Lore - Castle Rauthenberg
Salzburg Alps, Austria 2012
Trish finally checks her phone, realizing it’s been on silent all morning. A cascade of missed texts and beach photos floods in.
Allan (Pookah Bear)
sorry babe—work went sideways :/
love the beach pics!! give the monsters a kiss for me <3
We miss you. What’s so urgent this weekend?
if I told you I’d have to… you know. +_+ you...
Tell me now, kill me later. I’ll worry either way.
fine. broad strokes: Interpol assist, tourist homicides, cross-border pattern.
they think we’ve got a serial.
…Jesus. Are you okay?
with Lund as my bodyguard? pls.
Lund…
jealous? O-o I was gonna book a single to save the taxpayers. you understand, right…? >:)
Psh. Can your meatball do this?
(Photo arrives: Allan at sunset, pushing out his gut; his face tan all but where he wore his sunglasses. It’s profoundly unsexy.)
sir this is a workplace. also 10/10 tan lines <3
Some men have genetics. I have to work for it.
Seriously. Be careful.
being careful, babe ( ^‿^ )b
I hate that one. Reads so passive-aggressive.
not this again… it’s just a thumbs up…
anyway, I’ll be fine. we’re doing it by the book. Mehta has local cops on standby.
I’m hoping you finish early. Kids keep asking when you’ll get here.
doing my best—no promises.
sunscreen on the gremlins. make sure you hydrate.
Copy. Love you. Seriously. Be safe.
love you more. will ping at check-in.
( ^‿^ )b
She kills the screen, lets the beach vanish. Back to the creepy Austrian town, the too-quiet inn, the suspicious owners. Night is coming, and tourists only vanish after lights out.
The Cast
Trish Edwards - Team Leader
Health
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
Traits
Strength 2 Intellect 2 Resonate 2
Endurance 2 Memory 3 Sigil 1
Dexterity 2 Charisma 3 Flux 1
Skills
Combat 1 Mobility 1 Influence 2 Lore 2
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
With two kids and a husband, her life revolves around responsibilities to others even when she isn't working. Although a bit soft behind the scenes she is a tough boss that cares deeply for the people under ther command and would never ask them to do something she herself wouldn't do.Ability — Spirit WalkEdwards may spend 1 Wane to step outside her body in spiritual form. While in spirit form she may pass through solid objects and levitates as fast as she can walk. Her physical body in vulnerable while she is in this state, and if she is attacked she must spend an additional point of Wane to remain in spirit form.
Erik Lund - The Hunter
Health
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
Traits
Strength 3 Intellect 2 Resonate 2
Endurance 3 Memory 2 Sigil 1
Dexterity 2 Charisma 2 Flux 1
Skills
Combat 2 Mobility 2 Channel 2
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
A living brick wall with a penchant for violence, it is a wonder Lund ended up serving Interpol's interests and not a prison sentence. Notoriously vague on the origins of his many fatal looking scars, he often offers a cliche, 'You should see the other guy...", before changing the subject.Ability — Martyr's BondWhen taking a Wound in damage, Lund may roll Resonate + Channel at TN (14). Upon a success his opponent takes an equal amount of damage that was done in the attack, however it ignores all armor and resistances. If this roll fails, Lund loses one Wane and takes the damage as normal.
Rohan Mehta - The Specialist
Health
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
Traits
Strength 2 Intellect 3 Resonate 3
Endurance 2 Memory 3 Sigil 1
Dexterity 2 Charisma 1 Flux 1
Skills
Combat 1 Channel 1 Tech 1
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
(3) Wounds (3) Will (3) Wane
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Special Issue (3 DV / 2 AV)
Younger than the rest of his fellow agents by a good measure, Mehta is eager to prove himself and his unorthodox style. Capable of sending blueprints, arrest records, or case photos directly into the mind of his allies, they operate with situational awareness unmatched by modern technologies alone.Ability — Tune ThoughtsMehta is able to send messages and broadcast images directly into the minds of others within a limited range of a few hundred meters. Mehta may also choose to make a contested Resonate + Channel roll against any sentient opponent, causing the loser to take one Will and one Wane in damage once per turn.
Introduction
The bed-and-breakfast felt timeless - stone walls, low beams, a cedar-scented stove, and enough mismatched chairs to suggest generations of ownership. It sat where the lane ran out, doubling as the only bar for ten kilometers. Locals kept to themselves, drinking in a mannerly hush that made outsiders feel both welcomed and ignored. The owners, an elderly couple, ran the room with unforced ease. They poured beer with steady hands, steered conversation without effort, and produced a house dessert the way a priest offers bread - small, glossy muffins with a poppy-sweet scent the team couldn’t quite place. “On the house,” the old man said, as if it were a neighborly conspiracy. The agents took notes and photos, clocked faces and exits. Nothing spiked, nothing slipped. They turned in early. Morning never came. What pooled behind the curtains was not dawn but a stale, blue-grey gloaming that pressed flat against the glass. No bird calls, no road noise. Only the ominous hush you get from being inside a snowdrift. Mehta flicked his phone on, frowned. “No bars. And... great - everything dropped fifty percent overnight!” He dug out his power bank, tapped it. “Dead! It was full last night!” He tried the radio, then a second handset. “Carrier light’s gone... Either the tower died or we did...” Downstairs, the bar was exactly as they had left it: glasses inverted, coasters stacked, the tray that had once held muffins set neatly to dry. The innkeepers stood behind the counter as if they had not moved. Only now their faces were wrong in a way the eye wanted to correct - pupils too large and dark, smiles impossibly wide, a stillness so eerie it was almost inhuman. It was like looking at a photograph that someone had retouched a little too eagerly. “You must have questions,” the woman said. Warm voice, unhelpful. “Perhaps even a grievance,” the man added, as if this were customer service. Lund stepped in, big and careful. “Questions, yes.” He reached across the bar to catch the man's lapel. His hand found nothing - the material thin as air as his fingers slipped off it into absence. The old man hadn’t moved. He was there, and he wasn’t, like a reflection that refused to be touched. Lund leaned back, glowering down at the specters. “What are you?” he asked, grunting back to Trish over his shoulder. “Hard to kill shit that's dead, boss. Gonna need my bag...” A long, bony finger indicated the door, the old man both scolding and serene. “There is no need for violence. Lord Rauthenberg awaits you in his castle with all the answers you seek. It is just down the road. You cannot miss it.” They made no move to stop the team and no move to help; they were present in the way reflections are present - visible yet immaterial. Mehta lifted his camera out of habit. The photos displayed black on his screen even as the battery fell below the halfway point. "Rubbish." He muttered. "Fucking rubbish. How are we supposed to collect evidence?" Outside, the world had slid several degrees toward myth. Rolling, unclaimed land stretched to a horizon that wouldn’t settle. Ruins shouldered out of the brush like teeth. The road ran forward in a ruler-straight cut, its gravel bright as bone. Perched on a cliff where no engineer would sign, a castle leaned over the void. Its angles were elegant and slightly offensive, as if someone who disliked rules had the power to ignore them. Mehta checked his watch. The second hand ticked twice, stopped, then leapt. “Yeah, I think we're dead...” he said softley. “On me,” said Trish, low yet commanding. Lund fell in on her right without hesitation, one meaty hand resting on his sidearm. Mehta shook off his confusion a breath later and joined on her left, packing cords and dead batteries back into his bag. They crossed the threshold, and the door to the inn swung shut behind them without touching a hand. The sign above it creaked once in a wind that wasn’t there. Ahead, the road narrowed to a single path. They started walking. Castle Rauthenberg loomed like a verdict. Whatever else, answers waited at the edge of that cliff.
Wights
Health
(3) Wounds (-) Will (-) Wane
Traits
Strength 2 Intellect 1 Resonate 1
Endurance 2 Memory 1 Sigil 1
Dexterity 2 Charisma 1 Flux 1
Skills
Combat 1 Mobility 1 Insight 1
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -1 AB) Claws and Fangs (1 DV / 1 AV)
(3) Wounds (-) Will (-) Wane
(+3 WB / -1 AB) Claws and Fangs (1 DV / 1 AV)
Wretched creatures that were once normal humans, they were drained by the vampire to the point of death but prevented from crossing over. They serve an important role amidst his servants, eating the remains of anyone that dies inside his castle that he does not wish to turn. Shuffling around the galleries of Castle Rauthenberg searching for scraps in a sort of sad trance, they turn immediately ravenous once given a cue. Frail and weak, they become exponentially more dangerous in larger numbers.
Dark Spawn
Health
(6) Wounds (-) Will (-) Wane
Traits
Strength 4 Intellect 2 Resonate 2
Endurance 4 Memory 2 Sigil 1
Dexterity 2 Charisma 1 Flux 1
Skills
Combat 2 Mobility 2 Insight 2
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -2 AB) WW2 Stockpile (2 DV / 2 AV)
(6) Wounds (-) Will (-) Wane
(+3 WB / -2 AB) WW2 Stockpile (2 DV / 2 AV)
On rare occasions, a killer crosses over the threshold of Castle Rauthenberg. Murder stains the flesh in a way that lets the vampire brand them with a special mark and ritual, creating an undead creature with a small dose of sentience. Still unable to communicate through traditional means, they are bound to their master's will and not easily confused or duped. Much stronger and smarter than their Wight counterparts, they can shrug off wounds that would kill a normal human as well as use modern firearms with deadly efficiency.
The Vampire
Health
(9) Wounds (9) Will (9) Wane
Traits
Strength 5 Intellect 4 Resonate 4
Endurance 5 Memory 4 Sigil 5
Dexterity 5 Charisma 2 Flux 4
Skills
All Skills count as 3
Loadout -
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Bite (2 DV / 2 AV)
(9) Wounds (9) Will (9) Wane
(+3 WB / -3 AB) Bite (2 DV / 2 AV)
Fleeing the oppressive might of the sun, Rauthenberg claimed a realm in between worlds where he could rule as the architect of his own fate. Using stolen ritual magic, he tore space itself to lay the foundation for his empire. Pulling chunks of the material world into the fractal wound that he created, he forged an empire in his immaterial realm. Time and consequence have become little more than passing notions to him as he has isolated himself for over half a century, his prey and creations his only company.
Comments