The Town of Jaffa

Wail's eyebrow raises as he stares at the two men.
"How quaint. Have you perchance noticed the carnage outside?"
 
The one that spoke earlier replies, "Of course we know about it!  Its been going on for months!  Its the effect of some dark curse that has been laid upon us.  We are kept safe here inside the Government House, but how were you able to survive to get here without getting killed and brought back like everyone else?"
 


His companion snarls, "You fool, they are anathema!  They are probably the ones that inflicted the curse upon us in the first place!  They are just here to finish us off, so we are wrapped up in the cycle of death like the rest of Jaffa!"


The woman in Coil's grasp begins to weep, begging for her life.


Duncan looks disgusted.  "We are not the ones that have done this to you.  In fact, it is our own dumb luck that has brought us here.  What in the name of all that is holy is going on in this town?"


The first man finally says, "It started when the new mayor was elected.  One night it just happened, the madness spread across the town.  We were spared by being in the manor house, but the rest of the town has suffered by going crazy and killing one another each night, just to be brought back to life the next morning as if nothing has happened the night before."
 
With his brain chugging to put all pieces together, Wail manages to keep his less intelligible thoughts away from his mouth.
"Where those come from?" he asks, glancing at the soulsteel worn by the three.
"That metal you are wearing is literally made of tortured souls, and it's involved in the twisting of the essence here."
 
The woman wipes away some tears and says, "The mayor said that these trinkets were gifts to help keep evil spirits away.  He gave them to us when the manor house was remodeled."  The two men nod in agreement. 


Duncan shoots a glare around the room.  "Where is your mayor?  Let me guess; he's upstairs, and he is a new in town, right?"


Everyone nods.  "Yes, Mayor Sullivan came to Jaffa some time ago, and became very popular in a short amount of time.  It was really no surprise that he decided to run for public office, and he financed the remodel of the manor house out of his own pocket."  The men trade a look as the reality starts to set in on them.  "You don't mean to say that Mr. Sullivan is the one responsible for the curse on us all?  He wouldn't do that!  He is a very kind and loving man, and would never harm anyone!"


Duncan heads for the stairs up.  "Well, let us discuss this with your Mr. Sullivan, and see what he has to say about all of this."
 
Slighted Coil lets go of the woman she held. "If i were you, and if the mayor is who we suspect, then i would suggest the three of you, and anyone else that might still be here, go to a room here that you can lock, and hide there till the fight is over."
 
Brigid knocks an arrow and watches with suspicion as the three people make a run for cover.  "Lets go do our civic duty," she says in a snarky tone of voice.
 
"No time to waste - he won't escape us, and will be brought to justice." It sounds like a manipulative being of some kind, with enough understanding of magics to cause all of this. But in the end, all such creatures still die when you pierce them with a good, solid lance. As the others prepare, Nydian already climbs the first half of the stairs, his weapon ready to answer any kind of attack properly. With predatory eyes, he musters the upper floor, trying to see what awaits them. After all, if the mayor built this manor, he is likely prepared for an attack through the front door.
 
The group of Lunars sweep up the stairs past the three shocked people and onto the second floor where they had come from before emerging into view.  With Nydian taking point (he is a highly aggressive Full Moon in his War Form looking for a good fight, after all), you come to a large wooden set of double doors.  After bursting through, you find yourselves in a plush office roughly thirty feet by forty feet, dominated by a massive oval table and large wooden desk.  Several portraits decorate the walls, all depicting various men and women posing in finery, some in clothes from long ago.  A wide window fills the east wall, looking out over the town, and a man in a long dark red robe is standing in front of it. 


As you charge in, he slowly turns to look at you.  In a calm voice, he says, "You are here to put a stop to the madness?  I should have known I would be thrown to the wolves like this.  Lets get this over with."
 
There he is - the man causing all of this. He knows that this fight is over before it begins. At least, he is not hiding. His lance ready to impale the mayor once the opportunity occurs, Nydian leaps forward, jumping on top of the giant table in the middle of the room. "Why, in Luna's name? What do you gain by having villagers go for each other's throat?"
 
The man seems quite calm as he regards the group of Lunars in front of him.  "I gain nothing, but you won't believe that, no matter how loud I cry that from the rooftops.  You will end up killing me, and this madness will continue unabated forever.  Just get it over with."  He seems quite resigned to an upcoming death.  "She will win in the end.  She always does."
 
Wail snarls.
"Say what.
You'll excuse us for not trusting you outright, because you are dodgy as, and we'll excuse you for thinking that we tend to solve our problems by murdering them, because, to be fair, we do tend to do that.
You'll find that even those of us most enthusiastic about violence can be quite reasonable and oh my, you seem to have a way with words.
So why don't you FORKSAKE ALL HOPES IN THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN, CLOISTER THEM IN YOUR BLACKENED HEART AND DRAW THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT BLOODLESS *ahem* talk straight and fair to us?"
 
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Brigid keeps her bow drawn and aimed at the heart of the man, but strains to look around the room, looking for another source of danger.  "He's far too calm.  This stinks of a set-up, or a trap of some sort.  Perhaps we are meant to kill him, and that will cause some catastrophic disaster a hundred times worse than what we are faced with now."
 
The man laughs; a horrible sound.  "I have nothing left to hide, and you are too late to stop her.  The Mistress plans on turning the whole manse into a powerful shadowland, corrupting the positive energy and biomancy of the manse into a place true death for any that approach."  He laughs again.  "And you let her go.  She is probably in the hearthroom now, completing the ritual that will doom you all."


Duncan looks like someone just slapped him in the face.  "Her!  It was the servant girl we ran into in the great hall!  She played the innocent to get us to come up here while she makes her run to finish corrupting the manse!"  He strides forward and grabs the unresisting man by the coat.  "Where is this hearthroom?"

"In the basement.  But, as I said, it is too late to stop her.  The Mistress will feed upon your death energy and become even more powerful, and there is nothing you can do to stop her."


Duncan snarls, "We shall see about that!  Chosen, time to move!  Lets go!" 
 
"Well played, mistress..."
Wail eyes the man.
"But you come with us, fool me once..."
 
Intrigues, arrogance without anything to back it up, and a clear underestimation what Lunars are capable of - so many things that disgust Nydian about this man. But in case he's not lying again, other things are more important than his person. "Too late, you say? Once the ritual is stopped, you will truly understand these words." Needless to say, the Full Moon turns around immediately, leaping down the stairs in search of an entry to the basement itself.
 
Slighted Coil approaches the man, and puts her hand on his shoulders. "You heard my friends, we are NOT leaving you here. Please come with us, and we can resovle this matter." She appears nice and friendly, but her voice has an undertone of a lurking threat. 
 
Racing through the manor house with the mayor in tow, you once again enter the main hall where you left the woman and the two men.  The woman is nowhere in sight, and the two men are horribly dead, looking as if all their innards have been sucked dry of blood and then tossed aside like a piece of trash.  Duncan shoots a glare over at the bodies and mutters, "Blood magic.  Be ready for a fight with a dark power."


The mayor directs you through the house, down through a wine cellar, until you come to a massive door made of a blend of the magical materials.  The door is locked shut.


Duncan goes up to the door and slowly runs his hands over it.  "I recognize this kind of lock.  It requires an influx of Essence in order to be opened."  He looks back at the rest of the Circle.  "It is designed to leave the person opening the lock weakened and vulnerable to whatever is hiding on the other side.  I can open the door myself, but it will force the fight to be in your hands.  I will do what I can, but you cannot count on me to carry this battle.  Stand ready."

He places his hands on the door and begins to focus his inner strength.  Soon, his caste mark flares, then his anima begins to burn brighter and brighter, until you finally hear an audible 'click' and the heavy door yawns open, revealing a curving stairwell leading down. 


Who takes the lead?
 
Be ready for a fight with a dark power. A few words, in sight of magic that should not exist. Murdering subordinates to gain more power? Blood magic, in fear to not succeed otherwise? A door, meant to weaken the experienced Lunar, taking him out of the upcoming battle? The scholar, if you want to call him like that, has done his job, opened the door. It is on the others to finish the fight. For a short moment, Nydian musters the others - manipulators, archers, sorcerer. It is on the Full Moons to lead the charge, and he is the one carrying heavy armor and spear. There are words that could be said, but time is not on their side - and noone knows what exactly awaits them. Thus, he waits a split-second for someone else to step up - if noone does, Nydian will take the first few steps, leading the group like it is his duty.
 
Wail shoves Nydian forth, or rather *tries*, given how unimpressive his strength is versus the mighty Claw of the South.
But hopefully the message is loud, clear, and most importantly, quick.
"You go first, big guy."
Excited, the skinny Lunar will follow a close second.
 
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As you move down the stairwell, the smell of blood grows thick on the air.  The positive, light energies of the manse are less upbeat here, as if the corruption was starting to win over and is making the whole manse into a powerful shadowland of pain and suffering.  Roughly a hundred feet down into the earth, you come to a open domed circular room, roughly fifty or sixty feet across with a vaulted ceiling rising up almost a hundred feet high.  The room itself is bare except for a dais in the center of the room with a bowl on the floor five feet across and three feet deep filled with blood.  Strips of soulsteel criss-cross the room, causing more and more geomantic damage to the normally positive energy of the manse.  Standing in the center of the blood is the woman you let go before, this time, however, she is now nude except for the hearthstone necklace and a pair of bracers, all made from soulsteel.  It looks as if she has been bathing in the bloody pool before you have come into the room.  An amina from the woman of dark purple and grey hues light up the room, showing that she has been spending her own Essence on some powerful magics. 


"My Blood Pool is nearly full!  Once the darkness spills out, all life that ever comes here will be snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane, feeding its Essence into me for my dark master!  Tonight comes the culmination of years of planning and work, and soon my patience will be rewarded with nearly unlimited power!  Even the best of Luna's Chosen will not be able to stand before me!  But, I am not without mercy.  If you kneel before me and open your veins to offer up your own blood, I will grant you a swift end without pain.  Truly a princely gift."
 
The woman smiles.  "Does that mean you volunteer your blood to be the first to be spilt tonight?"
 
With an ample movement of the arms, Wail sloshes as much blood as he can out of the bowl.
"Whoops"
 
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