Convergence, Session 12

General Summary

SPOILER WARNING: This session describes some of the content of The Darkest House. If you ever intend to play it, it's best to avoid spoiling any of its mysteries.

Bonus Scene

There was a bonus, between-sessions scene:
"We see Euphrati speaking to a young woman in the streets of Perpetual Bernville. We can't hear what they're saying, but the young woman clearly has Euphrati's attention and the Inquisitor seems more and more invested as the discussion goes on. They squat on the ground to sketch diagrams as they talk - overlapping circles, connecting lines, other abstract shapes. They go to the old police station to reference one of the work-in-progress maps of the area, gathering a small group of Bernville's more senior defenders, including Rainy Day.
The group discuss the map, adding annotations and editing parts of it. They seem to have constructed a relatively complete map of the Convergent Universe, excluding the parts within the circles to the west and southwest. The young woman is pointing to a small circle in the west that is drawn in yellow - she seems to be stressing its importance to the group. The body language implies that this reality fragment is crucial but inaccessible. The young woman writes "Hole in the World" underneath the circle.
Later, the young woman, Euphrati and Rainy Day stand outside a dilapidated house on the outskirts of Perpetual Bernville. It looks like it has been abandoned for a long time. The doors and windows are taped and labelled with warnings. The young woman is frantically pointing at the house while passionately stating something. Euphrati looks scared. Rainy Day looks unconvinced. The house looks ▪▪▪▪▪▪."

Dealing with the Cube

The Convergence Player Characters finalise their plans for dealing with the PAA Cuboid Mobile Headquarters. Cyprian Kernow recruits six Molepeople mech pilots to the cause (cashing in on impressing some of them several sessions ago).

PAA Executive by Ché Wilbraham

Dvorak-46 uses the information that Trace and Iolo gathered from the PAA Corporation troopers' armour to send a message over their network, claiming to be interested in trading information and technology if PAA become subservient. The shock of receiving the message is enough to lure out a PAA exec, along with a strong defence team. Dvorak tells them to meet at the Convergent Source Tower.
Meanwhile, the group are waiting near the edge of the Convergent Blasted Lands, in order to launch an attack on the Cube when the defence forces are reduced. Dvorak fakes a distress call from the exec over the PAA network, sending more defenders away from the Cube.
Iolo sneaks into the Cube during the confusion, ahead of the rest of the group. The rest launch an attack, led by Dvorak in their Zaku and Atreyu in their VF-1S (supported by six other mechs, directed by Cyprian). Atreyu performs alarmingly well, obliterating enemy forces with expert piloting. The group charge devastatingly through the defenders outside the Cube and gain entry.
The interior of the Cube is a contrast to the sleek, white panelling of the outside - a lot of exposed machinery and inner workings, with blocks for habitation and other amenities. The internal sections move around as needed, though the lower sectors seem reserved for functional systems and lower-class lodging, while the upper sections tend to contain command systems and exec amenities. At the centre is a giant, building sized power core, pulsing with blue energy (though it looks about two-thirds full). Iolo has some time to figure out the structure and identifies how it could be quickly removed.
Dvorak's Zaku is the only thing big enough to carry the core, so Iolo instructs Dvorak in how to remove it while Atreyu runs (devastating) interference. As soon as the core is removed from the centre of the Cube, all of PAA's weaponry and machinery slowly stops working. Workers and troopers are freed from their mind control and the approaching forces all grind to a halt (many of them now terrified for their lives).
The group debate about what to do with all the remaining people from PAA - many of them unwilling participants in the conflict. Dvorak kills as many as they can while they leave, branding them heretics. Toho "Ultrathem" Tanaka tries to reach out to the now-free citizens but they are too scared / angry to listen.

Back in Perpetual Bernville

The molepeople mech pilots help carry the power core back to Perpetual Bernville. They spend some time thanking Cyprian and giving him some trinkets before returning to their fight in the Battlegrounds. Iolo investigates the core and understands its potential to transfer supernatural uses / abilities as well as near-limitless energy. If the group could scavenge more of the strange blue element from the PAA tech, they may be able to build things that bend reality.
Inquisitor Gallia Euphrati and Rainy Day track down the group not long after their return. They relay and clarify some of the information described in the bonus scene above - the young woman who approached them was The Comte de Saint-Germain, who had been looking into the cause of the converging realities that created the Convergence Universe. By combining the insights of the Comte's inherent connection to the nature of reality, Euphrati's divination and psychic investigations and Rainy Day's pooling of information from residents of all sorts, they have made some discoveries about the situation:

• They have compiled a relatively complete map of the Convergence Universe, except for the areas inside large magic circles to the west and south, though Euphrati thinks that the The Cudgel of Drusus might be within the south circle.
  • The Piece of The Door would probably be required to gain entry to either of those large circles.
  • Euphrati can sense The Warp from the south circle, but it feels wrong and is growing in power. She thinks it could be very dangerous to go in there unprepared. The ongoing convergence could be fuelling this corruption.
  • There is a smaller, golden circle intersecting the west circle, which the Comte believes is The Hole in the World - the cause of the converging realities.
• The circle around the Hole in the World is impenetrable, even with the Piece of The Door, but getting inside there and resolving whatever is within could be the key to allowing these realities to diverge again begin repairing the multiverse (if that's an appropriate term). This is the Comte's proposal, and Euphrati agrees.
• The Darkest House may be the only way to access the Hole in the World, as it's connected to every reality, but it's an incredibly dangerous place that takes from those who enter. It is understood that someone who manages to leave the house can choose where they exit into, from all places and all realities. At the least, it could offer the group a way home, but it may also allow them to exit into the Hole in the World, if they survive.
• Euphrati tells Dvorak that she's fairly certain that she's not from the same reality as them, despite them both being from a version of the Imperium of Man. At least, they seem to be from different time periods within that reality, but Euphrati also reckons that they are from different branches or versions.

To The Darkest House

The group go to investigate the house with Euphrati and Rainy Day. It appears to just be a run-down, relatively normal suburban house, though it has a sinister vibe. The front door has a warning sign and is locked, but Iolo is easily able to pick it. The group notice that a back garden is surrounded by a tall fence with no gate. Trace uses a drone to see that the back garden is overgrown. Taxi Varlik sends a future version of herself in the front door, but the door closes behind her and she is not heard from again. The experience makes Taxi feel very unpleasant. Dvorak sends their Serv-0 in to investigate, but the door closes again and contact is lost. Through the front door and windows, the group can see a living room. They try breaking windows and damaging the house but it is completely impervious to any harm.
Eventually, they enter together and find themselves in a dusty, abandoned living room. The front door disappears and outside the windows they just see a black void. They explore through some of the house's rooms, encountering strange phenomena and hauntings while being fed unusual / contradictory information by their abilities. They discuss the nature of the house and how to deal with it. Iolo is intrigued and keen to tinker with things, Dvorak is excited that it seems connected to their home, Cyprian is terrified of the evil potential of the place.
A seemingly endless room beyond the living room reveals a haunted clock that, when tinkered with by Iolo, instantly transports the group to a new area. From there, they find their way to a library.

Iolo and Goblin Fixing a Clock Sketch by Phoebe Herring

Through the house, they find strange items and pages from a journal belonging to Philip Harlock, who was a previous owner of the property.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Dealing with the threat of the PAA Cuboid Mobile Headquarters

Character(s) interacted with

Inquisitor Gallia Euphrati, Rainy Day

Created Content

Details about the interior of the PAA Cuboid Mobile Headquarters were adlibbed, as wells as some information around The Darkest House's presentation in Perpetual Bernville.

Notes

Rushing through the Cube

I felt like the campaign had been getting bogged down in the Underwater Desert, so I told the players in advance that I was going to try to get through how they deal with the PAA Cuboid Mobile Headquarters quickly and in a more abstract / zoomed out manner. I'd also been teasing content about The Darkest House and sharing my excitement for it, so they were on board. We glossed over a lot of detail but I think we hit the right notes for the combat and sabotage, etc. The group seemed fine with it, even though some of them didn't have much input.

Starting the Darkest House

My opinion of it so far is quite mixed. The system itself, while being relatively simple for straightforward checks, gets quite fiddly where avoiding / calculating damage is concerned (especially when an effect targets everyone). And the House Actions escalate much more quickly than I was expecting. I get that it's meant to model rising tension and a feeling of being pursued, but I'm worried that we'll be cycling through them so quickly that they'll lose their impact after a few sessions and just become an irritant that gets in the way of the exploration.
The setting is great, though. And the app itself (they go hand-in-hand, really). The mystery and atmosphere of the place are communicated nicely and slowly, in a way that seems to permeate all the actions involved in the tentative progress. The illustrations and virtual handouts are a lovely touch that really pull the experience together. I'm unsure how well it works in terms of there being clear goals and / or some kind of guided experience - the group have gone in with the goal of looking for a way out, but it's not clear how they can best pursue that. And there are so many options for routes, with things like teleportation confusing matters further. I'm excited to see how it progresses, though.

PAA Heavy by Ché Wilbraham

Related Adventure

Campaign: Convergence, Chapter: The Desert Under The Water, The Darkest House

Report Date

01 Jun 2021

Primary Location

Underwater Desert

Secondary Location

The Darkest House