Pulp 005

January 15, 2021

[7:14 PM] Osu: All right, do I have everyone?

[7:15 PM] Sandy: ((Present!))

[7:19 PM] Osu: Anyone else?

[7:19 PM] Sandy: (( @Joseph @Ke ))

[7:20 PM] Joseph: ((I'm here!))

[7:20 PM] Sandy: ((I'll text Caleb))

[7:38 PM] Osu: Well, I'll do some recap, anyway.

[7:42 PM] Osu: So, you guy swere at Swan Lake, the estate of one Alan Swan, apparently immortal adventurer and Sandy's foster father who rescued you all from the Thule Society, a bunch of Nazi occultists. You had been extended an invitation to join the Aeon Society, a group of adventurers, mystics, and visionaries. You met two others members. a burly mountain man-looking fellow called Wild Jack Perry and a younger woman named Mnemosyne Crafter, who goes by Nemo.

[7:42 PM] Sandy: ((Both of whom seem cool))

[7:47 PM] Osu: AFter some conversation about cars and bikes, you guys are back in the library. Wild Jack is drinking a cup of tea and chewing on some jerky, which he seems to have an endless supply of on his person.

[7:47 PM] Sandy: "What kind of tea is that?"

[7:47 PM] Joseph: Black.

[7:49 PM] Sandy: "Oh...ok.  You guys enjoy that."

[7:50 PM] Sandy: "So...anyone else coming?"

[7:51 PM] Osu: Alan:  Miss Crafter, pull up the files of the 1919 expedition, please.

[7:52 PM] Osu: Wild Jack:  Not tonight. You need three for a new induction.

[7:53 PM] Sandy: "....what's the 1919 expedition?"

[7:53 PM] Osu: Alan:  I told you we sent people to Planet X.

[7:54 PM] Osu: Nemo nods, and goes of to pull some files out.

[7:54 PM] Joseph: ... did they come back?

[7:54 PM] Osu: Alan:  Mostly.

[7:55 PM] Osu: Wild Jack:  He doesn't mean that most of them came back. He means that they didn't come back whole.

[7:56 PM] Joseph: Well. That's not worrying at all.

[7:56 PM] Sandy: "I thought you said we weren't going to Planet X anyway, though."

[7:57 PM] Osu: Alan:  Don't you want to know what you're dealing with?

[7:57 PM] Osu: Alan:  I don't expect you to take my word for it, and you've probably got plans for a rocket already.

[7:58 PM] Joseph: Do you?

[7:58 PM] Sandy: "...maybe."

[7:59 PM] Sandy: "...the initial cannon based models I thought up proved inadequate to break Earth's gravity."

[8:01 PM] Osu: Nemo comes out with a leather satchel. "Work with the gravity.  Use it to generate momentum.  Circumnavigate a couple of times and you'll have more than enough velocity to break free.

[8:02 PM] Joseph: ... have you... of course you have.

[8:02 PM] Sandy: "....that's brilliant."

[8:03 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Just theoretical, of course. Standard gunpowder won't work, as the pilot would be killed by the initial blast.

[8:04 PM] Sandy: "Also, you'd need to be able to shift trajectory mid flight or you'd just be trapped in a loop until you lose momentum and gravity retakes you.  You need a force powerful enough to move you that you'd also have control of from within the craft."

[8:05 PM] Joseph: ... I don't think I've ever wanted to volunteer for something that foolhardy that much in my life.

[8:06 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Ideally, you'd want a second blast. The first one to launch, the second one to break you out of the orbit in a way that won't disrupt momentum.

[8:06 PM] Osu: Nemo looks at Joe. "I'll put you down as a test pilot for the prototype, then?"

[8:07 PM] Sandy: "...how are your piloting skills?"

[8:07 PM] Joseph: Nonexistent.

[8:07 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Those can be learned.

[8:07 PM] Sandy: "I can help teach you."

[8:08 PM] Osu: Alan:  Seriously, no rockets.

[8:08 PM] Joseph: I'm in.

[8:08 PM] Osu: He pulls some papers and journals out of the satchel that Nemo brought in.

[8:08 PM] Ke: how did they get to Planet X in 1919?

[8:12 PM] Sandy: "...good question.  Also, rockets are awesome."

[8:12 PM] Osu: Alan:  Baron did some calculations about where it would be. We were able to open a door with magic because of the planet's position.

[8:12 PM] Osu: Nemo:   There was a conjunction that they were able to piggyback on all the way to Yuggoth.

[8:13 PM] Sandy: "Conjunction?"

[8:13 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Planetary alignment.

[8:13 PM] Sandy: "Ah!"

[8:14 PM] Sandy: "...my astronomy is admittedly not as strong as some other subjects."

[8:14 PM] Osu: Wild Jack:  Heh. Neither was Baron's.  He was more of an Astrologer.(edited)

[8:15 PM] Joseph: Baron meaning?

[8:17 PM] Osu: Alan hands you a photograph, Joe! Five people in what look like modified deep sea diving suits, helmets off, posing for a pre-expedition portrait. "Baron Jeffries.  The whole thing was his idea.  He made the plan with the rest of those madmen.  Raven, David, Brett, and Svadi.

[8:18 PM] Joseph: And it went badly.

[8:18 PM] Sandy: "I'm sorry, are we glossing over the implication that astrology has merit?"

[8:19 PM] Osu: Alan:  David and Brett never came back. Baron and Svadi are in an asylum. Raven left the Society and disappeared.

[8:19 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Everything has merit.

[8:20 PM] Sandy: "...asylum?"

[8:20 PM] Ke: You didn't try and keep track of Raven?

[8:20 PM] Osu: Alan:  Of course we did.

[8:21 PM] Osu: Alan pulls out a picture of the five people, in their suits, walking into what seems to be a glowing portal built into a wall.

[8:23 PM] Osu: Then he pulls out a second picture of the same portal. Two figures are laying like they just fell out of it, and the third is still half in the portal.

[8:23 PM] Ke: How long was the expedition?

[8:23 PM] Joseph: ... what the hell happened?

[8:24 PM] Osu: Alan:  It was only supposed to be a few hours. That was how long the conjuction lasted. Long enough for some samples, some photos, some sketches.

[8:24 PM] Osu: Alan hands over a journal to Ke.

[8:25 PM] Osu: The Journal starts on April 19, 1919 and the last entry is dated "November?  I think".

[8:26 PM] Ke: will look through the journal

[8:26 PM] Sandy: "...how long were they actually gone for?"

[8:26 PM] Osu: Alan:  Our time? A few hours. But time went funny on the other side of the portal.

[8:27 PM] Joseph: Who were they?

[8:27 PM] Osu: Alan:  Us. Other members of the Society.

[8:28 PM] Sandy: "Do we know why Raven left?"

[8:28 PM] Ke: did they say anything when they got back?

[8:28 PM] Osu: Alan:  She didn't say a word.

[8:29 PM] Osu: Alan:  Svadi wasn't in shape to say anything.(edited)

[8:29 PM] Osu: Alan:  Baron doesn't say anything that makes sense anymore.

[8:29 PM] Joseph: He's still alive?

[8:29 PM] Joseph: Sense is every much in the eye of the beholder.

[8:30 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Well, let's just say he doesn't speak in a way that we have any frame of reference for anymore.

[8:31 PM] Sandy: "Has anyone written down what he has said?"

[8:32 PM] Joseph: ... he might be able to communicate with me.

[8:33 PM] Sandy: "...that sounds like it'd be worth testing."

[8:33 PM] Osu: Alan thinks. "I'm sure we could arrange something."

[8:34 PM] Sandy: "...is this related to our 'induction'?"

[8:34 PM] Osu: Ke, the ournal goes from a very well ordered description of what they found and gets more desperate and unhinged the longer they write.

[8:35 PM] Joseph: I need to know who these people were.

[8:37 PM] Osu: There are some photos in the files too. Only three. One shows a landscape that looks like a neon rainbow coral reef above ground.

[8:37 PM] Sandy: looks at the photo.

[8:38 PM] Joseph: What or who they loved or cared about.

[8:39 PM] Osu: A second shows a city in the distance, a city that was clearly not made for people. The angles are wrong and seem to be built on architectual principles that would be impossible here.

[8:39 PM] Osu: The third shows the body of a creature, half burned to death on the ground. IT might have been humanoid once, but it looked stretched, elongated, and turned inside out.

[8:40 PM] Ke: also looks at the photos.

[8:40 PM] Joseph: absolutely looks away after a glance at third one.

[8:42 PM] Sandy: is fascinated by the second picture.

[8:44 PM] Ke: And this was the first and only expedition your society did?

[8:44 PM] Joseph: Who knew them best?

[8:47 PM] Osu: Alan pours a glass of whiskey. "They were friends.  Thomas Brett and Francis David.   All of them were friends."

[8:47 PM] Osu: Alan:  To Yuggoth? Yes.

[8:48 PM] Joseph: ... I know it'll be painful, but I have a better chance if you can help me get a picture of who they are. Any journals, diaries, papers?

[8:50 PM] Osu: Alan:  I can dig some stuff up. But this isn't your intiation. I wanted you to know what you were up against. I'll have to get permission from Baron's wife for you to see him. And she isn't terribly cooperative with the society.

[8:50 PM] Joseph: I can talk to her if you like.

[8:52 PM] Osu: Alan:  We'll see.

[8:53 PM] Osu: He taps the third photo. "We think that this is what becomes of the Mi-Go's human servants.  Or at least, humans on Yuggoth for too long."

[8:54 PM] Ke: Seems like any length of time is too long

[8:54 PM] Sandy: "...so...what is our initiation?"

[8:56 PM] Joseph: Has anyone tried to stop them?

[8:58 PM] Osu: Alan:  Stop who? The Mi-Go?

[8:59 PM] Joseph: Yes.

[8:59 PM] Osu: Alan:  That's why we're here.

[8:59 PM] Sandy: "What do the Mi-Go want?"

[9:01 PM] Osu: Alan:  No idea. All we know is gleaned through the intermediaries they work through. We suspect that they can't.... affect the Earth directly.

[9:02 PM] Osu: Nemo:  I suspect their world, and thus they, are out of phase with out reality. Just a hair.

[9:03 PM] Joseph: I suspect that might be the only thing keeping us alive.

[9:04 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Very likely, yes.

[9:04 PM] Sandy: "How do we fight them?  Is there...like...a central mission giving office or something?"

[9:05 PM] Osu: Alan:  These.... events. Like the one you all experienced -- might be a natural phenomenon. It may be them trying to reach out.

[9:05 PM] Sandy: "The powers we get?  You think they intend those?"

[9:06 PM] Osu: Nemo:  It's either intentional or just a side effect.

[9:08 PM] Joseph: starts looking for books about the Mi-Go.

[9:08 PM] Osu: Alan:  We fight them by fighting their intermediaries and learning whatever we can.

[9:08 PM] Joseph: It doesn't give them a handle on us, does it?

[9:10 PM] Osu: Alan:  that's always a danger.

9:11 PM] Joseph: That is extremely worrying. I assume you'd put us down like dogs if that happened.

[9:12 PM] Sandy: "What?"

[9:12 PM] Osu: Alan:  Oh. You mean direct influence? I should hope not. I don't think it does, inherently.

[9:12 PM] Osu: Alan:  Otherwise we wouldn't be here.

[9:12 PM] Joseph: ... thank goodness.

[9:13 PM] Osu: Nemo:  That's one of the reasons we suspect that our abilities are accidental.

[9:14 PM] Sandy: "Although, I imagine their emissaries also get powers."

[9:15 PM] Joseph: We saw them doing magic.

[9:15 PM] Sandy: "They were doing a ritual.  That's not a power.  I imagine anyone with the right book can do that."

[9:16 PM] Ke: The leader had some kind of mental powers though

[9:17 PM] Sandy: "....wait...can I train to be a wizard?  ...how long does that usually take and can I use magic to make my bike fly?"

[9:17 PM] Joseph: The same as mine.

[9:17 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Their abilities seem to be fed to them directly.

[9:17 PM] Osu: Nemo:  .... though mimicry is something we've seen from Thule before.

[9:18 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Their leaders seem to be able to mimic the powers of any Inspired they're around.

[9:18 PM] Sandy: "....that's....dangerous."

[9:19 PM] Joseph: ... that's horrifying. I'll need to keep away from them.

[9:19 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Yes. And no. They have to be around you to do it. If you leave, they lose it.

[9:20 PM] Osu: Nemo:  And two:  Their mimicked powers don't work on the one they're mimicking.

[9:20 PM] Sandy: "Even so, anyone you send at them to stop them can be effectively giving them ammunition."

[9:20 PM] Osu: Nemo:  I mean, guns still work.

[9:20 PM] Osu: Nemo:  They're still human.

[9:22 PM] Joseph: I wonder.

[9:22 PM] Sandy: "...ok....so, this is all what we're up against.  The long form pitch for this society.  ...you still haven't answered the immediate question.  What is this initiation you want us to do?"

[9:23 PM] Joseph: You just want to get it done and out of the way, hm?

[9:23 PM] Sandy: "I prefer to learn by doing."

[9:24 PM] Sandy: "Alan gave me all those instructions on how to build a parachute and I didn't show initiative until I was sewing it while falling out of the plane."

[9:24 PM] Ke: Better to know all you can before rushing in

[9:24 PM] Sandy: "If you wanna be boring about it."

[9:25 PM] Ke: If you want to stay alive

[9:26 PM] Joseph: shrugs.

[9:26 PM] Sandy: "Ok, is there anything more to cover before we get to that, then?"

[9:26 PM] Ke: They said they needed three members before they could decide initiation

[9:27 PM] Osu: Alan:  We have three.

[9:27 PM] Sandy: "Yeah, Alan, Nemo, Jack."

[9:27 PM] Osu: Wild Jack chews on some jerky.

[9:30 PM] Joseph: I'm up to do it now, if you like.

[9:30 PM] Osu: Alan:  We had some disagreements. Wild Jack, as you know, wanted you to go out and wrestle something.

[9:31 PM] Sandy: "...not really my specialty."

[9:32 PM] Joseph: Ke could wrestle something.

[9:32 PM] Osu: Alan:  Nemo wanted to set out some puzzle or problem that would push you to the limits of your reasoning ability.(edited)

[9:32 PM] Joseph: Sandy could do that.

[9:32 PM] Sandy: nods

[9:34 PM] Sandy: "...what did you want, Alan?"

[9:35 PM] Joseph: Hopefully it's a pretty face.

[9:35 PM] Osu: Alan:  I argued that making your way through the Thule trap was already an initiation.

[9:36 PM] Sandy: "...oh....that's...you were impressed?"

[9:37 PM] Osu: Alan:  Mmmhmm. You just needed a ride, you barely needed rescuing.

[9:38 PM] Joseph: I think we would've been all right without a rescue.

[9:40 PM] Ke: Does it count as an initiation if no one intended it to be one?

[9:40 PM] Joseph: I could help the others in their tasks if you still want us to do them.

[9:41 PM] Sandy: "I am willing to still be tested.  I don't wanna get in on a technicality."

[9:41 PM] Joseph: Agreed.

[9:47 PM] Osu: Alan:  And there is tradition, and all that.

[9:48 PM] Joseph: Yes.

[9:48 PM] Sandy: "...obstacle course?  A little bit of puzzle solving a little bit of physical stuff?"

[9:50 PM] Joseph: Hm.

[9:50 PM] Joseph: frowns at the books.

[9:50 PM] Sandy: "...what's wrong?"

[9:51 PM] Joseph: Nothing on the Mi-Go.

[9:55 PM] Osu: Nemo:  We don't know enough about them to fill a book.

[9:55 PM] Osu: Nemo:  Theories. Speculations. Even the name Mi-Go just comes from one of the first cults Alan fought.

[9:55 PM] Sandy: "...there was a cult called 'Mi-Go'?"

[9:56 PM] Osu: Alan:  No, the worshiped spirits called the Mi-Go.

[9:57 PM] Sandy: "Ah, I see.

[9:57 PM] Osu: Alan looks at Nemo and Jack.

[9:58 PM] Joseph: Well. It's getting rather late. If we want to do the thing, let us by all means do the thing. Otherwise, I'm going to go and... do something, I suppose.

[9:59 PM] Sandy: "Yeah.  Or do you guys want a night to plan it?"

[10:01 PM] Osu: Alan:  No. The four of you are going to go to an old house down on the Cape. There's going to be something in that house that doesn't belong there, and you're going to bring it back.

[10:01 PM] Osu: Alan:  I'll give you the address, but that's all I'm going to tell you.

[10:02 PM] Sandy: "...right.  Understood."

[10:02 PM] Joseph: All right. Let's go.

10:03 PM] Sandy: "I'll drive."

[10:03 PM] Osu: August:  If we're taking my car, I'm driving.

[10:04 PM] Sandy: "...ugh, fine.  Just don't drive like an old lady, please."

[10:05 PM] Joseph: grins.

[10:05 PM] Sandy: "I'm guessing it'll just be the four of us."

[10:06 PM] Osu: Alan:  That's the idea.

[10:06 PM] Sandy: "Ok, I've got all I need in the car already.  So, we should be good."

[10:06 PM] Joseph: All right. You'll all be up when we get back, yes?

[10:07 PM] Sandy: "I mean...they are all super old, so who can say?"

[10:08 PM] Osu: Alan:  Jack and I are old. Nemo's still a whippernsnapper.

[10:09 PM] Joseph: If she's old, I'm positively geriatric.

[10:09 PM] Osu: Alan:  All right. Head out. It's at least an hour to the cape, even if you drive like a maniac.(edited)

[10:09 PM] Ke: And hopefully we don’t.

[10:11 PM] Sandy: "It's not a maniac if you're in control the whole time."

[10:11 PM] Joseph: hops up and heads out to the garage.

[10:11 PM] Ke: follows Joe

[10:12 PM] Sandy: follows too.

[10:13 PM] Osu: So, do you all pile into August's car?

[10:13 PM] Sandy: calls shotgun

[10:14 PM] Joseph: does. He sits in the back, of course.

[10:14 PM] Joseph: ... did you see that library?

[10:15 PM] Sandy: "It was real impressive."

[10:15 PM] Ke: will sit in the back as well

[10:16 PM] Ke: It was definitely quite a lot of interesting  items

[10:16 PM] Joseph: There are books in there that were printed in numbers you could count on one hand.

[10:17 PM] Sandy: "...you mean early editions?"

[10:17 PM] Joseph: I mean only editions.

[10:17 PM] Ke: ...That is impressive

[10:18 PM] Sandy: "Yeah.  ...also, apparently Alan's been over two centuries old all this time.  ...still not past that."

[10:18 PM] Joseph: I would have given... at least one pinky to see that book.

[10:19 PM] Sandy: "I'm betting we'll get there."

[10:19 PM] Sandy: "I'm still more a fan of learning the hands on way."

[10:20 PM] Joseph: There was a lively debate on whether "Unspeakable Cults" had even ever existed.

[10:21 PM] Ke: Private collections always have very interesting items

[10:21 PM] Sandy: "....I hope we get to meet with Baron.  ...I suspect there's more to him than just gibbering nonsense."

[10:22 PM] Joseph: ... we'll find out. I hope whatever it is isn't contagious.

[10:22 PM] Sandy: "...I'm pretty sure insanity and shellshock aren't contagious."

[10:23 PM] Ke: If that’s what it is

[10:25 PM] Joseph: I don't know if we know what it is. And I haven't ... been able to do this very long. I haven't had a great deal of practice.

[10:25 PM] Osu: You drive! It's about an hour to your destination, an old waterfront manorhouse. It's dark, and abandoned as hell. The grounds are overgrown, and the only the lights come from a small cottage. A groundskeeper, you'd think, though there's little evidence that they're doing their job if that's the case.

[10:26 PM] Sandy: "...front door, or should we be less conventional?"

[10:26 PM] Joseph: Front door. And we should likely knock.

[10:26 PM] Ke: Never use the front door

[10:27 PM] Sandy: "....good, glad we've got consensus."