Session 12 Report

General Summary

The Widower bellowed again from deeper within the voluminous library but the heroes paid it no mind as the Steel clock was before them finally. They examined it with great interest. The clock itself was an inscrutable arcane amalgamation of intricate metal parts, twisting filigrees and scrimshawed stone, wood and bone. Central within the massive clock hung the pendulum, a gold tongue lolling down and at its base tip hung the strange weight made from Noctilith, also known as blackstone in low gothic. The strange black iridescent stone almost seemed like it was imbued or light from within by green flickers of lightning that seemed to threaten bursting out suddenly but at the same time gave a strange sense of ease and static perpetuity. Whatever the case may be this was the stone that Charo-Theta 5 had sent them to retrieve if the entire clock was too great a task. Looking at the 5 meter high clock gave the group the answer they knew in their heart to be true. There was no way the clock would be leaving Quaddis intact. They could scarcely get it out the door even if they were capable of the herculean feat of somehow moving such a large piece.   The Ennaeus was an immediate proponent for dismantling the steel clock and moving on but Pious and Magdala warned him about something the White scholar had said about it being necessary to disassemble the fulcrum after the clock had struck its 13th hour. Miria was contemplating next steps when their conversation was interrupted by wicked laughter. High above on a balcony the Heron mask had appeared. He glowered down at them through his golden disguise. “This is the end!” he yelled. “You are too late to stop the inevitable! Chaos holds dominion of this planet now. Witness the birth of a demon world as the Tyrant Star rips minds from flesh and consumes this shrine to a decaying husk of an emperor into nothingness!”   With that the clock began to chime.   ‘DONG!’   The world turned red as the Heron mask removed his cowl to reveal the horrible abomination beneath. Mutations had twisted his face and body into a hideous clump of flesh more closely resembling a worm with a humanesque face than a man and the mouth of a lamprey. His servants may have called him ‘the beloved’ but his masters clearly did not show their care of him in a traditional way.   ‘DONG!’   The Heron mask threw himself over the side of the balcony to fall at least a story before landing atop the Steel clock. The concussion of the Heron Masks landing reverberated a loud boom that echoed down the corridors and stacks of books filling the great library. He looked down upon the gathered servants of their Omnisian master and gave an evil sneer from his twisted face pointing at them saying. “You are too late! The clock strikes 13, the Tyrant star comes! This planet is bathed in its light. The dark gods will collect the faith and souls of these people on this world. My pilgrims will control your people and turn them all to serve Chaos! ‘DONG!’   The Pilgrims of Hayte used this cue from their leader to reveal themselves in the chambers above in the Haarlock estate. The sounds of automatic weapons and las fire filtered down into the theater of clocks along with the screams of surprise and pain from the guests.   ‘DONG!’   The eclipse reached its zenith and the light of the emperor was snuffed out completely. You could feel the shift in ephemeral power immediately. The Tyrant star started to form above Quaddis and cast its baleful red light down on the planet.   ‘DONG!’   The screams and shouts from the people of Quaddis seemed to filter in through the walls, ceiling and floors. The change had already begun.   ‘DONG!’   The acolytes sprung into action. The clock must be destroyed was the thought that they all shared. The Heron mask was in the way and a problem to be solved.   ‘DONG!’   The team lashed out. The Heron mask was surprised at the efficacy of the assault. The dark gods he served must have looked away at that moment because the one they called ‘the beloved’ was suddenly riddled with bullets. His near lifeless body tumbled to the ground falling off the clock top to the stone floor 12 feet below with a sickeningly wet crack.   ‘DONG!’   A roar sounded again from deep in the theater. Rushing forward once again was the Widower. He sprung off the high balcony, soaring through the air and landing on top of the almost dead body of the Heron mask.   ‘DONG!’   The creature raged on the now very dead Heron mask, smashing his hands into the corpse, picking him up and swinging the ragdoll around violently.   ‘DONG!’ Shocked but not deterred by the new developments the acolytes rushed toward the steel clock.   ‘DONG!’   They began disassembling the clock so that they could get to the pendulum and the Noctilith stone that hung from it.   ‘DONG!’   The Tyrant star blazed overhead. Sudden mutations were exploding through the population all across the planet now. The population was quickly being converted to chaos worship by the thousands every minute.   ‘DONG!’   The team was out of time. They had to remove the pendulum. Ennaeus’ finger flew as he disassembled the clock and then wrapped his hands around the Noctilith and yanked. Stone came loose… With a shockwave that rippled across reality and the empyreon equally, the explosive force of the psychic backlash of the Tyrant star being banished threw everyone to the ground.   The Widower was unraveled alongside the clock. The only piece of him that remained in the end was a boneless skin of his face. It wailed out a cryptic statement and then fell into a constant gibbering for a while until eventually going silent.   The team recovered a bit, took stock of their situation and then started to discuss what to do next. They had recovered the Noctilith for Charro but their situation was greatly changed now. This Planet was now under Miria’s ownership. Miria’s new station as the rogue trader of the Haarlock dynasty now far outstripped Charro-Theta-5’s so would it be necessary to keep working for or with her? And the cleanup of Quaddis needed to be undertaken immediately or they would have an insurrection before they knew it.   The team also made the immediate decision to find Jebadiah Psalter and put him in a position of authority to help with the 'cleanup' efforts to return this planet to strict adherents of the imperial creed. It was time to return the the spider bride though for the time being and tell her of the fate of the Widower and see if a new understanding could be reached.   The return trip to the lair of spider bride was quick and without incident. The team presented the Widower's face to her which caused a great deal of anguish to the spider. She bade them to put it away. She now served in her own capacity to the Haarlock legacy as well, to Miria's legacy and warned that they not swing the pendulum too far back to the righteous path as Quaddis survived and thrived for many centuries as a pleasure world and to force an already somewhat heretical population back into the strict confines of the full imperial creed would almost certainly cause another rebellion.   Miria considered the spider's advice and the advice of her compatriots and decided to leave Magdala behind to assist both the spider bride and Psalter in their efforts and act as a fulcrum between the two extreme personae as they tried to stabalize the embattled planet and it's population. Meanwhile Miria selected her flagship from the fleet in orbit. The Pyre of Truth was her choice in the end. A large refitted Orion class merchant transport that had been geared toward the needs of a Rogue Trader ship. Plenty of cargo space still but more gun batteries, crew quarters, a reinforced prow. Everthing she would need. The crew was untested though and had been at dock for many generations, so getting the ship to operate like a well oiled machine again would take more than just oil.