(RC) Influx - Ch. 1

Here is the first of the summaries for each Chapter of the campaign. I will try and post them weekly or at the very least at the end of each Chapter. Try and remember that this is not literature, these are indirect Summaries for each Chapter of the Ryujin Chronicles.

Summary: Kemosiri and Tenzin arrive in Kyoto and after meeting up with their new Cabal, must solve the mystery behind the death of an unknown mage. Their investigation leads them to an encounter with a Kyoto Consilium mage and the discovery of an ancient Japanese scroll.

Recap:

It is raining heavily when Kemosiri and Tenzin arrive at Kansai International Airport near Osaka, Japan. It is 9:00 p.m., local time. Kemosiri, who has just flown 18 hours from Heathrow, has two bottles of old Scotch as a gift for his new boss and Ms. Ogawa, their team leader. He hopes this would impress them. He has been reading the Lonely Planet guide to Kyoto and is beginning to learn the basics of Japanese.

Tenzin, on the other hand, has just arrived from Chengdu, China. He travelled from his native Tibet to Chengdu and picked up Gei Ho from a Bon Po Cabal in Chengdu. Gei Ho is a 12 year old street urchin who also happens to be a Sleepwalker. Gei Ho knows Mandarin Chinese as well as English and is supposed to act as translator for Tenzin.

Kemosiri sees Tenzin and Gei Ho holding up a sign saying “Akio Ogawa” on it. It is how Tenzin figured they would identify their ride. Kemosiri and Tenzin tentatively greet each other. Just then, a black limo pulls up to the door. Duncan, Ms. Ogawa’s chauffeur, greets them. He says they have a situation and he will take them there immediately.

Duncan drives the mages from Kansai airport, past Osaka and on to Kyoto – a mere 45 minute drive. Through the heavy rain, they could see Kyoto. Shrines and Shopping Malls, Temples and Apartments, all laid next to each other in a dull metal and tan patchwork tapestry roughly sewn together by a blind seamstress using patterns from ancient books and today’s magazines. Duncan, in an animated voice, explained what they saw through the rain swept windows.

They arrive at a “crime scene” in a Kyoto alleyway. Ms Ogawa has contacts in the Kyoto police, and they told her of a body in an alleyway covered with weird tattoos (Atlantean runes in the form of tattoos). The remaining characters (who have been in Kyoto for a week already) are already at the scene. They gather and begin to investigate. Kemosiri uses Grim Sight and Forensic Gaze to determine how the victim died. He determines that the victim was shot twice in the back and that he died at the scene. Kemosiri uses Speak with Dead to see if there are any ghosts in the area. He was hoping to find the ghost of the victim, but instead Kemosiri sees other apparitions (including a few school girls who have all committed suicide, and a Yakuza mobster who died violently).

Kemosiri finally finds a couple willing to speak with him about the events in the alley. They say the tattooed man was speaking with a “shadowy man” before he was shot. That is all they say. A matchbook found in the tattooed man’s pocket is from the “World Club”. The PC’s decide that this is their next target.

Upon arriving at the World Club, all the PC’s enter except Gei Ho. He stays outside and begins to do a “shell game” for interested patrons who have lined up, but not gotten in.

Meanwhile, the PC’s separate inside the Club. Tenzin begins to ogle two Japanese “waitresses” who sidle up to him and corner him in a booth. He has never met women such as these before and is genuinely curious. The others use their Mage Sight to investigate the bar. Mori Momento notices the large mirror at the back of the bar and detects enchantments. He tries to get their attention by throwing things at the mirror, but he eventually breaks the mirror. A bouncer comes for Mori and takes him upstairs where he meets Reitaro, a member of the Gyochisa Cabal and owner of World Club. He lets Mori know that he knows he is a Mage and that Ms. Ogawa hired him. Reitaro lets Mori know that they are not the first group Ogawa had hired. The former group she hired disappeared and months ago. Reitaro then asks why the group had not handed in their Letters of Introduction to the Consilium as is their custom, but Mori has no answer. Before Mori can ask any more questions, a Bouncer escorts him out.

The others try hard to find someone who might be magical. They wait around thinking that if the tattooed gentleman were here earlier in the evening, then his murderer might come back. They eventually find someone who uses magic but only manage to detect him as he is going out the door. A waitress says goodbye to him as he disappears down the street. They find out that the person is a Detective Ota of the Kyoto police and a regular at World Club.

Knowing now that they are not the first group Ms. Ogawa hired, the group tries to contact her. They only get her voicemail.

However, they do get a hold of Duncan. He cannot contact Ms. Ogawa for them, but Duncan tells the group that they might be able to get more information at another local watering hole, Tadg’s Irish Pub, a pub for ex-pats and (unknown to Duncan), Mages. The bar is owned by Nessa Flannery, an young Irish ex-pat and Sleepwalker who arrived in Japan several years ago. She came to teach English and the local Consilium pressed her into service because she was a Sleepwalker. Tired of serving their every whim, she quit (amicably) and opened up Tadg’s. A gargoyle with a Ban spell on it that wards scrying and weapons sits atop the bar and protects Nessa and her patrons.

The group picks up the trail of Detective Ota as he wanders toward a Shinto Shrine. An eerie nimbus surrounds Ota and everyone believes he might be a mage. Ota ignores the group as he wanders aimlessly up the path toward the shrine. Ota inadvertently activates a spell that summons a guardian spirit - a Baku. The Baku materializes and attacks Ota, knocking him unconscious. The group rush toward it.

As they rush toward it, the Baku disappears behind a large stone alter and begins using one of its powers. A Baku is a spirit of Nightmares. The Baku looks into each character’s mind and extracts their deepest nightmare. It then creates a hallucination of that nightmare. Each character experiences his worst fear. Kontonshin sees a Samurai on horseback attack her. Kemosiri sees a lovecraftian monster appear from behind the stone alter. Tenzin sees a demon from the deepest pits of Tibetan hell. Finally, Mori sees his own father armed with an axe.
Each character battles with his or her nightmare. Some characters, like Kemosiri, take lots of “damage” fighting their nightmares off (the damage is illusionary and disappears when the nightmare disappears). Mori destroys his nightmare and then proceeds to help Kemosiri with his. Kemosiri, now looking in Twilight for the spirit, spots a hidden scroll. Kemosiri reaches into Twilight and grabs the scroll. The Baku ambushes Kemosiri and they fight, but eventually the Baku is defeated and it dematerializes behind the Gauntlet.

Kemosiri takes the very delicate scroll and studies it. It is a very old scroll written in an ancient Japanese language that Kontonshin cannot interpret. Kemosiri vows to keep it and translate it as he believes it is of great importance. Detective Ota is still alive and the eerie nimbus that surrounded him earlier is no longer there. They hear a disembodied voice as the nimbus disappears that says “this is only the beginning…”

Next: Ubume - Ch 2