Into the Void

This week was a tad bit of a hassle. We had a good number of players coming and going, with some new additions.

Nathan "Biodragon" Niznik took on the role of John; a Sorcerer who can blast things into oblivion at his beck and call, but can just as easy sit back and watch his friends make asses of themselves.

Jesse Monroe joined the group as John, a cutthroat Thief with experience in smuggling.

In the game, briefly, was John Petkus as ... Yo Mama... A barbarian. Nothing else needs to be said.

Adam, as Father Pavel, joined us again half-way through the session, and brought with him a certain degree of much-needed gravity.

JT and Garrett ("Sadamamuel" and "Toledo Hanes" respectively) did not attend the session, due to previous obligations.

The session started off with the party discussing things more in depth with Patrick. Crase Hanes decided to be the recipient of the new scroll. This ritual would take several hours, so the rest of the party decided to look into finding some of Jeremiah's father's (Joseph's) studies. They check the master bedroom first, and discover a small journal. This journal was one of the last Joseph kept over the last years of his life, and in it he made mention of a prank Jeremiah told him about. Apparently, when Jeremiah was 12, he took his siblings out to the isle of the Standing Stones and read from one of his father's books on the Occult. What was meant as a prank turned into a horribly frightening ordeal for all the children, as waters churned and boiled, and the skies blotted out the stars. Since then, Joseph idle curiosity in the occult turned into an obsession, as he sought to find out what Jeremiah had done. In the bedroom, unsent mail is discovered from the mother of the family to her own parents, stating her growing discontent with the marriage - Joseph was turning into too much of a squint and bookworm, failing to pay her even the least bit attention.

William Badass also experiences an eery vision. When entering the bedroom, he hears the cries and screams of a baby as the sheets on the bed become covered with gore and ichor.

When the party returns from their reconnoiter, Crase Hanes is finished with the ritual; He is now imbued with the ability to temporarily control fresh corpses to fight for his cause. The party then sets out to retrace its steps to the Mausoleum, then continues onto the Old Church.

The old church is near-indescribably old, reduced to mere ruins. To make a story brief, the party finds an underground level to the church which leads to a more secluded area. Battling through skeletons which seem to spontaneously raise from the dead, the party finds various components with mixed clues suggesting a way to time travel into the past. Beholding a vision of the Abbot, long ago, locking up a magically sealed door with a special golden key, and finding notes and journals about the destruction of a great and powerful weapon, the party manages to combine the components to leap back into time. Violently, they take the key, and the weapon - a scythe.

Returning to the present (Back to the Future!) they carefully make their way back home to rest, recover, and share their finding with Patrick. While working their way home, Cid, the Thief who took the scythe from the Old Church, slowly gets influenced by the Scythe until finally he snaps and attacks Alexander. Patrick stops the outbreak before it gets out of control - beyond what it already has. Father Pavel steps up to action here, rebuking Patrick with his use of force (he almost managed to kill Cid) and advocating destruction of the weapon. An exchange is had, and it is figured that while the artifact has a corrupting affect, it is also a very powerful weapon. A bit of research revealed that the weapon once belonged to a great warrior, a champion of the people. Perhaps the weapon itself was corrupted by an outside force... The party uses holy water on the weapon, which hisses and boils to little other noticeable effect. After this, William Badass decides to take the weapon as the burden, and finds he can readily stave off the corrupting affects of the weapon-artifact.

The party then decides to rest for the night, and call it a session. However, on an end note, William Badass is visited by haunting visions and dreams in his fitful sleep:

"In the vision, you feel and *know* you are in a time and age far gone. Despite the vividness of your dream, you are not in control of yourself. It seems as if only your sight is present, as you flow through the breeze with thoughtless ease. You are being shown something. It is dark. Abysmally dark. And raining. You can barely make out your surroundings; a small island with looming monoliths. Nearby you can make out several figures. They are huddled over something. As you are pressed in closer you can see the figures, cloaked and hooded, collectively lowering a body into the earth. The body bears an iron crown on top of its head, and is otherwise richly dressed in vibrant clothing, despite the horrid conditions. Upon the face is a metallic mask, bearing a grotesque face. Nothing is visible of the features, except for the eyes, which open in slumberous awareness. He tries to move, but finds himself bound. He tries to say something, but finds his mouth gagged. Eyes now wide with panic, darting to and fro, he screams in desperation as the figures finish lowering him into his grave, and seal him to his fate."