Session 2 - 19/1/03


Sean is a prat!!!!! [commentary by Craig]

April 1, 2003 - April Fools Day - Hyde Park … still.

John, with a few other questions on his mind, goes over to Malcolm, whom he notices is somehow dry after just having been thrown into the lake. He is followed shortly by the rest of the group. It is obvious that Malcolm is quickly becoming uncomfortable and intimidated by his peers, and is becoming somewhat reluctant to share any further information with them.

By the time the others catch up with them, John and Malcolm discuss unusual circumstances. Their arrival times with Malcolm's comment, "He said I am not human!".
It turns out that Malcolm has had a deliberate blood test recently, in his own attempts to understand his ageless condition. He reveals that the Dr has apparently only seen this blood type once before … in one other person. While Malcolm is reluctant to share info (maybe fearing that he will again end up in the lake), he reveals only that one of the gathered is that other person … but will not say which of them it is.
Malcolm, it seems, had just been discussing with John their ageless state, and suggesting fearfully that perhaps all 'this' would have to someday end.
As the group meanders through the park, they discuss theories, including that we might be of a similar family somehow. The conversation turns to "HOW different we are" from everyone else.

Suddenly, Kianna, William and John all get the feeling that the group is being watched. They all react in their own way, which tips off the others to some form of danger, who too start to react. William had immediately flanked off to the right, 'aimlessly' seeking the shelter of local shrubbery and tree's. John had flanked left, moving into a nearby throng of people, using them instead as cover.

Kianna senses that the presence seems more curios than malicious ... but everyone else is preparing defensively. Wilhelm is already heading the remains of the party back towards the Rotunda and its attached Café (from where we had left).
Feeling that something is very wrong, and that the Rotunda represents danger, both Kianna and Miranda quickly start following their instincts away from the Rotunda. But not quickly enough.

A ground shudders with an explosion, as the rush of glass and fire erupts from the Cafe. Quickly recovering from the places they landed, Miranda Kianna Kaleb and Wilhelm all hotfoot it away for the area. Wilhelm will shortly reveal to them that in the explosion, he lost track of Malcolm … for he is no longer with the group.

John, running through the throngs of scared people, draws his weapons as he sees the camouflaged assassins. Feeling the laser sight on his chest, he dives and fires ... and of cause hits. Locating the body, he does a quick search ... noticing the state-of-the-art weapons and smelling the familiar scent of American cigarettes.
Contacting his 'local office', he submits a quick SitRep and is informed that a sweepteam is on its way, and he agrees to act as the field officer.
As John finishes his call, William catches up with him.

Taking the lead, Kianna makes a run for the nearest hotel, with her four colleagues following close at hand. Inside, she arranges for a private room for the group, as Kaleb and Miranda start to deal with Miranda's wounds.
In the Clarence Room, Kaleb and Miranda continue to look into her wounds, this time with a first aid kit, and a medical officer. Wilhelm takes up defense position beside the door.

Back in the park, John is further investigating the camouflaged assassin. William takes the time to take note of civilians and the 'hostiles' among them. Identifying at least one, he moves off attempting to get closer to one of the hostiles whom he hopes to ambush.
John quickly discovers that the assassin is not normal. It has a strange tattoo on the back of its neck, his eye's are sea-green, he has bone white hair, and a very pale complexion. In fact, except for the tattoo, these traits strongly resemble John's.
Dr Hartley (the hotel doctor) turns up in the Clarence Room, as arranged by Kianna. She begins to attend to Miranda's wounds. The food also arrives. Wilhelm calls William.

In the park, John is taking field evidence (blood collected in a hanky). He is met by a small group of incognito agents. They discover that the assassin is using 10mm explosive rounds ... serious hardware. The agents leave with all the evidence.

Meanwhile, William has reached the smoking remains of the cafe. Bobbies are hotfooting it this way, and William sees some a suspicious character in a pin stripped suit who seem to have Malcolm in custody. Malcolm, looks VERY disheveled ... he seems unshaven, almost like he is a different Malcolm than we had been speaking with ... and one whom seems to have been much closer to the explosion than he was with us.
The suspicious guy hustles the confused Malcolm into a cab ... but as the character himself attempts to get into the cab, William moves in with a swift blow to the side of the head, incapacitating him. Loading the character into the back with Malcolm, and moving over the now unconscious driver, William receives the call from Wilhelm as he drives off. The two agree to meet in the hotel undercover carpark.
There, William leaves the pinstriped character and Malcolm with Wilhelm (who takes them upstairs) then goes to dump the cab.
While the girls look to Malcolm, Wilhelm makes sure the pin-stripped character remains unconscious. Malcolm seems dazed and confused. He believes the explosion was a week ago, and is suspicious that those present are who we say we are.

After overseeing the agents' removal of the evidence, John quickly makes his way to a nearby doctor's facility. He wishes to have the Dr do a blood test on the bloodied handkerchief he has. He has to use his best Sunday manners to convince the Dr for his assistance, but his courtesy and manners pay off. Wilhelm contacts him, and they confer quickly and arrange to meet up at the hotel room.

William arrives back at the Clarence room as Malcolm is sharing his version of events. Which involved us all being nearly killed in the café (with John actually dying), and waking with us all in a 'hospital' which turned out to be a sadistic institute of torture. Here, apparently, we were all tortured for information about Shurity. Wilhelm was tortured first, and after giving away some information, was killed when he stopped doing so … as an example to the others. The torturers then started on William.
During this we all became aware that the pinstriped character is 'melting' into another form … his hair is receding, and his ears are turning large and floppy (like an elephants). Malcolm explains that these 'elephantpeople' were the guards and torturers in that place. Malcolm's tale continues that he escaped after several of us were killed. But that when he got back here, this 'elephantman' had grabbed him. It was at this point that William saved him and brought him here.

Wilhelm goes about searching the 'elephantman' for transmitters and the like ... while Kaleb and William go off on their own without talking to anyone. The girls continue attempting to calm Malcolm, and get any further info out of him.

John arrives to find this strange situation … Malcolm retelling parts of his story, and Wilhelm searching an 'elephantman' who is lying in the corner.
We discover that the 'elephantman' has a tattoo on the back of his neck which is the same as the assassins, and when kicking him sound gives off a thud sound. His skin has a grey sheen to it. This is eventually discovered to be some kind of subdermal skin armour.

A knock at the door seems to be Kaleb returning ... this ends with Kaleb on the floor, arm behind his back, and a gun to the head, as John is starting to deal with this situation with a healthy dose of suspicion and aggression.
Kaleb's confusion of this attack turns to frustration as he discovers his Sub is all over the floor. Wilhelm goes back to stripping and searching the body.

William meanwhile seems intent on meditating in the next room … with the door locked. It seems Kianna is not exactly a weakling, as she rips the door off its lock to go in and see him. She is unable to gain his attention, though, and returns making comments about Williams 'satanic practices'.
Kaleb decides to have a short physical discussion with William about whether William should join the conversation. Kaleb also returns unsuccessful in this.
John then decides to try. When he enters the room, he sees William eye's blazing and crackling energy playing over Williams body. William also seems to be speaking in some form of esoteric language to a circle of electricity on the floor before him. John uses a nearby lamp across Williams's head to get his attention ... Unfortunately, as the lamp shatters, it does not break Williams attention any more than Kaleb's boot had.

Outside, John shares what he has found out ... both regarding the assassins and his blood. Kianna also shares with us that she felt some kind of telepathic communication with "Shurity" during the incident in the park. Somehow, she had 'seen' the park superimposed with an image of Shurity in a 'studyroom' … and that Shurity had said that we were all in great danger.

Eventually, William returns to find us discussing theories. He walks over the unconscious 'elephantman' and, holding it against the wall, he tells it to stop pretending ... to which it opens its eye's.
Its interrogation has it reveal that it is a Elephan (a 3rd rank guard and sub interrogator for the Citadel ... a place run the "Commander". This seems to be a place of horror … the place Malcolm had spoken of).

It is at this time that Kaleb sees a strange, suspicious bus coming ... and as William breaks the neck of the Elephan, Wilhelm leads a retreat as the bus comes towards the building.

John seems intent on staying and burning the place, and Malcolm has given up caring (with William also staying). Miranda does not stay, nor does she join Wilhelm, Kianna and Kaleb. Instead she is heading off by herself.

Wilhelm keeps himself, Kaleb and Kianna moving through the streets of London in the safest possible way. Phone calls are switched and Kianna arranges with everyone a meeting point … a local shopping centre 6 hours from then.

In one form or another, everyone also receives a strange message from a male … "walk the path least traveled".

Malcolm has lead William and John to the roof of the Hotel, where he is doing some really unusual things, and saying some really unusual things. He also seems to have arranged for a Helicopter to pick them up ... but those present cannot seem to figure out how he managed to do so, or when.

Wilhelm keeps his team moving, successfully, for some time.

Once in the Helicopter, William and John watch as, mid-flight, Malcolm executes the pilot, and flies them to the Tower of London. Malcolm apparently expects to find Wilhelm there, but does not.
Inside the tower, Malcolm asks William to take a card with a picture of Miranda, and focus on talking to her.
Throughout all this strangeness, Malcolm keeps saying to John and William that he is trying to show them what he keeps trying to tell them.
Focused on the card, William (under Malcolm's guidance) mentally contacts Miranda (who is currently sitting in a coffeeshop) and they have a brief telepathic conversation.

Continuing to keep himself and his fellows out of danger, Wilhelm to lead them on a chaotic journey through the streets of London. Eventually, sick of running, Wilhelm decides to go looking for Shurity. Wilhelm is pretty certain that they have lost any tails.

Miranda seems to be unable to have her coffee, as no sooner has William broken the mental contact, but Malcolm contacts her the same way with the same card. John then tries, but finds that he is instead contacted by his "Aunt Shurity", who informs him that the Citadel wants us all dead, and that he needs to find out how to get off earth.

Meanwhile, Kianna Kaleb and Wilhelm get into Soho, and go looking for someplace in which they might find more info about Shurity. They end up talking to a waiter named Adam, who recognises Kianna from a photo Malcolm has left, saying that we would be coming.
He assures us that we are supposed to be going to the Red Dragon, and we are late. He gives us the address and phone number of this Red Dragon, as well as Shurity's phone number (a number which check out later to be non-existent).

Meanwhile, William, standing with Malcolm and John in the Tower of London, feels cold. He feels Miranda talking to him in his mind. In his confusion, she reaches through the mystic contact (her finger appearing through a white light in front of William). This gets her grabbed by William (his not knowing what the hell is going on, and acting on instinct). As William begins pulling Miranda into an arm lock, John tries to help out by shooting the mysterious arm … unfortunately; he manages instead to shoot William in the arm (well, we assume it is an unfortunate mistake). Things get a little confusing from here. William, thinking John is attacking him, lets go of Miranda and dives behind cover. Miranda's contact with William ends, and fearing for him, she initiates another attempt. Somehow she convinces William, now hiding from John, to step through he white light, which will apparently bring her to him. As he is doing so, John comes around the corner. Seeing William being 'drawn into the light' tries to save him, but ends up going through as well.
The upshot is this. Malcolm is left on his own again, while William and John end up in a small public toilet with Miranda.

On the move again, Wilhelm is going to find some demons to interrogate. During their movement, Kianna confirms that Shurity's phone number does exist.
Kianna studies the photo of herself she got from Adam. She, in it, is dressed in Burgundy leather armor and sports a sword. She has never been dressed like this, though she does remember having childhood fantasies of being a warrior woman.
They are distracted by a woman watching Kaleb, but keep moving once Wilhelm confronts her and she denies anything other than watching a guy she finds attractive.
Meanwhile, John and William immediately suffer the social implications of being in a women's public toilet. William moves quickly to disguise the situation.

Wilhelm notices a demon, superimposed over the image of a Bobby, out in the street. Eventually, after a titanic static shock between the two, the demon realises WHO Wilhelm is, and calls him an "Opener".
Kianna goes off alone, in a taxi, to the shopping centre early.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Kaleb have a coffee with the demon. He reveals that he is a 3rd rank demon, and that Shurity is at her place, the "Red Dragon" (the nightclub that Adam directed us to), and that while we must go there, it is indeed considered to be a trap.
He also referred to a lady who's husband is missing, and admitted surprise that we had been 'activated' so quickly. He would not reveal the location of Shurity's local residences, without a price … blood from a Unicorn. Wilhelm does not agree to this. He reveals, though, that the Red Dragon on White Chappell (with 2 L's) is not of this world. But it is one that in a world that is close (inferring that there are many other worlds).

Elsewhere, Miranda has ensured John and William that they must go to the Red Dragon. William deals with his wounded arm. Miranda and Kianna have a phone conversation, in which they both agree to meet at the Red Dragon.
Unfortunately, they have a slight altercation with a guy in a pin-stripped suit ... well, John does. William and Miranda, however, leave the scene very embarrassed.
Before they have gone to far, John sees a demon going shopping. During their conversation, they receive the same titanic shock that Wilhelm and his demon did, and the demon begins referring to John as an "Opener". Miranda and William see this now, and move to join with John again. When the demon asks what 'the Opener' wants, John says he wants it to get him off Earth.
The demon then starts negotiating a bargain ... to which John leads with his fists and a stout knife ... and then his gun. When these don't work, he seems willing to try again negotiating.
Store security turns up (having seen John pull knives and guns). John does "the deal" with the demon ... "safe passage to somewhere safe, in exchange for the blood of a Unicorn". William and the security guard see the "young man with the trolley" (the demon) and John vanish. The smell of Brimstone permeates the area.

Kianna arrives at the Red Dragon, and meets with Shurity, who is sitting drinking tea watching a Demon Band. Shurity immediately asks Kianna to tell what she has learnt today. After a brief synopsis, Shurity explains that the family is separated, and that SHE will not be happy.

Wilhelm and Kaleb finish their coffee with the demon. Thank it, and politely go on their way. They decide that perhaps they should find one of these strange places … the castle named Theofrayeden, or this White Chappell (with 2 L's).
But how to get there if they are not of this world? Wilhelm suggests that kaleb might be just the man to get them there. Being a wandering, vagabond type Kaleb, Wilhelm suggests, is probably good at just walking, and letting his feet, and the road, take him to places he wants to go. And so they go. Kaleb and Wilhelm head off out of town, following Kaleb's feet, wherever they should take us … following "the path less traveled".

Eventually, hours after they leave London behind them, they Kaleb and Wilhelm see the lights of London ahead of them. Confused, but heartened (in some strange way), at this strangeness. Hours later, they arrive in a strange parody of London. A place just like London, but that is lit with gas lamps, and populated only by Caucasian people and various forms of Demons.
Making their way through London (Wilhelm buying a baseball bat along the way) they arrive at White Chappell. And there in front of them is the Red Dragyn. After discussing whether they should enter or not, Wilhelm and Kaleb decide to.

Meanwhile, William and Miranda have arrived at the Red Dragon, and meet with Shurity and Kianna. Shurity tells them they must "learn", but that she will not help them do so.
Shurity discovers that Miranda can draw those special pictures that allow communication, and in return for learning who taught her, Shurity promises to give information about "Kylanth". Miranda agrees, and reveals that she taught herself. Shurity feel somewhat gypped, but fulfills her side of the agreement.
She explains that "Thyandor" arranged meeting with "Kylanth", which was why "Thyandor" left Theofrayeden. She says it was clear that the Nosliben were hidden on rhyleah-earth, apparently to keep them safe from "Kylanth" … commenting that the Narsayenath are a suspicious lot. When asked why, she simply stated that 'We' threaten "Kylanth".
Shurity says that "Rhyleah is [our] destiny", and that we must come to terms with rhyleah … though, she states, we only have about 1 week (of earth time) to do so.
Shurity also says the Kianna can get us them off earth to where they need to go, but Kianna first needs to learn how.

In another reality, Wilhelm and Kaleb go into the Red Dragyn. Finding Shurity there (a different one, maybe?) they stay briefly to talk with her. She tells them that she is pleased that we have learnt some of what we need to, but that we need to learn more. She says that we should return to our brother, Malcolm, for one of us is in line for 'the Throne'. She also suggests that we are all family, and that we will stand a better chance of completing our 'quest' if we all stay together. She says that, while she does not know what our quest is, that so long as we go looking to complete it, we will arrive where we need to be to do so.
Wilhelm and Kaleb leave at that point … Wilhelm is getting seriously pissed.