Assignment: Mirror Image
General Summary
The Circle of Chaos & Ash was called in to investigate a bloody scene inside the most exclusive nightclub in town. Somehow, a man's torso was completely cleaved from his body and disappeared in the bathroom. Through the course of their investigation, the Circle discovered that Lustro Inc., a shell company for EONS, manufactured mirrors made with a substance that acted as a portal to an alternate world. They were able to destroy the mirrors that were already created, and obtain the substance that was the root od the phenomenon for safekeeping with Candela Obscura.
Arthur Hurley was not present for this assignment.
This assignment took place during the pre-dawn hours on Late Autumn 24, 1907
Hook
We enter in The Varnish, the bustling downtown of Newfaire. Towering Art Deco buildings line the streets, and trolley car power cables criss-cross overhead. It serves as a hub of restaurants, theaters, bars, and nightclubs, making it a nighttime staple for the citizens of Newfaire. We turn our gaze to one such venue, Larceny, the most exclusive nightclub in The Varnish. We weave through the crowds to stand at the bar, where we see Alexander Weaver, one of the regular bartenders most evening. With the ease and finesse that can only come from the combination of good training and years of experience, he flips bottles over his shoulders and pours with a flourish, not a drop on the bar.
"Here you are, my dear," he says with a toothy smile as he slides a red martini in a stunning amber-colored glass to one of his regulars, a woman he knows only by Elise. She winks at him as she takes her drink and turns away, no doubt returning to her date. Alexander claps another bartender on the shoulder to get her attention, informs her he is off for his smoke break, and heads off towards the restrooms. None of the guests notice or pay him any mind as he snakes his way through the crowd. They are all too busy enjoying their drinks and each other to bother with him. Besides, after bartending for more than ten years, he's gotten good at going unnoticed. He turns the last corner and opens the bathroom door.
By the Mother!" Alexander stumbles back, tripping over his own feet and falling on his ass as his eyes remain glued to the carnage before hijm. There, in the middle of the bathroom floor, lies the bloody lower half of a man's body, entrails spilled over the tiles. We pan away as Alexander retches onto his polished shoes.
Arrival
The Circle of Chaos & Ash received a summons from Sylvia late into the night. The news of what had happened at Larceny was more than enough to warrant an investigation, but there was another angle of interest to this assignment. Aaron Sheppard, a newly-made Lightkeeper and former circle member of Sylvia, called in a favor. He has reason to suspect EONS may be involved, as nearly all purchases made by Larceny in the past year were to various EONS shell companies. Without a circle of his own yet. Aaron reached out to Sylvia and the Circle of Chaos & Ash for help. He was able to give them credentials to get them past the bouncer, where they would be able to access the scene of the incident. The rest is up to them.
Upon entering Larceny shortly after midnight, Pierce Hunter first approached the bar, where he found Alexander Weaver still working. He was clearly shaken, spilling drinks as he poured them and very pale, as he had been instructed to go back to the bar and continue working to keep the patrons from suspecting anything amiss. Pierce ordered a seltzer, tipped extraordinarily well, and began to ask Alexander about the "clog" in the bathroom, claiming that he was called to check it out for them. Alexander, too shaken to be guarded with the information, freely told Pierce about rumors he has been hearing from the patrons of the club. Some people have been going missing after entering the powder rooms, other patrons have heard sounds of a struggle but nobody inside, and one patron who went by the name of Harriet ran out of the restroom in a terrible fright a few weeks ago. When Pierce tried to ask about this evening's victim, Alexander admitted that he had no idea who it was because "he was gone from the waist up." Pierce gave him a cigarette and then turned to the social area where the other patrons were.
While seated and eavesdropping, he heard two people talking about a man named Ambrose, and how he had excused himself to the restroom and not returned in some time. The gentleman who appeared to be Ambrose's date seemed a bit put out by this, and the woman he was speaking to snidely noted that Ambrose was probably preening again. Pierced used the opportunity to feign drunkenness and interject into their conversation. Though it took some effort, he was able to learn that Ambrose Atwell (a pseudonym) was an upper level manager for one of the insurance companies in the city. Having gathered what information he could Pierce went outside to wait for the rest of the group to reconvene.
Exploration & Escalation
While this was happening, Charlie scanned the room to see if she knew anybody on the serving staff. She did recognize the trumpet player on stage, Anderson, from some of the social functions her parents have held over the years. He was busy playing with the band, and therefore unavailable to speak just yet, so she joined Cy and Eddy as they headed towards the bathrooms where the remains were. Before they could reach the bathrooms, they encountered Florence Reed, the manager. She attempted to divert then to the other set of restrooms, as she had been doing for all guests since the body was discovered. Charlie first attempted to convince her that they were sent as consultants with The Periphery, using forged documents. Unfortunately, Florence is very well versed in the documentation used by the Periphery and noticed an error on the form. Now annoyed that they tried to lie to her, she more curtly told them to see themselves elsewhere. At this point, Charlie and Eddy pointed out Pierce, still sitting at the bar at this point, and told her that he was a reporter "just looking for a good story." At the threat of exposing what happened, Florence relented and told them that word of this incident could not leave this building.
Once inside the power room, they found the lower half of a man on the floor. He seemed to be cleaved cleanly through the waist as though by a large, sharp blade in a single cut. Blood trailed from the mirror, down the sink, and to the floor where the remains were. Eddy and Cy both neared the mirror to investigate, and Eddy reached out to inspect it for any screws or other markings that would denote it as different than a normal mirror. He suddenly saw his reflection smirk at him and then grab his outstretched hand and start to try and drag him in. With the help of Cy and Charlie pulling him back, he was able to break free of the grasp, but took two Bleed marks as the reflection caused his arm to go slightly transparent as it attempted to drag him through the mirror. Cy and Charlie also each took a Brain mark from the stress of Eddy nearly losing a limb or being dragged into the mirror. In order to handle the mirror without risking getting caught again, Charlie threw her trenchcoat over it and then lifted it off the wall. On the back of the mirror was a manufacturing label indicating that it was created by Lustro Inc. in The Steel.
They checked the other mirrors in Larceny and found that only one other mirror was emanating Bleed. They used Eddy's coat to cover it and take it off the wall. Charlie called one of her and Eddy's men to pick up one of the mirrors, and the other went to Candela Obscura. While on the phone with Sylvia, Charlie did learn that Lustro Inc. is one of the many shell companies for EONS. Before leaving, Charlie paid for a bottle of Anderson's favorite drink to be delivered to him after his performance, as a gesture to maintain a positive connection.
Climax
The Circle made their way to the Lustro Inc. factory near 2am. All the lights were out and nobody appeared to be inside. Pierce and Charlie attempted to search for any unlocked doors or windows, but couldn't find any. After a failed attempted to pick a lock, Charlie went with the old school B&E method of throwing a rock through a window and opening it that way. Once inside on the factory floor, they were able to see multiple machines set up to manufacture mirrors, as well as a staircase going up to what one could assume was the fireman's office.
Inside the office, the found documentation detailing the number of mirrors made that day, as well as shipping manifests. There were two different records for the mirrors manufactured, one significantly less than the other, and marked with a personalized symbol to differentiate it. It stated that only four of that style mirror were created that day, and sent to R&D. Pierce pocketed these documents to turn over to Candela Obscura later. The Circle made their way to the R&D hallway, where the found only two doors.
Charlie peered into the door on the left first, but did not see or hear anything to cause her alarm. As she reached inside to turn on a light switch, her hand was suddenly grabbed and started pulling on her. She shined her flashlight to see directly inside the door was a mirror box experiment. Pierce, Cy, and Eddy all helped pull her out. Like Eddy before, she took two Bleed marks, and the rest of them took one Brain mark from the stress. Pierce took out his gun and shot all of the mirrors inside the tiny room, shattering them so they could not pull anyone through anymore. His own reflection appeared angry through the cracks, but unable to do anything in response.
They turned to investigate the other door, with Pierce using his camera to take a picture through the opened door to make sure there weren't any more mirrors. The room was empty and appeared to be a standard laboratory. In the back cabinet, they found a gold urn. Cy inspected it and realized that it was very old, dating back to within a hundred years before the forming of the Vastchasm in The Glass Sea, making this urn over 2000 years old. He also knew that in Oldfaire, alchemists would use gold as a means of containing Bleed and phenomena, with varying degrees of success. This one appeared to be doing the job. The Circle took the urn and left the factory to return to their Chapter House.
Resolution
After turning over the urn and documentation to Candela Obscura, Sylvia was able to inform the Circle a few days later that the urn contained a reflective liquid that acted as a portal to an alternate universe beyond The Flare. It appeared EONS was experimenting with its transportation capabilities, though it is unknown to what end.
Candela Obscura was only made aware of five mirrors (the four that were destroyed and the one that was turned over). They do not currently know about the mirror Eddy and Charlie stole.
With his down time, Eddy took some time to attempt to decipher the notes (page 1 and page 2) Charlie had previously found and given to him. He was able to decode the first paragraph, as he realized that each paragraph was coded with a different cipher. The first Ancient Fairen paragraph translated as follows:
I INSTRUCTED MORGAN TO FIRST STOP THE ASTROLABE, AND THEN BEGIN TO ROTATE IT BACKWARD (THE EFFORT WAS GARGANTUAN ON HIS PART), WHILE I RECITED:
WHEN WEEP THE STARS,
WHEN CRIES THE SUN,
WHEN MAGICK CRESTS, THEN
SHALL THE ASTROLABE SLEEP.
WHEN THE LIMB OF THE SEXTANT HAS RUN
ITS COURSE,
THEN POWER FAILS,
WHEN THE ASTROLABE HAS FEASTED,
THEN CEASE ITS LABORS AND SLEEP.
Circle Resources Used
- Charlie: Refresh
Rewards Granted
New Circle Ability
Interdisciplinary: When choosing a new ability during character advancement, once per campaign, each character may choose an ability from a character role or specialty outside their own.
Circle Member Advancements
Arthur Hurley
- 2 Drive Points: 1 Nerve, 1 Cunning
- Gild an Additional Action: Control
Charlie McGrath
- New Ability: Street Smarts- You know how to keep an eye on your surroundings. Whenever you make a Survey roll, you may spend any drive instead of only Intuition.
- Action Point: Strike
Cy Barrett
- New Ability: Tenacious- When you have 1 or more Bleed marks, gild an additional die on Move, Strike, or Control rolls while in danger.
- Action Point: Focus
Eddy McGrath
- 2 Drive Points: Cunning (x2)
- Action Point: Strike
Pierce Hunter
- New Ability: Cool Under Pressure- On any high-stakes roll, younmay always spend Cunning instead of the drive the action falls under.
- Action Point: Control
Character(s) interacted with
- Florence Reed (she/her): Manager on duty at Larceny that night. Very tight-lipped. Paid very well to keep things under control. This incident will reflect very poorly on her, and she will do just about anything to keep it from becoming public.
- Alexander Weaver (he/they): Bartender that found the body. Early 30s. Professional and very good at doing bar tricks to entertain guests.
- Aaron Sheppard (he/him): The Lightkeeper who called in the Circle of Chaos & Ash. Recently retired after receiving his 3rd scar.
- Nora Noble (pseudonym; she/they): a patron of Larceny.
Copyright: This product was created using the Darrington Press Community Gaming License. The Illuminated Worlds Standard Resource Document is owned and copyrighted by Darrington Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
Attribution: This product is based on the following Public Game Content created and owned by Darrington Press: Illuminated Worlds Standard Resource Document, Darrington Press, LLC, 2023, available at https://darringtonpress.com.
License: The Public Game Content identified above is licensed via the Darrington Press Community Gaming License available at https://darringtonpress.com.
Modification: The Public Game Content has not been modified by the author.
Comments