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Chronicle's Outline
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Chronicle's Outline
The Lord Giveth
HMS Brighton was a British ammunition ship under the guise of a medical ship. It did have large quantities of medical supplies (including blood reserves), but deep in her hull were bombs and weapons. The ship docked in Egypt, but before her hold could be emptied, radioed orders told that her weapons were needed in Europe. With those orders, the ship set sail again, only this time she had nearly a dozen more passengers. The characters, the Static Mage, and the ghouls found a way out of Egypt.
No one noticed the characters at all. Clever use of Obfuscate kept them and the Ark they possessed concealed from the Mortal crew. But, midway across the ocean, their powers failed them. The Mage could cast no spells, and the ghouls were simply normal humans. Something was sucking their energies away. They were soon discovered and held in the ship's brig. It turned out that the ship's Master of Arms isn't Mortal, either, but a Nephandi. He knew the characters were on board and used the anti-magic spell to uncover them. The ship was under a spell that prevented any other spells from working. That is, until the Nephandi's spell eventually wore off.
It turns out that the surviving Christian Mage (the one that wasn't killed in England during the moonlight wedding), the Nephandi tells the characters locked behind cell bars, not only prepared for the character's return to the Ark, but also turned from Christ. After the characters entered the stasis field in 1519, the Christian mage, now blessed (or cursed) with eternal life by becoming an unknown vampire's ghoul, set about to catch them when the stasis field fell again. Due to the war going on, the Mage couldn't be there at that time. But by watching the characters from afar he was able to find out which ship they boarded. After killing the ship's real Master of Arms and taking his place (by violently removing the victim's face and 'putting it on') the Christian Mage was able to trap the characters in the brig.
An interesting twist. But, there was another twist to this Nephandi's tell. The Nephandi gained eternal life from a vampire. That vampire was also on the ship. After a while, he entered the brig. It was a Nosferatu. Not just any Nosferatu, it was Cae. The characters met this vampire after Lodin was destroyed by the Justicar in Chicago. It was Cae that told the characters about Elucid, and thus the evil Nephandi girl in the subway station. But, as that would happen more than fifty years from now, Cae had no idea who the characters were, other than what the Christian Mage told him. He knew they were from some time in the future, when the world would end. He only knows that the characters need the Ark to help prevent the end, and he is going to get that Ark.
Shit starts to hit the fan here. An Italian torpedo hits the British ship, and the ammuntion in her hold goes off in a large explosion. The ship begins to sink fast, and with it, the Ark. Ordered by Cae, his master, the Nephandi ends the anti-magic spell so he and Cae can teleport, with the Ark, away from the dying ship. The characters and the Mage now have their powers back, and easily break the brig's bars. Cae and the mage find their exit blocked because the Static Mage erected some sort of field around the sinking ship. Magic still works, but no one is leaving just yet. Explosions rock the boat, water fills room after room, the sounds of sirens and klaxons fill the air, and a large battle between vampires and mages travels from deck to deck, ending in the bridge. The ex-Christian Nephandi died in the engine room due to a horrible explosion. All of the ghouls drown in one room or another. One character died after being pierced by the horn of some demon summoned by the Nephandi.
Three characters and the Static Mage faced off againt Cae on the ship's bridge. The ocean surrounds them on all sides, with the dawn approaching in the east. Most of the ship (and the Ark in the ship's lowest hold) was underwater. The final aspect of this sea battle was brief. Cae killed the Static Mage, thus ending the spell that prevented his escape. He spirited himself (and the Ark) away from the dying ship. The charcters had no such teleportation magic (the Static Mage was dead). They searched everywhere trying to come up with something. But, in the end, they could only think of one thing. They prayed for a way out, to escape their Final Death. Just before the waters poured into the broken windows of the destroyed bridge, the sun came up above the horizon. By the time the entire sun was in the sky, HMS Brighton was gone.
The Lord Taketh Away
As one of the most lucky events in history, it turned out that Reality finally caught up with the characters. By going back in time, they messed with the way Reality was supposed to be. They bent Reality so far that it finally snapped itself back. The characters were snapped back into their normal time, setting Reality back to normal, with everyone in their proper time and place. This also created three Paradox Demons. The characters, burned from the light of the sun on the ship's bridge, reappeared in Indianapolis, the instant after they were sent back in time. The Static mages that cast the spell where there, getting ready to clean up the ashes and other remains of the time travel spell components.
The characters appeared and then seconds later the Paradox Demons did, too. They were trying to kill the characters and take their souls out of Reality. The assembled Mages battled on the characters behalf, and eventually the Demons were destroyed. The characters, badly hurt, entered into Frenzy and attacked the Static Mages to get blood. They were soon calmed down, and explinations were given. Mouning the loss of six of their greatest Mages, the group called Static began their plans to go to Chicago and take the Ark away from Cae the Nosferatu. The characters waited and healed with the blood of Indianapolis citizens. When the characters were ready they set off for Chicago.
See the Hidden Truth section to find out what has happened in Chicago while the characters spend their time in Indianapolis. It turns out that Cae is the new Camarilla Prince, and the Primogen has been reduced to two other vampires. The Anarchs were scattered and in disarray, and Milwaukee has fallen to the Sabbat once again. Anita Wainwright was still alive, but mourning the loss of her lover. When the characters tell her that Elucid's sire, Cae, was the one responsible for her lover's death (a lie, but it worked) she gathered together all of the city's Anarchs and stormed the Sears Tower, Prince Cae's new Haven.
Too bad for most of those Anarchs. The Camarilla Justicar was visiting Chicago to praise Cae for his work in bringing the Anarchs and Sabbat of Chicago under control. When the Anarchs stormed the Tower (like that scene in the Matrix) the Justicar, an ultra-powerful vampire of the Venture clan, and Cae, along with several of their ghouls and lesser vampires fought. Several Anarchs died in the first few rounds of combat simply by the Justicar's hands. Eventually Cae escaped by jumping out of the window and somehow getting away. The Justicar killed and destroyed just as his ghouls died around him. Eventually, though, the sheer number of Chicago's remaining Anarchs (and the characters' help) proved too much for the Justicar, who died after much of the top floor of the Sears Tower was destroyed (with fire and ice and blood magic). The Anarchs had won a major victory, but Cae had escaped.
One of the vampires helping Cae and the Justicar was of the Primogen, leaving the number of Camarilla Kindred in Chicago numbering about four. The remaining Anarch population was about twenty. With the Justicar dead, the Anarchs now ruled Chicago. It was a Free City. Anita, not wanting to emulate the Camarilla, refused the position of Prince, instead allowing the vampires to rule themselves individually. Plans to destroy the Sears Tower, long the Haven of the Prince, were formed, but Anita thought the building had a great view, so they never did destroy it.
Most of the files and computers in the penthouse of the Sears Tower were destroyed, but the characters were able to find out some information about Cae and the location of the Ark. They found a number for Cae's voicemail, and in it there were messages from someone calling himself a member of Maljin Incarna, whatever that was. There also seemed that a warehouse on the dock kept calling about a large crate that belonged to Cae needing to be moved. They figured that must be the Ark. Leaving Anita and the Anarch, the characters went to the Lake and found the warehouse. Cae was inside. The characters fed on their way over (on firefighters that came to the burning Sears Tower) to the warehouse, and were ready for another fight.
Cae did not disappoint them. Towards the end of the battle the characters opened crates to get the objects in them (such as military weapons and even a propane tank and a lighter). Cae was defeated, finally, and he said that it was too late for them to use the Ark. The end was upon them. Before staking him on the roof (and thus burning him to death when the sun rose later) they took the shipping label off of a shipment to Indianapolis and put it on the Ark crate. Then they set off to find shelter nearby. The last thing they heard before going to sleep was the horrid Nosferatu's screams
Solubility Solution
At last the characters had the Ark, the relic the need to communicate with Heaven. So many questions will be answered, including how to find Michael and his artifacts that allow the Static Mages to find the Tablet People, and thus read the complete series of Tablets and learn how to escape the worlds end (and what form the end of the world will be: Holy Fire, Nuclear War, etc). If they could find out for Heaven what the end would be like, then so much the better, but they were humble and simply wanted to ask where the angel Michael was. While the characters were researching where the Ark was, the mages were also researching how to use it. With the characters' knowledge (they used it to attack the British and Germans in World War II) they were able to determine how it works as a 'radio.'
With the weatherman predicting snow in almost two weeks (and that snowfall would be the first rain, marking the End) the Static Mages activated the Ark. Soon Metatron, the most powerful being below God (and Christ, of course) stood before the characters (and the mages) in Indianapolis. He was nice enough, and answered the questions in cryptic sayings. After nearly half an hour of talk, Metatron picked up the Ark (which was really heavy) and disappeared. The characters had their answer on how to find Michael, but that was disappointing. Michael was in Heaven. He had found all of the Tablet People on Earth and returned to be by God's side again. That meant that the Artifacts that the characters wanted were no longer on Earth.
Thus Static members were working on a plan to find the Tablet people using magic and not Michael's artifacts. Also, a small circle of mages within Static were working on a way to stop the Nephandi. The characters, having lost faith in Static's leaders (who sent them on quest after quest to only end up with nothing), became 'consultants' to this inner circle of Static Mages. Small amounts of information gathered over the course of the adventure helped the inner circle formulate a plan. They decided that the Nephandi were cooperating for the first time and trying to bring about the end of the world. They also know that Maelstroms thicken the Shroud between the mortal realm and the Shadowlands (where the Nephandi get their magical power). These Maelstroms were caused by an influx of large numbers of dead souls into the Shadowlands. This inner circle formulated a plan to cause a powerful Maelstrom, the most powerful ever, and thicken the Shroud so much that all of the Nephandi can be found and killed by the Static Mages.
This meant that a large number of people had to die at the same time. Using every contact that the circle could find, they set out to find the quickest way to get as many mortals to die at about the same time as possible. Research found that the new drug on the streets of America's cities, called Hum, was not only the new date rape drug, but when combined with another, harmless, chemical, would kill the user. The circle sent the characters to the streets to give this drug to as many addicts as possible. Since the drug is the most addictive drug known, that wasn't hard. And the characters were giving it away! Soon, hundreds of people were using and selling to others. In two weeks most of the youth (and the 'hip' adults) were on Hum. The first winter snow was only a few days away. The clock was ticking.
Local law enforcement got wind of the characters' activities, as did the main body of Static Mages. At Indianapolis's water reservoir, where the characters and the Inner Circle were planning to put the deadly chemical that destroys Hum users into the water supply, the police ambushed and attacked the characters. The mortal police were easily killed. When the main body of Static Mages showed up, things turned badly for the characters. A nighttime battle, sirens and police lights, on a dam overlooking a large body of water was the setting of this climactic scene. When the characters were nearly defeated, someone came to their aid. A most unexpected group of someones.
Three Nephandi arrived and began to attack the Static mages, aiding the characters. No one knew that they were Nephandi (at the time it was thought that they were a rival group of Tradition Mages) and the characters set about doing their evil plan (by this time they were low on Humanity, anyway). Soon barrels of the chemical were poured into the lake, mixing with the drinking water. In a few days, most of the users would be dead. The group known as Static was destroyed by the Nephandi that night. They didn't explain why they helped, but they thanked the characters for killing so many mortals.screams
Inherit the Earth
The characters realized their mistake a few days later. Thousands of people were dying all over Indianapolis and the surrounding cities. It looked as if others, most likely the Nephandi, had infected other water supplies elsewhere. Why would the Nephandi try to kill so many people if that would cause a Maelstrom and weaken them to a point that their destruction would be easy to achieve? The characters found out that by so many people dying at one place at one time created a Maelstrom that was powerful enough to knock open the Gates of Hell. Malfeas, a power arch-demon, was foreseen to enter the Mortal Realm and destroy the world. The characters, by trying to prevent the End, only caused it to happen.
The snow fell at the exact same time everywhere in the northern hemisphere. That was the moment the Gates were broken and Malfeas emerged. His first act was to destroy his Nephandi followers, but they were expecting that. No longer inhibitied by their mortal forms, those three Nephandi were now Undead Warriors. Disease, in the form of Hum addiction and death, spread across America, then the world. Hundreds of thousands died in the first few weeks alone. The characters ran for cover as the demonic armies slowly spread across the globe, destroying the lives of the people. For the first time in quite a while the characters were sorry for their actions. They prayed for forgiveness, for answers, for help in fighting the evil they caused. This was the start of their increase in Humanity
God answered them, too. Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, and other Angels visited the characters in their Haven in Indianapolis (formerly the HQ of Static). The Angelic armies were going to meet Malfeas and his hordes of darkness. The characters were to gather their allies, anyone who could help, to this fight. But, said the angels, God has already forgiven you.
The characters traveled in the daytime (in coffens, of course) to Chicago to get Anarchs there to come help them out. Anita Wainwright agreed, seeing the death around her. The characters went to Milwaukee, to get some members of the Coyote and Raven totems to travel south and help in the fight. They even went to Sault Ste. Marie and picked up a few Sabbat there that owed them some favors. By the time they arrived back in Indianapolis, they had a force to be reckoned with. With the help of the Angels and their holy armies, the battle was ready to be fought.
On a snowy night (it never stopped snowing after that first snow) the forces of God met Malfeas in the deserted south side of Indianapolis (the city having been mostly destroyed by the Hum Epidemic). In a battle that took all of a gaming session and a bit of the next, the character fought demon after demon after demon, drinking their unholy blood and gaining power and an unheard of rate. Every creature I could think of was thrown at them, and every one was defeated. The Angelic armies won nearly every skirmish in this Holy War in Indianapolis. Mage and Werewolf and Vampire battled side by side against the evil that destroyed the world. Some called it Satan, others the Wrym, still other the incarnation of Oblivion. Whatever it was, it was a bitch to kill.
Somewhere, in the midst of the combat, the dark forces began to win. After nearly an entire night of fighting, Malfeas looked to be the winner. Angels and allies were dying left and right. Buildings were rubble and streets were burning. The very sky was on fire with magic. Before dawn the demonic army had destroyed nearly everything. Michael was dead, as was Gabriel. The Sabbat and Raven totem allies were destroyed long ago. Soon the characters looked Evil in the face. The four of them against three Undead Warriors and behind them: Malfeas.
The sound of the battle was horrible. The buildings falling, the bombs exploding, the screams of the dying. An airplane crashed, a magical volcano erupted, and weapons of all types were discharged. Then, as the characters faced what looked to be their final battle, all was silenced. Even the fires did not crackle. A ray of light shone down from the sky. Then another. No one could move, not even Malfeas. The fires dimmed and it seemed as if time stood still. Someone was coming down from that light in the sky.
Jesus, still wounded from his time on the cross, spoke to the survivors of the long battle. All of the worthy have been taken to Heaven. All but four. He looked at the characters, and thanked them for their help in bringing about prophecy. It was God's will that they start the chain of events that would lead to the End of the world. Then he looked at Malfeas, rose his hand, and the Dark One was humbled. He fell to his knees before Christ and begged forgiveness. The one who influenced Lodin to do his evil. The one who had Isis killed. The one who helped Mentu-hetep get free of his prison (or tried to, at least) was brought down with just a look from the Son of God. The characters were awed by such power.
Just then the sound came back. The light was gone. The roar of the fires came back. The four characters were still there, the three Undead Warriors were still there, but Christ and Malfeas was gone. The angels and demons were gone. The Warriors attacked and the characters killed them easily enough. The dawn came, and the characters retreated to find shelter for the day.