Play with fire and you get burned...

To Hellfire and Back!

The Party return to the Craven Foundation…
A Cu-Sidhe is assigned to watch over the valley…
The Craven Team’s seer arrives… Edith… An Albino…
Marco decides to isolate himself from his family to reduce the chance of the Five Rings targeting them…
Professor Jones heads off to an opium den to research sources…
Nell activates her urchin network…
Rumours of sacrifices in a graveyard in NW London…
Hellfire Club linked to the rituals…
‘Hungry Ghosts’ being created by Hell necromancer…

~~

Craven Team notes on Senior Hellfire Members: 

 Percival Dashwood – descendant of the founder of the C18th club… A ruthless playboy who artfully hides his talents under a bluff ‘Lord Flash-heart’ act…
 Harold Chadwick – a litigious old villain who is rumoured to have ‘rarefied tastes’ in the mediums he uses to fuel his spell… Four of his ‘young’ wives have died in mysterious circumstances…
 Samuel Dyall – Old Africa hand… Boar War scout and big game hunter…
 Constantine Koniev – Anarchist and Rasoputin type… Known to be a necromancer and eventually revealed by the party to be an agent provocateur for the dreaded Okhrana (the Czarist ‘Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order’)…
 Sir Charles Cawthorne – Alistair Crawley type in private but affable public servant to his masters in the Cabinet Office…
 Lady Lucinda Parker is a Hellfire wannabe known to the Theodorans…

~~

Marco mixes with the Hellfire Set in London… Soon making acquaintance with Dashwood and Cawthorne; effortlessly showing his dark side and deliberately taunting Koniev… Marco fits easily with the ruthless dissolute crown around the masters of the Hellfire Order… Marco is followed by Koniev’s agents…

~~

Something is stirring in the West and (01) it appears to be one of the Elder Gods (a Celtic Titan known as Cadair Idris (the Grey King)…
There are said to be sleepers under the mountain and they are at least as ancient as the forging…
According to the Winter Sidhe, he was the last of the Titans and Kalys cast him down just before her own fall from grace… 

~~

Professor Jones sets up and encounter with Dyall to discuss artefacts and the hunter deviously tests him by showing him a South Sudanese ‘Shilluck’ sacrificial mace… The professor passes the test with ease… “Of course, South America is really my area…” Dyall invites the professor to visit his house…
The Professor visits Samuel Dyall’s house… Pygmy servant watches him suspiciously… Huge collection of stuffed animals - the product of thirty years of hunting… Magic room is filled with atlases covered in arcane script… Jones uses herbs to focus his weave sense (cause temporary blindness after an hour)… He notes that Dyall has serpent burn marks on his skin…

~~

Grey Foxes (Maelgrim) are rumoured to be in Wales… Nell, Michael and Lyris pop to Wales by train and Lyris opens the death-gate into the Grey King’s tomb by playing one of the key phrases from the Song of Gaia (00)!!!
Circle of whirlwinds that form into snarling Grey foxes drives them into the skull festooned gateway and the sinister gateway into the Green Weave realm…
There are spirals across the walls and Michael recognises them as being similar to those seen on the entrance stone at Newgrange (Irish: Sí an Bhrú) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange…
“A labyrinth or prison…”
The group find themselves facing the ghost of a ‘bogman’… A human sacrifice dedicated to guarding the Grey King…
In the inner chamber they find a vast geode and vast friezes showing the dragon-Kalys using balefire to seal the Grey King within the vast crystalline chamber at the centre of the geode…  

~~~

Marco is invited to the hunt ball… Five Rings neophyte (suffragette recruited at Cambridge), Olive Harper, is the only one to spot Marco’s heart and he hints that he is evaluating the Order for his masters… Marco suggests that the long game is worth playing and that she should avoid being lured into the easy path… “Take care and you attain what you want with fewer regrets…”
An arcane object is bought out for the guests to enjoy and Marco’s heart becomes obvious to everyone using weave sense!
The Inner Circle tries to cover up that they hadn’t noticed… Dashwood has an epiphany!
Marco is invited into the Council Chamber and they reveal that they have decided that Carmen is too dangerous to be allowed to live… They know that Marco is one of her victims and decide to give him an opportunity to strike back during a ceremony where she will be an honoured guest… They have a device that will prevent her from summoning or form-shifting her demons… Marco insists on gathering his own team… Dyall hints that he knows a South American expert who has handled one of the famous crystal skulls – Professor Jones!

~~

In the geode chamber there are seven sarcophagi… Six Blue weave and one Red… The last of the Grey King’s loyal bodyguard who fell during the Battle of Yggdrasil during the Forging (three male and four female – including the Grey King’s general)… Touching the stone chambers leads to memory glimpses… The elder gods and titans… The ‘death’ of the Grey King… The betrayal and defeat of Kalys… Her own avatar joined the Grey King’s fellowship after her mistress was cast into the void! Nell experiences being murdered by Hagen… Lyris experiences being the dragon avatar and being struck down by both Calis (Hawkwood’s Winter Sidhe friend and the son of Kalys!!!) and Hagen… The ghosts ascend from their tombs when touched by the appropriate soul-weave and vanish into the mortal realm (Nell imprints the idea that Astarte’s Realm is safe for them as they will be re-born as Fey and not as mortals)… The female dragon avatar forms into a Red Dragon and coils around and kisses Lyris before disappearing… Lyris looks a little shocked by her new admirer!
The ghosts all freeze in spheres of light and the party hear footsteps on the stairs!

~~

Tabitha briefs the team on Nell and Lyris’ expedition… Marco reveals the ceremony plan… Tabitha confirms that Carmen is part of the Black Sun cult but points out that Carmen has assisted the Craven Foundation in the past…
Edith joins Marco and the Professor as they take a train to Cardiff and then to the Grey King… Long hike up the hill…
Marco calls upon the King (07) while the Professor scatters the Maelgrim (01)…
Within the mountain, the Grey King, a vast pre Celtic warlord, asks Lyris and Nell to reseal the geode… He will return when the Elder Gods threaten the world once more and fulfil his destiny as their mortal enemy… The party do as he asks and retreat from the mountain… Marco’s voice guiding them back into the light…
Carmen arrives at the mountain hours later to find the heroes gone and the Grey King’s chamber sealed…
A Red Dragon watches from the mountain above…

~~

Carlos reports on the Orders activities… They are gathering at various hotels around West Wycombe… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Wycombe_Caves...
The Professor sets up alternative digs so he doesn’t get spotted as an ally of the Craven Foundation…
Long discussion with Dyall about crystal skulls… The only question is which does Carmen possess? The Professor tells Dyall that the Machu Picchu skull was sold… Dyall shows him a crystal vertebra… Dyall is delighted by the Professor’s analysis…  
Marco realises that he has an emotional link to Carmen… Carmen has placed part of herself in the crystal skull to establish the connection… He decides to use the link to prevent her from shifting back from the scoundrel aspect to the sorceress… George hears that Carmen is in the party’s sights and volunteers to help… Lyris thinks that Marco should be able to use his ‘inner bastard’ to influence Carmen…

~~

Nell tries a middle class grey dress to be Marco’s ‘medium’… George updates Duke Cynan and arranges for a squadron of Sidhe knights to intervene if required…
Marco arrives at West Wycombe in his Bugatti Type 13 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti)...
The caves contain a minor rent in the Realms and a source of all three weaves… Nell meets the other mediums (the conduit kids)… Koniev is the only member of the Order who uses an item and not a medium… Dyall’s is a South African native girl… Cawthorne’s is an arrogant bully… The boy tries to hex Nell and catches a magical disease… Nell adds iron filings to their gruel…
Watching the cave entrance, Lyris spots the C18th master necromancer hovering near the mausoleum… His heart is said to be concealed there…
Team Shaman – Anya and Impasa arrive to assist in taking out the necromancer and the ‘hungry ghosts’ guarding the caves…
Lyris wakes Quetzalcoatl with music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzacoatl)... George asks him to assist in retrieving Marco’s heart and notes that she needs Marco for the agreed ceremony… “If you help us – you’ll be born within a year”…
At the pre-ceremony ball, Marco sows seeds of doubt amongst the cultists… The ceremony is risky…
Procession in white robes from the house to the caves… Lyris effortlessly joins in the music (small group of musicians in the caves assume she is an echo 03)…
Three circles form… The leaders and their mysterious masked guest are in the inner circle… Nell and George swap… Carmen prepares for a huge ritual (09/17)…
Just as Carmen empowers the cult so that they can see the weave, the order betrays her! Lyris shifts the ceremonial music to keep the ghosts from intervening… Marco links to Carmen and focuses on the scoundrel just as Nell smashes the device and grabs the necklace - throwing it to George just as one of the ghosts ensnares her (it gets zapped by Anya)… Professor Jones fires a curare dart to take out Dyall… Mass fumbles as the music and chaos shatter the ritual (luckily the fumbles created by Nell’s gruel plan only cause fatigue)… Carmen assumes her enemies are cult’s leaders!

~~~

I’ll leave the main scene to Marco… 

Death of Carmen

"Mierda, how did I not see that this bunch of ‘pinche guys’ would try and stab me in the back" crossed her mind as she grabbed her dagger and summoned the sword-demon. The dagger pulsed briefly but no more as the purple weave crackled over them, things were not getting better when Carmen realised that Angelica was blocked. 

"Still not enough" she whispered as the dagger slashed Dyall's throat and killed the most dangerous of the 5 Rings inner circle. A slight frown crossed her face as she realised that he was not just slow but completely paralysed. A sting at the back of her neck made it all clear as she quickly flicked out the dart and wondered what poison it contained (none – the Professor was keeping the party’s options open). 

She ducked quickly to avoid Dashwood's swinging blade and noticed Chadwick crumple to the floor. Perhaps the angels were with her tonight she thought as she dodged Cawthorne's blade and plunged the dagger to his heart. The dagger was humming gently, a few seconds more and she could activate her armour. Across the room one of the Hellfire members shouted "Dashwood" and the miserable betrayer, eyes wide in surprise, died as 2 bullets hit him in the chest (Cawthorne was shot by the Marco). 

Before Carmen could react, another bullet hit her in the arm and threw her against the wall. She grimaced but called her demon armour forth. As the smoke cleared, the last cultist stepped forward, his hood back and eyes blazing. "Marco" she gasped, armour forming over her body but too late as he raised the gun. She cursed her luck and smiled as the bullet entered her brain.

~~

Koniev's escape

Sensing that everything was going pear-shaped, Petyr Koniev joined the neophytes streaming out of the caves. However, they didn't know about the side passage leading to the house but he winced slightly when he found the door stuck closed. He slipped back into the crowd but as they exited the caves ducked round the corner to miss the shining figures outside. Petyr was considering drawing a couple of spirits to him to help when he felt a blast of spiritual energy wash over him and he knew that Dashwood's Lich had just met his maker. "Chyort voz'mi! there must be a major shaman nearby. Make that 2." he chuckled as he let his ghosts slip away. "Time to get out of here..."

3 hours later, Petyr stumbled into the Anarchists' lair, safe at last. His heart stopped as the welcoming faces instead reached for knives, clubs and guns. At that moment he hated Marco and Jones with a passion. Then luck swung his way as the young Anarchist, Alexei, barrelled into the room shouting "Koniev's coming here!". Koniev dived through the open door and jumped down the stairs as a fusillade of bullets rang out. One creased his shoulder but he slipped through the backstreets and alleys of London to the Russian embassy. A few weeks later he was safe in the Okhrana headquarters in St Petersburg.

The escaping cultists are rounded up by Sidhe and the ghost necromancer is destroyed by Anya and Impasa… A few hours after the ceremony… Carmen’s various containment spells fail and the caves are filled with exploding maelstrom…  Marco, assisted by Quetzalcoatl, the party and the Craven Team, takes part in a ritual at Stonehenge at All Hallow’s Eve… His heart briefly stops as it returns to its natural but he survives the ritual… George admits to Marco about her deal with Quetzalcoatl… Cynan rewards the party for their audacity and bravery… There is a new focus of power in Germany… Battles at sea between Shen Wu and the Mersidhe… Black Druid cult gatherings across the realms (particularly in the Northern Urals)… Ki was besieged but rescued by Coedarian… Balkan hobgoblins trying to get to Setheroth were ambushed at Kosovo (the Field of the Blackbirds)… The Djinn Gate is glowing… The African expedition set off for Mount Kilimanjaro… 

~~

Journey to Mexico and Carmen's Hacienda

First phase of the journey involved the overnight LNER sleeper train from St Pancras to Glasgow. After quick stop for breakfast with Douglas (and a quick discussion of business between Marco and Douglas), a much happier man, they boarded the RMS Tuscania for New York on the morning of September 11th (Lyris did not enjoy the voyage). The stark reality of the war was evident as they picked up a Royal Navy destroyer escort as they left the Clyde. The journey lasted 8 days and was peaceful (and still luxuriant) until the 19th as they entered American waters. The RMS Athinai which left New York a few days earlier with 438 passengers and crew of 70 and a cargo of coffee, rice, cotton and newspaper had a fire in her sealed lower hold and a general SOS was issued on the ship's wireless set. A number of ships including the Tuscania answered the distress call and passengers and crew were rescued with just 1 death.

After a few days in New York, they set off from Grand Central Station. They travelled by rail down through Washington and Atlanta to New Orleans, over 1000 miles by rail but surprisingly quickly and in great comfort. Marco insisted that a few days stay was needed (for no good purposes according to Nell) and he was certainly late returning and looking rather haggard. This included a visit to to the Stag bar in Harry Ramos' Imperial Cabinet saloon for New Orleans fizzes where 35 shakermen would shake the drink until their arms were tired, then pass it on down the line.

Next stage involved a quick trip to Baton Rouge and then rather less luxurious trains across the deserts of Texas and New Mexico, through the towns of Houston and San Antonio to the frontier town of Las Cruces. There they collected horses and a motorised lorry for the overland trek to Juarez, across the Mexican border, and then to Juarez and finally on to Estacion San Pedro near Casa Grandes (locals informed them that the region was known for the ancient Paquimé civilisation). The horse trek was over 100 miles and took nearly 4 days.

~~

At Carmen’s Yucatan hacienda, Lyris notes that there are the confused ghosts of the recently dead… A surviving servant says that ‘Americanos’ came and killed everyone… Most were Texans… The house has been ransacked… The descriptions fit the group Marco remembers being with Carmen (Cajun, Texan and Mexican Federale general – the Texan is Henry Hodges and the Cajun is Charles Porter III)…
Carmen kept some of her necklace-links free range (3 plus Marco – including a journalist and a politician) and some in weave mazes… The Texan took all of the mazes (12)… According to the Professor, her Mayan astronomical calendar suggests that events are about to shift to the pacific and the USA… Nell finds the secret door to Carmen’s shrine to her father but it is protected by a demon so the party flees… George gathers the remaining servants and arranges for the estate to be tidied up and the legal aspects dealt with (Carmen left no will)… Marco visits Pancho Villa and after describing the raid asks him to assist by attacking the Five Rings lair near Columbus, New Mexico… As Villa desperately needs supplies after his defeat at the Second Battle of Agua Prieta and is eager to make President Wilson pay for allowing Carranza to transport troops across Arizona (plus US companies sold Villa defective bullets), he agrees – on the understanding that the party scout the house…
Diego Rodriguez and Izabella Sanchez accompany the party…
The ranch is at the head of a valley overlooked by an ancient Native American cave village… Hodges is a master of Navajo Witch Magic - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_(Navajo) but his lair is protected by the ghosts he has harvested from the burial ground on which he’s built his house… Around the valley there are ghosts chained to their platforms… Lyris is outraged and Marco convinces her to sabotage the fetish skeleton crucified in the village and not release the ghosts until everyone is ready (she manipulates the fetish nightmare to make it slowly go dormant and empowers the sacrifice to start to resist)… Nell scouts the house and finds a hall of arcane mirrors… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qir5t9RbEHo... Heh heh heh…
Wisely she decides not to proceed any further and investigate what the mirrors are protecting! She also notes there is a puma ghost protecting the house but she notes that it reacts to movement and as long as she can see it she can probably evade its gaze…

In Germany, deep within the Thüringen Forest, a team of archaeologists begin clearing the trees that conceal a prehistoric burial mound… They congratulate each other on their success… Oblivious to the waking spirit within…
Ceremony

Lyris music
Nell necklace
George sorts necklace

Death of Carmen

"Mierda, how did I not see that this bunch of pinche gueys would try and stab me in the back" crossed her mind as she grabbed her dagger and summoned the sword-demon. The dagger pulsed briefly but no more as the purple weave crackled over them, things were not getting better when Carmen realised that Angelica was blocked. 

"Still not enough" she whispered as the dagger slashed Dyal's throat and killed the most dangerous of the 5 inner circle. A slight frown crossed her face as she realised that he was not just slow but completely paralysed. A sting at the back of her neck made it all clear as she quickly flicked out the dart and wondered what posion it contained. 

She ducked quickly to avoid Dashwood's swinging blade and noticed the old warlock crumple to the floor. Perhaps the angels were with her tonight she thought as she dodged Cawthorne's blade and plunged the dagger to his heart. The dagger was humming gently, a few seconds more and she could activate her armour. Across the room one of the Hellfire members shouted "Dashwood" and the miserable betrayer, eyes wide in surprise, died as 2 bullets hit him in the chest. 

Before Carmen could react, another bullet hit her in the arm and threw her against the wall. She grimaced but called her demon armour forth. As the smoke cleared, the last cultist stepped forward, his hood back and eyes blazing. "Marco" she gasped, armour forming over her body but too late as he raised the gun. She cursed her luck and smiled as the bullet entered her brain.

Koniev's escape

Sensing that everything was going per-shaped, Petyr Koniev joined the neopytes streaming out of the caves. However, they didn't know about the side passage leading to the house but he winced slightly when he found the door stuck closed. He slipped back into the crowd but as they exited the caves ducked round the corner to miss the shining figures outside. Petyr was considering drawing a couple of spirits to him to help when he felt a blast of spiritual energy wash over him and he knew that Dashwood's Lich had just met his maker. "Chyort voz'mi! there must be a major shaman nearby. Make that 2." he chuckled as he let his ghosts slip away. "Time to get out of here."

3 hours later, Petyr stumbled into the Anarchists' lair, safe at last. His heart stopped as the welcoming faces instead reached for knives, clubs and guns. At that moment he hated Marco and Jones with a passion. Then luck swung his way as the young Anarchist, Alexei, barrelled into the romm shouting "Koniev's coming here!". Koniev dived through the open door and jumped down the stairs as a fussilade of bullets rang out. One creased his shoulder but he slipped through the backstreets and alleys of London to the Russian embassy. A week later he was safe in the Okrana headquarters in St Petersburg.

Journey to Mexico and Carmen's Hacienda

First phase of the journey involved the overnight LNER sleeper train from St Pancras to Glasgow. After quick stop for breakfast with Douglas (and a quick discussion of business between Marco and Douglas), a much happier man, they boarded the RMS Tuscania for New York on the morning of September 11th. The stark reality of the war was evident as they picked up a Royal Navy destroyer escort as they left the Clyde. The journey lasted 8 days and was peaceful (and still luxuriant) until the 19th as they entered American waters. The RMS Athinai which left New York a few days earlier with 438 passengers and crew of 70 and a cargo of coffee, rice, cotton and newspaper had a fire in her sealed lower hold and a general SOS was issued on the ship's wireless set. A number of ships including the Tuscania answered the distress call and passengers and crew were rescued with just 1 death.

After a few days in New York, they set off from Grand Central Station. They travelled by rail down through Washington and Atlanta to New Orleans, over 1000 miles by rail but surprisingly quickly and in great comfort. Marco insisted that a few days stay was needed (for no good purposes according to Nell) and he was certainly late returning and looking rather haggard. This included a visit to to the Stag bar in Harry Ramos' Imperial Cabinet saloon for New Orleans fizzes where 35 shakermen would shake the drink until their arms were tired, then pass it on down the line.

Next stage involved a quick trip to Baton Rouge and then rather less luxurious trains across the deserts of Texas and New Mexico, through the towns of Houston and San Antonio to the frontier town of Las Cruces. There they collected horses and a motorised lorry for the overland trek to Jaurez, across the Mexican border, and then to Jaurez and finally on to Estacion San Pedro near Casa Grandes (locals informed them that the region was known for the ancient Paquimé civilisation). The horse trek was over 100 miles and took nearly 4 days.