open, but far enough away from the rubble that there's no risk of getting crushed underneath it. There's also an area outside the old town, an old children's playground, overgrown with weeds. There's a pool of water in the middle, a dead oak tree, a rusty roundabout, collapsed swing set and the rusted metal stump of a see-saw.

Faudre and Haar make their way to the courtyard, presumably with little incident. Once they reach their destination, Faudre reads the maps she'd gained, trying her best to get a sense of the land. Haar lets out a snort.
"You can rest if you wish, friend," Faudre says to the wyvern. "I shall try and figure out where in the continent we can possibly be."

[Earl of Purple]

Chapel

Well, several hundred miles to the east is the City of Inside. The City of Riverside lies to the south, a similar distance away, and Skyside is just over a hundred miles away to the north. The road Rivet was following lies to the west. There's several small settlements and communities marked on the maps, Chapel being the closest- though there's a few more within easy travel distance. I doubt there's anything Faudre recognises, however.

Road Pirate Pit Stop

They aren't discs; they're stamp cards. Audiographs are featured in the Dishonoured games as a steampunk audio recording.

The scratches, incidentally, look like they're from a long life of hard use and maybe a few people using the desk to lean on whilst cutting things or dragging heavy items across it.

"The Wild Amazons call themselves bikers, but most of them don't ride bikes. Maybe one in three has an actual bike, of some kind or another. The Road Pirates don't all use bikes, I'll admit- monowheels, trikes, quads, dicycles and gods alone know what else, if it's got an engine, handlebars and shiny metal. But the Wild Amazons go further. They're nearly all mages, and ride brooms, or skeleton horses, or animated statues, or something. Mostly they're witches, dabbling in a few related fields; pyromancy, necromancy and conjuring are quite common, but not exclusive. A few specialise- the Sergeant-at-Arms is usually a specialist, in some combat-heavy magic. The Yaga Chapter reputedly has a demonologist, so I'll approach them for assistance. If they want the Blade, I won't be able to stop them. My magic's weak, and I'm the best in this chapter. I might need their help to get past the angels, but I'll have to plan it properly. There's more Wild Amazons than Road Pirates; we won't win a war without the Blade, and with it we'll- I'll- have bigger worries. The Yaga Chapter's clubhouse migrates, along the old highway. From Saint Benn's to Indest, to Lover's Bridge and back to Saint Benn's. Ask at Saint Benn's. They'll know where to find it."

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

Erasmus takes the Amazons card out and inserts the Demons disk. "That was un'elpfully 'elpful. We just need tew know who ended up with the blade, it seems they were planning to seize it from its previous owners."

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pitstop]

"Seems like we have a lead, though. Those 'Wild Amazons'," Fayyaad says. "Though I'm not sure if we're qualified to deal with such a weapon. But maybe MERC has someone who is."

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

"Demons gain power through fear. Lesser demons all look similar because they want the recognisability of 'it's a demon! Be afraid!'. Therefore, the fear generated by a dretch, or a nalfeshnee, feeds all dretch or nalfeshnee. Because they're sharing the fear each is generated, they aren't too powerful. They don't get a great share of the fear. Stronger demons, rarer ones, are scarier, and the fear felt when they are seen is spread less ways. Furthermore, weaker demons fear them, and so they are fuelled by that fear, too. Some demons take their own form. These are unique demons, and they don't share the fear they inspire with any other demon. They also tend to scare lesser demons, too. But if nobody sees them, and nobody fears them, they can't generate power, and will eventually wither to nothing. It's because of their ability to get power by the fear of others that demons tend to share their names. Fear felt towards a demon's name isn't shared, so if a dretch introduces itself and then scares you more, if it creates enough fear in enough people, it might alter into a higher demon- either a step or two higher on the hierarchy, or changing into a unique demon. Above the unique demons are Demon Lords. Those creatures scare even angels, other demons, and other supernatural entities, let alone mortals. The Blade of Removed Hope has a demon bound within it, a unique one- maybe even a Demon Lord. To fight it, the angels have wiped its name from written records and vowed not to speak it, to prevent people fearing it and so giving it power that it might be able to use to escape.

There is one thing, however. The angels know its name, and have spent several centuries- at least- trying to protect it from mortals or other demons. They're feeding it fear, and if the demon figures out how to use that link, it would explain what I've heard of the angels defending the sword's hiding place, wherever it is."

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"Everyone 'as tew do their best tew insure evil artifacts don't fall into the wrong 'ands. I don't think anyone isn't qualified." Erasmus inserts the "Angels" card.

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"I suppose we're qualified by default because we know about it," Fayyaad says. "Someone has to do it. And everything we hear makes this weapon sound worse."

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

"Ten angels guard the Blade, judging by what I've translated so far. They've held it hidden and safe for a very long time- ten thousand years, I think. It's all they know, so they won't use it. Might be I'm miscalculating the astronomy of the chamber, and the time is wrong. I've got some documents from the Amazons; they haven't singled out where the Blade is hidden, but it does contain reports of a group of angels defending something. They're described as harsh, unpleasant. Still angels, and still beautiful, but... Wrong. Inhuman. Ugh, curse this language- humans are ugly enough already. They wield swords and spears, shields and some metal armour. Their weapons burn. I'm going to right out quote what I think is a description of their leader- 'She was tall, and stunning. She glowed with a harsh white light, stark and casting dark shadows. Her skin was pale, her head shaven, ears pointed, eyes wide and dark, pits of night in her fair face, impossible to differentiate into pupil, white and iris. Her wings are wide, strong and powerful, clad in feathers the colour of bone. Above her head was a halo, a ring of white flame. In her right hand she carried a curved sword, burning with purple flames. In her left, a round shield of stained glass, with a manticore roaring in the centre. She wore heavy brass bracers and greaves, with heavy rings of the same material about her upper arms and thighs. A black silk wrap concealed her breasts, with a matching loincloth about her hips, with tassels hanging down. She ordered us to go, leave them and that they guarded, to wipe the route from our maps and never return. If we did, she promised a long, and drawn-out death. Our priest tried to argue, that we were no threat to their mission and would not disturb them. She decapitated him with a single swipe; we did as she asked. His head screamed for three days.' There. Potent guardians, but... Not behaviour I'd expect from an angel. And for every other angel I have heard of, the glow is described as soft and gentle, not stark and harsh. They have had no company save their own and the demon blade they guard for too long. I can't expect mercy or justice from them." Not pleasant angels.

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"It's being guarded by real angels then, a true 'eavenly 'ost. Just one card left." Erasmus inserts the "Chamber" punchcard.

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"Angels, huh? They almost sound like devas, our god's servants," Fayyaad says. "One of whom was my ancestor. But none of them have done that, as far as I know. I don't fancy being beheaded, in either case."

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

"Uh, is this thing on? Right, OK. So, I've got some of these cards and... Screw it, no point explaining the device. I know how it works, I think, and whoever's listening does too. Anyway, two of our guys went into the cave for some... 'alone time'. They squeezed through this crack in the wall, so they had privacy whilst they... euphemism. I can't think of a good one. They found a room, well-lit. Covered in weird writing. I had a look, the letters are in the Celestial script, used by angels and most religions, so I had a priest look at it. He says it's in code, or gibberish. Probably the former. The room's... Beautiful. Polished white marble, no veins to mar the purity of the colour, mostly. In the middle there's a statue of a sword sticking into the floor. Where it meets the floor it's seamless, but the sword is black marble, with red veins. Looks pretty evil, you ask me. But weirdly, despite the seamless joint, there's no other black or red marble anywhere, no sign that the colour is anywhere in the marble other than the statue. Weird." There's a break for a few moments, a pause in the narration. When the speaker comes back, her voice is shaken and she sounds scared.
"I had the priest read out some of the words, with some of our smartest around to see if we could crack the code. Good news is, it's a pretty simple code. Bad news is, the letters are Celestial, but the words are in Demonic, or Abyssal. There's something about the chamber, some subtle magic I couldn't detect. When they were read aloud, Despoiler- yes, his parents named him that- recognised the script and provided a translation of half a sentence. Then the priest stopped reading and started screaming, as his eyeballs melted. He didn't scream for long, though. He started coughing up thick black smoke and ash, then keeled over dead. I've seen bad stuff, done bad stuff too. That was really bad. Our doc says he suffered spontaneous human combustion, but not all of him. Just his lungs. I've forbidden everyone else from entering the chamber. I'm going to research it, figure out what's going on in there. I don't want that magic to spread."

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"Euurgh." Erasmus gags at the description of the grisly fate of the priest. "That's a powerful protective curse."

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"We've got our work cut out for us," Fayyaad says. "Angels, demons, curses that burn people's lungs... we sure stumbled onto something big with this job."

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"And a sword that can kill gods. Erasmus adds. "Should we call back tew 'eadquarters? Let them know what is going on?"

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

"Definitely." Fayyaad nods. "This is way beyond the two of us. The contract's been fulfilled, so let's see what the higher-ups have to say about all that."

[bc56]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"Agreed." Erasmus turns to leave.

[Morty]

[Road Pirate Pit Stop]

Fayyaad follows Erasmus. Time to tell the bikers their pit stop is now undead-free, and to inform the leadership about what they stumbled on.