Alden kept his Shotgun aimed at the elderly Illuminatus Mata but continued to yell for his brother with no response. He backed the old man into a corner until he raised his hands in surrender and sat on the floor "Please, violence serves no purpose now, soon your brother will return and hopefully he will help you see reason here..". Alden wanted dearly to splatter the man's head across the decaying Second Republic tower interior they were trapped in but his code of honor wouldn't permit it. He told the elder to stay put and he backed down the narrow hallway at the back of the reception room to the narrow staircase his brother vanished down, finding it sealed by a high tech metallic door. He hammered the door angrily with repeated kicks of his durasteel soleret and his Gentech enhanced striking muscles. The door seemed to give but not buckle, so lacking any other option he begins to beat at the doors of the old tower in with kicks.
Down below Brother Godfrey and Uzilo were confronted by the horrors of the Second's Republic's Hubris as three Automatons walked towards them, two of them badly worn, wires loose and parts removed replaced with plaster and tin clicking and barking through defective speakers as they raised their hands towards the pair. The third remained back, taller and more regal looking with a right hand that resembled a large blue plastic claw. It spoke in a soothing feminine voice "Please have a seat, we'll begin your procedure shortly..". Uzilo shot one of the subordinate golems in the chest with both barrels of his shotgun and began to reload as it lumbered forward and grappled his weapon. Godfrey drew his Mitchau Protector but realized it was unloaded and he staggered backwards out of the room, unsure what else he could do. As Uzilo struggled to take control of his gun and the other golems advanced on the helpless priest he lashed out with a clumsy kick and tumbled to the floor. The old beaten automaton grasped Brother Godfrey's ankles and began to drag in back into the procedure room towards the chair.
The feminine golem gestured gracefully at the sturdy looking chair as Godfrey was dragged fighting towards it "Please sit down, this will only take a moment, you won't feel a thing..". "I don't consent to this procedure!" Wailed Godfrey. "Fight" Shouted Uzilo. As Godfrey was dragged flailing to the chair and firmly shoved into it's rotten cushions the Machine Matron leaned over him "Are you experiencing distress?", her head briefly pulsing in a halo of blue light. Godfrey struggled against the golem pinning him to the chair and the matron automaton walked out of sight behind the chair and he felt that claw close around his neck from behind. Uzilo changed his grip on the shotgun tactfully, tricking the golem to adjust it's hold, he rotated the barrel into the machine's chest once more and fired another blast into it at point-blank range, knocking it to the floor. Brother Godfrey heard a hissing noise, felt an uncomfortable pressure in the back of his neck and a cold trickle of moisture drip down his back, Instantly he dreaded what had been done. Then suddenly the golems disengaged and walked calmly back to their cabinets leaving Godfrey and Uzilo panting from excretion.
Upstairs Alden was bashing the doors in when he herd the report of a gunshot. He began to frantically wrench the damaged doors open knocking them off their tracks and shoving them into the wall pockets until he could force his way down the stairs. He arrived to find both his brother and Uzilo exhausted from the fight. Godfrey was panicked about the procedure so he inspected his brothers neck and found no injury but a worrisome red mark on the skin. They gathered themselves and resumed wiring the building to explode. Godfrey began to feel ill and the back of his head itched as if insects were crawling in his hair. Alden carried him upstairs to get hims some air and found Illuminatus Mata standing in front of the door "I know your intent is to destroy this beautiful building. I cannot condone that.. You may not leave until your friend removes the explosives he is planting. Please see reason..Brother Godfrey felt too nauseous to fight and Alden tried to reason with the old man but again could not bring himself to harm an unarmed man who had posed no threat to him. Uzilo hurried up the stairs to find out what was keeping Alden from coming back down to watch his back and found them trying to reason with the crazy hermit man and he began to beat Illuminatus Mata with his shotgun, shouting at him "Give us the keys! I will beat you to death! Let us out you mad heretic or I will end you! Keys!". Illuminatus Mata quickly surrendered the keys.
Alden lead his brother out into the clean seaside air and rest him beside the ancient claw in the center of the campus. From the longhouse the rest of the cultists watched concerned but seemingly harmless. Alden returned below the tower with Uzilo and the keys this time to key the charges to destroy the structure. Uzilo gave him instructions to pull a pin and then run to safe distance. As Brother Godfrey laid in the shadow of the claws a flicker of light caught his eye and he looked up to see a map of the universe swirling slowly within the grip of the claws, beautiful lights swam across the surface of the tower and longhouse like fishes in a pond, there was no longer any doubt that he was infected with whatever the people in The House of Lights shared. Alden pulled his pin on cue and sprinted out of the structure before he realized Uzilo had not followed. (There was some amusing debate here that I was going to kill of Uzilo just like I killed off Jenny Sparks since neither player had purchased him as an ally. I explained that Jenny had died from a randomly placed shot with a critical hit.) Alden waned too close to the tower waiting, debating running back down to try to save the alien, debating his duty to their new conspirator, when Uzilo came charging out of the darkness at the bottom of the stairs shouting "Move! Move! Move!" they races out of the tower until they felt the ground shudder under their feet in a series of rumbling explosions, the tower swayed, making sounds like snapping cables until it finally sloughed over and collapsed. As the tower fell the beautiful lights in Godfrey's eyes flickered and vanished, leaving only the decaying ruins that had stood there before. The Illuminatus looked angered but his voice seemed more sad "I think you'd best move on, I don't think the others will welcome you here now.." The three watched as the cultists struggled to understand the world without their link to The House of Lights.
Even though the sun was past it's zenith Alden and Godfrey decided to push through the wilderness back to their Autowagon. As the sun came down below the trees and the shadows grew long they heard the howls of the changed. By the time the had left the forests of the megalopolis the sun had set and they continued exhaused in the dark back to their autowagon, speculating on whether or not it had been stolen. As they drew closer they were excited to see a warm campfire next to their autowagon on the bridge but then they noticed a man with an assault rifle. Having created cast Emprean Light on a chunk of building to light their way they were certain they had been spotted so they just walked up to the campfire. They were greeted by an armed man with no livery and no sign of the hunters they left behind to watch their vehicle. Alden was high on indignance and armored like a tank but he realized that his brother was likely to exhausted to pull off a Theurgic Rite and Uzilo was in similar shape.
He scowled at the man as he spoke "Who are you and what's your business here"
The man responded "I am Petor and that is Groggor and Tim ", gesturing into the darkness, "We are Posjednik. We thought this was our Autowagon but your friends told us you left it here and went into the forbidden area with many firebirds.. so now I think maybe half of what you brought back is ours instead."
"Ridiculous, you're a common criminal trying to rob us.."
"Your words are hurtful VanGelder, perhaps you would be more comfortable if we take this conversation to the Baron, he must be very curious what you are doing in his forbidden lands"
"We haven't come back with anything.. you're out of luck"
"I trust you won't mind if we search your things"
Alden shrugged and Petor looked through their packs one at a time, growing more irate at the absence of treasures, before snatching the brightly glowing chunk of debris from Brother Godfrey "You have glowing rock.. we'll take glowing rock.."
Brother Godfrey snickered realizing that shortly after the bandits parted ways the debris would begin to fade as the rite came to it's conclusion.
The Thug backed away from the group into the darkness until his cocky grin vanished. The brothers found the hunters they had left with their autowagon tied up in it's cargo bed, the drove them back to Riserton, put 5 more firebirds in each of their hands and told them that they had never met. As they drove away heading back to The Causway Uzilo began to nod off and almost drove them all into a ditch so they pulled over in the dark countryside and an exhausted Alden kept watch while the other two slept.
The following day Brother Godfrey was feeling better, they had a quick breakfast then got on The Causeway and followed it back to Irkuz. As they got off of the ramp into the city they found the city suffused with crowds and chaos as Beir Veirig had already begun. They found parking and walked into town. The brothers were suffused with a powerful nostalgia seeing Sokol City as they remembered it as children with the smell of sweet foods and people dancing happily in the streets. Alden parted ways to go fetch Emily and bring her out to the festival and Alden hurried through the crowds to the Cathedral to report the success of the mission.
At Cousin Hildi's townhouse Emily was excitedly watching events outside of the windows and Maid Ava was away from the home. Alden let Emily prepare him a bath and lay out his things, marveling at how quickly the simple girl had adapted to housework. He got himself ready and as Ava returned he told her to take the night off and enjoy the festival, dropping a few of his depleted firebirds in her hand. He had Emily dress in her finest and walked her out into the city full of buskers bandstands and beer. Alden encountered Baroness Eldana and her retinue in the crowds along with a contingent of his Bortherhood Knights. He checked that they were well and he passed Sir Ben the key to his carriage house and told him that the brothers could crash there for the night rather than paying for rooms in town.
Brother Godfrey returned to his quarters, checked his messages and went straight to the Sacrosanct of the Cathedral to speak with the Bishop. As he walked into the dark hallway under the cathedral he passed a Basque noble walking the opposite direction. Curious as he was about the Noble house that he and his brother found linked to the NLO he needed to report in. Surprisingly she was in her offices during the celebrations in the city and after a short wait he was shown in to see her. Bishop Asha stood on a pedestal being fitted for new robes by a tailor. The conversation was brief and to the point. She asked Godfrey if it was done and Godfrey assured her it was. She said that Godfrey's payment was simple to arrange and it was waiting in his accounts with the Calderer but she wasn't sure how to pay his brother. Godfrey suggested that she should pay Alden's 100 FBs to his order. She explained that the mission wasn't a test, that those ruins represented a real spiritual threat that had to be dealt with, but that taking on that task proved to her the character of Godfrey's brother and she hopes to depend on the both of them in the future... and also this sort of work isn't really fit for an initiate of the cloth.. so there are papers of Cannonship being drafted for Godfrey after the festival. Godfrey left feeling excited about his advancement and headed into the festival to find his brother.
Alden had been wandering through the festivities with little Emily, stuffing her with sweets while he indulged in a fine wheat and fruit brew. He ran into Brother Godfrey at a sausage cart ordering a big sausage and pepper sandwich. They walked through the crowd enjoying the music and the added satisfaction of a mission accomplished. Godfrey related the Bishop's congratulations to his brother but Alden didn't want to talk about her while there were so many other pleasant distractions to be had. Suddenly there was a disturbance in a crowded square near the Count's pavilion. Alden pushed his way through the crowd just in time to see one of the Count's men toweling him down and one of his knights putting a heavy revolver shot into a Nobleman in Basque livery. As Brother Godfrey watched he caught sight of Emily's tendriling hair out of the corner of his eye and swept the girl into his cloak before anyone took notice of her. She spasmed and muttered within the fold of his cloak "She is not her, she is -not- her, she is Not Her... soo much blood..". Alden asked around the crowd as the Basque noble was carted away by militia men and the Count made a disarming joke about the dangers of excess drink. From what people said the man made some loud insults about promises and threw is beer at the Count and was shot for it. People seemed started but not surprised.
Brother Godfrey couldn't make sense of Emily's omens and the shooting made him feel much less safe so with people clearing the streets he took Emily back to Cousin Hildi's townhouse and left Alden to wander the streets seeking wrongs to right. Alden broke up a fight, and discouraged some roguish men from following a Van Gelder lady home and found a pair of stone-drunk VanGelder lesser nobles who he offered to let stay the night in his Cousin's townhouse, then he himself called it a night. Brother Godfrey made sure Emily was well after her episode and tucked her in before returning to the Cathedral for the night.
Returning home to the Cathedral Brother Godfrey heard a commotion in the Cathedral proper and as he stopped to listen he her gunshots and flashes of light through the tall stained glass windows. Without hesitation he charged towards the Cathedral doors and pushed past an initiate that tried to warn him away. Inside he found inquisitorial agents with their blaster rifles aimed at the floor and the pews badly damaged from gunfire, the smoldering remains of some animal lay scattered across the burnt floor. Nearby a group of inquisitors were huddled over something. As Godfrey drew near he saw the body of Inquisitor Barnes in a swelling pool of blood. Without thinking Godfrey pushed the other priests out of the way and fished through his travel bag for his first aid kid. He wasn't even sure if he was administering the Elixir correctly but as he pulled the autoinjector back he could see the stab wounds in his abdomen begin to close. He drew back as the cathedral chaplain arrived with a doctor's bag and began seeing to the Inquisitor. After talking with some anxious priests he pieced together a story about a young girl who claimed to have news from Rande Shire in Sekbridge and she said she would only speak to the Inquisitor. Once she was granted audience her demeanor changed and she became "monstrous", producing a knife and attacking the Inquisitor, throwing people across the Cathedral floor until she was gunned down. Brother Godfrey slept uneasily that night.
Alden woke early, feeling immensely satisfied with himself to find out that his drunken house guests had slipped out in the night leaving him a thank-you note.. He armored up and set about making an early breakfast when Ava returned from her night out, thanking him for the holiday off. It occured to him over breakfast that Hildi had been missing for over a week now and doing some math he became concerned that she hadn't written in some time. He walked over to the Charioteers and use their Starlight to contact the hotel on Hildi's itinerary only to find out she had departed three days ago. He supposed that was on schedule enough and he went to check on his brothers.
Crossing into the waterfront Alden found the carriage house of his little apartment filled with his order brothers and the refuse of a night of drinking and gambling. He idled and caught up with their adventures and plans for furnishing the Order's new clubhouse while Sir Ben hustled across the city to fetch their autowagon for the ride home. While talking with his brothers he learned that the Decados knight that shot the Basque noble was a Boyar Alister Romanov Decados
Alden left the key with his brothers to close up as he had a lead to follow. He walked to the County district and dealt with a rude clerk at the castle's gates, wanting to speak with Lord Alister. As he waited on a nearby bench he watched dozens of visitors to the count turned away because he wasn't feeling well. When Alister showed up at the district gates to speak with Alden he was unexpectedly polite and diplomatic, even complimenting Alden on his Order's martial skills. He repeated the story Alden had heard before, a man in the crowd became belligerent and threw his drink at the Count. Alister confessed to understanding the threat but shooting the Basque anyway because it was inappropriate to threaten the Count in public like he did. He hadn't found out what happened to the Basque but he offered to look into it for Alden.
Across the city Brother Godfrey was waking lazily, his roommate still absent from the night's revelries or perhaps fled after the brutal attack on the inquisitor. He asked after the fate of the Inquisitor but that information was need-to-know and being a known theurgist put him out of the circle of trust. While wandering the Cathedral grounds his Deacon caught him and told him she needed his help with some paperwork. Once in her office the Deacon presented him with updated Papers of Ordination reflecting his rank as Cannon. She complimented him on the execution of the festivities and asked about his plans for the Winter Tourney. Godfrey hadn't really thought about it but realized that the festival was just a few months away. He found out that the theme of the Tournament was "A New Dawn" and he said he'd have to meditate on it before he had ideas. He wanted to find out about the prior years celebrations sponsored by the church so he chased down the initiates who were often roped into this work and found that most of them were breaking down decorations after the festival.
In the park square at the Market Brother Godfrey caught up with his initiates who were slacking off in the cool autumn weather. He questioned them about prior years tournaments and oversaw them taking down the banners and other decorations. While he was walking by the Count's stage he saw a young Decados Householder scrubbing at the wood with all his might. He drew closer and saw a broad splash mark in front of the Count's throne where the varnish had not only been eaten off of the wood but the wood itself had been bleached. He asked the householders breaking down the stage if he could take one of the boards but they were outraged by the question, explaining that the stage was property of the count. He offered the houseman 3 Firebirds and the young man smashed the section of the stage apart and handed him one of the bleached planks.
Brother Godfrey didn't really know any Alchemists in town but he knew a local physik who must know something. He visited the doctor's office, being very vague about his health problem and Spoke with Dr. Sarkinsen about the incident with the Count and the plank. The Doctor was stumped but said there were some tests he could perform on the wood that would tell him more if Godfrey didn't mind leaving it with him for the rest of the day. Godfrey dropped 15 FBs, sensing that whatever was going on it would profit him and his brother to know how it was connected with the Basque.
Brother Godfrey returned under the Cathedral to speak with the Bishop and found that her schedule was empty in the wake of the festival. He briefly thought about questioning her about the Basque noble he had seen the night before but his courage faltered. He asked her about her vision for the Tourney and found her surprisingly engaged. She announced that this year's Winter Tourney would be different than prior years. The Church was not simply being present they were going to be central to the events with a big opening ceremony a lavish feast and on-site services for attendees. She layered Godfrey in projects he could be working on and tasked him with the ambiguous feat of making a real impression on the people of the Valley, to convince them that the Church was not just present but a force to be reckoned with. The meeting left Godfrey a bit dazed and running late for his meeting with Alden.
Alden was running a little late to meet his brother at the Cathedral and found the amped up security around the Cathedral an added annoyance. When he arrived in the Cathedral proper seeing the scorched and damaged pews only made him more curious about what was happening. His brother arrived late and hurriedly dragged Alden away to lunch in a nearby cafe where they revealed news about the attack at the festival and the assassination attempt on the Inquisitor to one another. They weren't sure what the attack on the Count was but surmised that it might be a poison and if the Basque was involved it might be connected to the NLO and the conspiracy against their family.
Both of them walked to the County District gates and once more called on Boyar Allister and after a much shorter wait they had a second conversation through the bars of the castle gates. Alister seemed troubled. He told them that the Noble that he had shot at the Festival was Lord Iker Martzel Basque, a poor knight from the North. The city militia transported him to the city dungeons but the city dungeon never received him and he wasn't found in any of the cells there. When Brother Godfrey warned Alister that the assault may have been an attempt to poison the Count he grimly related that the Count has not been well and is seeing no visitors today.
Both brothers returned together to the Physik's office later in the day to find Dr. Sarkinsen anxious and reluctant to see anyone. He brought them into his surgery and showed them how the board had been eroded where the beer had splashed on it as if it had been eaten by an acid but he explained that there was no chemical evidence of an acid. Whatever had to have caused the wear on the plank was likely a very exotic, very expensive material, possibly high tech or wyrd in nature. He had a contact in the city who might be able to find out more but he'd need to hold onto the plank. Both Brothers agreed that it was important enough to pursue.
Godfrey returned home and struggled with sleep between the stress of work and the questions posed by the day. He woke early and walked down to the kitchen in the quiet morning sun. As he readied his breakfast he could hear a musical jingle:
"It's so great to eat, my favorite morning treat, filled with what makes me strong, with a heaping bowl you can't go wrong"
(At this point my players both started laughing. We had often talked about how if you had a wireless data link in Fading Suns you'd constantly run across advertising from the Second Republic that was still functioning, music would play in your head around building that once housed shops or ghostly images would dance in the sky where billboards once stood.)
Then Brother Godfrey sunk his spoon into a big bowl of broken glass and shoveled it into his mouth, chewing happily and blood rand down his lips. He woke up gasping and sweating hurrying to the mirror in his dark little cell to check his mouth for glass that in his mind was still lodged in his throat. It dawned on him that perhaps whatever he was infected with at the House of Lights wasn't gone.
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