Original Intro
Darkness has enshrouded the city of St. Augustine for the past two full moons, casting an ominous shadow as a malevolent predator stalks the supernatural community. Low-level practitioners and paranet members have become the target of brutal, ritualistic killings. Two of these victims, Emily Thompson and Michael Nguyen, were familiar faces in the local paranet, occasionally visiting Jeremy’s occult bookshop and possibly even counting some of you as friends.
Meanwhile, the city’s homeless population has started vanishing without a trace. Although their disappearances have gone largely unnoticed by the general public, BRO-ski, a resourceful vagrant himself, cannot ignore the unsettling pattern that emerged just weeks before the first murder.
As dawn breaks after the latest full moon, the supernatural inhabitants of the city stir uneasily, holding their breath and wondering if the night has claimed yet another victim. Jeremy approaches his store with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding. As he reaches for his keys, he realizes that something is amiss. The lock of his shop has been forced open by an unknown assailant.
Summoning his courage, Jeremy peers through the glass window of the door, straining to make sense of the scene that lies within. The shop’s interior is dark, but a faint outline of a shadowy form on the floor catches his eye, its nature uncertain. Our game begins with you standing on the precipice of the unknown, confronted with a decision that could lead you and your fellow supernaturals down a dangerous path filled with darkness and peril.
The Crime Scene
As you step into the room, your eyes are drawn to a gruesome sight that sends a shiver down your spine. The body of Amina Kone, a familiar face in the supernatural community known for her low-level divination abilities and tarot card readings, lies naked in the center of the floor, arms stretched above her shoulders and legs spread out, eerily reminiscent of the Vitruvian Man. A ghastly circle of power painted in the victim’s own blood surrounds her body, while an unknown script with sharp, demonic-looking letters traces the perimeter of the circle, also written in blood. Black candles, burned down to mere nubs, encircle the scene.
Your stomach churns as you take in the horrifying details of Amina’s body. Her chest cavity has been brutally cut open, and all of her internal organs have been removed, leaving a hollow, mutilated shell. The floor around her is covered in dried blood, evidence of the horrific violence that has occurred in this once peaceful room.
Session Details
The supernatural community of St. Augustine recoiled in horror as the third victim of a chilling string of ritualistic murders was discovered within the confines of Jeremy’s local occult bookshop. Jeremy, a mere mortal but well-versed in the arcane, stumbled upon the grotesque sight of Amina Kone, a paranet member known for her tarot card readings, her life snuffed out amidst a horrific tableau of ritualistic violence. Rather than involve the authorities, Jeremy summoned the assistance of Aubert Marion, a seasoned monster hunter, and Georgia Thompson, a weregator entrenched in the paranet community, to scrutinize the grim scene.
During their investigation, BRO-ski, a street-savvy vagrant with a knack for making unorthodox connections, arrived on the scene with a peculiar companion, “Seance Sam”, known for his eerie ability to converse with the deceased. Their analysis was abruptly interrupted by a terrified customer who stumbled upon the macabre scene, fleeing in panic to alert the police.
As law enforcement closed in, the team, against the ticking clock, had Sam perform his seance, revealing a chilling scene of Amina’s final moments. Her memory painted a terrifying image of her killer: a tall, athletic man brandishing an obsidian-black sword, accompanied by a woman garbed in the austere attire of a nun. This enigmatic pair ended Amina’s life, and with it, her memories.
With the police moving to seize the building, BRO-ski skillfully orchestrated Sam’s unnoticed exit, while Aubert, in a desperate attempt to evade capture, ripped open a portal to the sprawling library of the Fae Wilds. Amidst towering bookshelves that stretched beyond sight and wide avenues filled with countless volumes of wisdom and knowledge, they found sanctuary. However, a disconcerting sight met their eyes – spots of decay and corruption scattered throughout the library, as if mirroring the tainted ritualistic killing in the mortal world.
Re-emerging in Aubert’s safehouse, they found themselves displaced in time; an entire week had elapsed in the mortal world during their brief sojourn in the Fae Wilds. Their return was marked by a visit from Sister Maria, who added a new twist to their predicament. She delivered news of the Blackened Denarius’ potential presence in town, the rumored accumulation of magical artifacts, and the arrival of Father O’Malley, a wielder of the Sword of Faith. Additionally, upon examining Jeremy’s Polaroid photographs of the crime scene, Sister Maria recognized the arcane language encircling the ritual site as that found in “Codex Mysterium Bune”, a text dedicated to the demon Bune.
The session drew to a close with the group now juggling multiple leads, each step unveiling a larger and more menacing puzzle. Their mission: to identify the sinister force relentlessly targeting their community.
