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Vignette for October 2010: Unbalanced

Dr Archeville

By Dr Archeville
in Freedom City Stories

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Dr Archeville Advanced Member

Dr Archeville

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FC:PbP is offering the community another "vignette" opportunity. If you'd like to read about our previous vignettes, check here.

(This is a long one.)

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me

A war has been waged in the shadows. On one side, Hades, Greek God of the Underworld, bound to Tartarus by Zeus' decree after a failed attempt at invading Freedom City. On the other, Baron Samedi, loa of death and corruption. Both seek to conquer not only all of Creation, but also all of the dead. Each thinks they're the most powerful death-god, the one who'll be standing at the end, and their petty squabbling has gone on for millennia. But now Hades has changed his game, and is in a position to get everything he's ever wanted.

Hades has studied his foe for some time, as well as the Voodoo pantheon in general. He's realized that they come to the Earthly realm far more often than other deities, more perhaps than any other pantheon, due to the unique relationship between them and their worshipers. Rather than manifesting on earth directly, they inhabit/possess a willing host, as is the case with both Samedi and Siren. Hades saw this as a possible way to circumvent Zeus' ban -- if he could separate his divine essence from his divine body, and leave the body in Tartarus while his spirit possessed some mortal on Earth, he could both act there and still be bound in his prison-realm.

But Hades, being a sly one, doesn't want to show his hand by directly attacking a loa and torturing them for information. So instead, he's teasing out Baron Samedi by overtaking the Zombie Powder drug trade, stealing large shipments of it and mixing it with the drugs the Labyrinth deals on the streets (like Max and Zoom). The reasons are many: this could increase revenue for Labyrinth; this'd be a blow to Samedi's resources; and studying the Zombie Powder could give Labyrinth's techs insight into Voudoun magic, which is necessary for Hades plans. Plus, it angers Samedi, something Hades is keen to do, since he fancies himself the one true lord of the dead and thinks Samedi's just a thuggish upstart.

When Samedi realized what was happening, he grew very upset. Not so much for the loss of mortal resources (though that is an irritation), but for the arrogance of Hades in thinking he's the one true lord of death. How dare he muscle in on his territory?! He's the younger upstart, not Samedi!

(Which one's really the younger one and which one's really the older one? Such answers are incomprehensible to mere mortal minds.)

On the streets, this will for the most part look like more spikes in drug-related crime, and a war between drug cartels, between the folks working (unwittingly or not) for the Labyrinth and those working (unwittingly or not) for Samedi. (Some even say the spikes in drug trafficking and other drug-related crimes during the Iron Age can be tied to this conflict.)

Mystics will also pick up on a change in the air. Divine characters know something bad is going down, increases in necromantic activity (Hades- and Samedi-related, and not), and the dead being more restless than usual (a reason for the increase in necro-cult activity). (Amazing how many Iron Age "satanic cults" and "ritualistic murders" could be tied to Hades' plots.)

Another part of Hades' plan: kidnappings. Hades is going to need a suitable vessel for his spirit to inhabit. A rash of kidnappings has hit the city as his agents search for candidates who are not too big, not too small, not too young, not too old, but juuust right. The first dozen or so are sacrifices in his plan, as he tries to see if he can split the spirit from the body of assorted Greek mythical beings which don't normally do so (like a chimera or harpy) and cram them into a mortal. None of these are for him, though, for Hades knows exactly who his vessel will be, for there is only one whose body and spirit are strong enough to withstand the ordeal, one person whose spirit would wail and gnash as no other as it was displaced by Hades' divine essence and forced to watch him commit unspeakable acts in his body. Hades would possess Daedalus, and ride him to the ground. Of course, he'd have to capture the immortal inventor, and brainwash him into accepting Hades' essence -- that part of The Pact still held full effect, he had to be allowed/invited in -- but any will could be broken, given enough time. The Labyrinth were stuck on a way to make Daedalus' disappearance go unnoticed, but events unfolded such that they were able to get their hands on the remains of a certain shapeshifting android and were able to use it to make an android doppelganger which was able to fool even the Freedom League.

New experimental subjects aren't the only ones the Labyrinth is after -- they're pursuing some old experimental subjects, redoubling their efforts to capture Larceny, Inc. Or, more specifically, their leader, Trap Door, who has something Hades believes he'll need. Trap Door can teleport to any place on Earth, but his departure and arrival points must be bound within a solid frame, such as a door; this limitation is something Hades believes is not psychological, but a latent mystical trait in Trap Door. And using him to cross over is vital to Hades' plans, since all the normal ways he uses to leave his realm are either sealed or closely watched, so using them even as a disembodied essence isn't an option. The Labyrinth was actually able to get two members, Smash and Grab, with some unwitting aid from some new heroes, but not the location of the others, so they eventually released them, with a memory wipe and concealed tracking beacons.

Now is the time to bring the final pieces together, as the 50th anniversary of Hades' failed invasion and imprisonment approaches. The Labyrinth has brought in Daedalus, back in July, replacing him with their android double, and has been brainwashing him for months. (And when Hades succeeds, the opening act of his invasion is to detonate the powerful bomb inside the android Daedalus, taking out the Freedom League.) They captured Larceny, Inc at around the same time, and have been experimenting on Trap Door's powers. More and more of the Hades/Labyrinth-affiliated gangs (like il Diavoli Neri, the Black Devils) increase their attacks on Samedi's gangs (like los Diablos Rojos, the Red Devils), in order to keep him distracted, but Hades knows that won't work for very much longer. A side effect of this push is the creation of lots more zombies, many of them uncontrolled; the Labyrinth mys-techs were able to crack the part of Zombie Powder that allowed Samedi to immediately control the animated corpse of the person who died while under its effects, but not grant control to Hades. Worse, many of these zombies had large amounts of Zoom or Max mystically cut into their ZP, so they're stronger, tougher, or faster than the regular shamblers that ZP typically makes. Now it is October, and these mystical shenanigans attract more undead, and weaken the already-thinned walls between worlds so that all manner of incorporeal undead come out; cultists unaligned with (or too insignificant to be involved in) either side's actions come out of the woodwork to take advantage of the increased mystical energies and maybe wrangle up some undead for their own plots.

And what of Dead Head, one of the few who has been seeing and feeling so much of this? He'll have his role to play in this, but one that will carry a terrible, wonderful price.

Who: Any player who is interested, for one or both of their characters.

What: Write a one (1) page (single spaced) vignette featuring your character dealing with these events. Maybe they're on patrol and run into a swarm of zombies (or pack of vampires, or other undead). Maybe they hear about the zombies, and work to make sure a certain tykebomb doesn't hear about them. Maybe they're visited by a friendly spirit, such as a deceased mentor or revered ancestor who gives some bit of advice or reassurance. Maybe they get a glimpse of their own death. Perhaps they run across an escaped Smash, Grab, or Get-Away, who are panicking as if Hell itself is chasing them. Or maybe they track the source of it and try to stop it all, before the gates between worlds shatter and the dead from all the afterworlds come to Freedom.

When: The deadline for submissions will be Sunday, October 31st by 11:59 PM EST (GMT -5). The vignettes themselves can take place any time during October of 2010.

Where: Anywhere. When you submit your vignette, please make a note clearly indicating in which forum it should be posted, as well as when it would be happening.

Why: To enhance our community, to flex your writing muscles, to think more deeply about your character, and to earn a bonus PP for your character for the month of October.

How: Once your story is finished and proofed, PM it to me. When all the stories are in, one of our staff members will post them to the appropriate forums (which is why we need you to be sure to tell us where it should go!), and provide links to them in this thread. DO NOT post them in a forum yourself, otherwise it will not be counted for this exercise.

Post here with questions.

(This is my attempt at a Crisis Crossover Event.)

Oh, and, yes, I do still plan to finish the threads linked above which are still open.

Submitted Vignettes

Supercape's Vignette: Sunday, October 3rd, evening. South Freedom, Bayview

Phantom's Vignette: Tuesday, October 5th. West Freedom, Lantern Hill

Arrowhawk's Vignette: Sunday, October 10th. South Freedom, Southside.

Changeling's Vignette: Sunday, October 10th, 6:49pm. North Freedom, North Bay.

Bombshell's Vignette: Friday, October 15th. Downtown Freedom, The Fens.

Geckoman's Vignette: Friday, October 15th, 10:00pm. Downtown Freedom, Midtown.

Breakdown's/Muse's Vignette: Friday, October 15th, 11:52pm. West Freedom, Lantern Hill Cemetery.

Ironclad's Vignette: Saturday, October 23rd, 4:32pm. South Freedom, Southside.

Slick's Vignette: Sunday, October 24th. Other Areas Around Freedom, Lands Beyond Freedom

Freedom Angel's Vignette: Wednesday, October 27th. West Freedom, Lantern Hill

Gabriel's Vignette: Thursday, October 28th, 6:45pm. South Freedom, Southside.

Nick Cimitiere's Vignette: Thursday, October 28th, late evening. West Freedom, Greenbank

Razorwing's Vignette: Friday, October 29th, 3:00am. West Freedom, Lantern Hill

Momentum's Vignette: Saturday, October 30th, 11:04 PM. Downtown, The Fens

Wander's Vignette: Friday, October 31st, Morning. South Freedom, Bayview.

Midnight's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st. Downtown, The Fens.

Edge's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st. Downtown, The Fens.

Fleur's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st. Morning/Day. Downtown Freedom, Midtown.

Harrier/Miss Americana's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st. South Freedom, Lincoln.

Phalanx/Psyche Vignette: Sunday, October 31st, 7:00pm. Other Areas Around Freedom, Wharton State Forest

Equinox's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st, 8:00pm. Downtown, The Theatre District.

Dragonfly's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st, 8:00pm. West Freedom, Greenbank

Cannonade's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st. South Freedom, Southside

Silhouette's Vignette Sunday, October 31st, evening. West Freedom, Lantern Hill

Victory's Vignette: Sunday, October 31st, evening. Downtown Freedom, Riverside

Ouroboros' Vignette: Monday, November 1st, 12:03am. Other Areas Around Freedom, Sewers and Subways

Jack of all Blades/Jill O'Cure's Vignette: Monday, November 1st, 12:03am. Other Areas Around Freedom, Sewers and Subways

Dead Head's Vignette: Monday, November 1st, 12:04am. Other Areas Around Freedom, Sewers and Subways

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Dr Archeville Advanced Member

Dr Archeville

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I'm going to do this Vignette slightly differently from others. Rather than waiting until the beginning of the following month to post them all, I'm going to post them as they come in to me. This will make it easier for you to play off one another, and allow us to see the whole thing as it evolves.

And here's the first one!

Momentum's Vignette Saturday, October 30th 2010, 11:04 PM. Downtown, The Fens

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Dr Archeville Advanced Member

Dr Archeville

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Wande'rs Vignette is up! (See first post for link)

And here's how it's all going to end. Well, in broad, semi-vague strokes.

Dead Head (and several other heroes) track down and confront Hades and his agents/cultists (and monsters and undead nasties) in their large cavern ritual chamber, interrupting the Halloween eve ritual right around the time Baron Samedi and his crewe (of living and undead) busts in. Big three-way battle, with the brainwashed Daedalus just sorta sitting there (he's brainwashed enough to accept Hades, but not fight for him).

Before the ritual began, Hades' agents had the Android!Daedalus lead the rest of the Freedom League on a wild goose chase. During the fight, they'll have the android explode, in the hopes of A) killing or at least injuring them and B) severely demoralizing them ("Holy crud, Daedalus just exploded!"), so they'll be too distracted to realize what's really going on.

And then Dead Head's head asplodes, as Papa Ghede -- who's been resting inside DH all this time, recovering form the wounds received fighting the preternatural horror Malador & Samedi tried summoning over a decade ago -- pops out and lends a hand. The PC's beat the two Death-Gods back, and Ghede departs to report to both the Voodoo and Greek Pantheons and resume his other duties. (Dead Head'll still be animate, but several PLs lower; I'm undoing the Player Reward used to bump his PL 7 slot to PL 10).

Vignette Ideas

* Your PC is with the League, on Android!Daedalus' wild goose chase. Perhaps you realize an odd pattern (or lack of a pattern) to the leads he's having you chase down. Perhaps you're there when he explodes, and try to figure out what happened.

* Your PC is at the big showdown itself. Mowing down mooks? Trying to snap Daedalus out of it with arousing speech? Facing down Samedi and/or Hades?

Also, a reminder: PM your Vignette to me and to me only.

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