diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore index 6e407f4..69112dd 100644 --- a/.gitignore +++ b/.gitignore @@ -1,5 +1,6 @@ .obsidian .trash +/.obsidian/workspace.json /.obsidian/workspace.json /.obsidian/workspace.json \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/.obsidian/workspace.json b/.obsidian/workspace.json index 02a4ce9..7d4c3a9 100644 --- a/.obsidian/workspace.json +++ b/.obsidian/workspace.json @@ -4,24 +4,53 @@ "type": "split", "children": [ { - "id": "a8b5691e06ba2a2f", + "id": "c1017973813acf05", "type": "tabs", "children": [ { - "id": "eca46ba0bc8fd74a", + "id": "5d241230417dca0f", "type": "leaf", "state": { "type": "markdown", "state": { - "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md", + "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md", "mode": "source", "source": true }, "icon": "lucide-file", - "title": "session 7" + "title": "session 8" + } + }, + { + "id": "238f013ed8de8b94", + "type": "leaf", + "state": { + "type": "markdown", + "state": { + "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md", + "mode": "source", + "source": false + }, + "icon": "lucide-file", + "title": "session 8" + } + }, + { + "id": "72f69bc53dbb4288", + "type": "leaf", + "state": { + "type": "markdown", + "state": { + "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md", + "mode": "preview", + "source": true + }, + "icon": "lucide-file", + "title": "Session 9" } } - ] + ], + "currentTab": 2 } ], "direction": "vertical" @@ -204,32 +233,34 @@ "table-editor-obsidian:Advanced Tables Toolbar": false } }, - "active": "eca46ba0bc8fd74a", + "active": "72f69bc53dbb4288", "lastOpenFiles": [ - "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Fouadriel “Fouad” Al-Mir.md", + "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Kalen D'Serris.md", + "Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md", + "Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md", + "Avalon/01_Arcs/Leyline Arc.md", + "Avalon/01_Arcs/Gang Sidequest.md", + "Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md", + "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md", + "Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md", + "Avalon/11_Players/Soren Silversong.md", + "Avalon/11_Players/Benjamin Mulkerberg.md", + "Avalon/11_Players/Joe Football.md", + "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md", + "Avalon/02_Sessions/session_5.md", + "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Hector Estrada.md", "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md", + "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Fouadriel “Fouad” Al-Mir.md", "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md", "Avalon/05_Locations/Avalon Locations.md", - "Avalon/02_Sessions/session_5.md", "Strahd/Sessions/Session 3.md", "Strahd/Locations/Vallaki.md", "Strahd/Locations/Barovia.md", "Strahd/Locations/Castle Ravenloft.md", "Avalon/06_Factions_Secrets/Avalon Factions.md", - "Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md", "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 4.md", "Avalon/05_Locations/Campus Locations.md", - "Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md", - "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Kalen D'Serris.md", - "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md", - "Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md", "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Sebastian Castillo.md", - "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Chaz Ironwick.md", - "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Millie Fairweather.md", - "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Hector Estrada.md", - "Avalon/03_NPCs_Students/Elias Vae'lor.md", - "Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Christopher Larkvale.md", - "Kalen D'Sesrris.md", "Avalon/11_Players", "Avalon/10_Canon", "Avalon/09_Student_Handouts", @@ -239,8 +270,6 @@ "Strahd/Arcs", "Strahd/Items", "Strahd/Characters", - "session 6.md", - "AndrewNotes/Strahd/Session 3", - "Untitled.md" + "AndrewNotes/Strahd/Session 3" ] } \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Avalon/01_Arcs/Gang Sidequest.md b/Avalon/01_Arcs/Gang Sidequest.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3caa807 --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/01_Arcs/Gang Sidequest.md @@ -0,0 +1,229 @@ + +> **Current position in timeline:** Immediately after the **party fight** at Ben’s house. Most guests fled. There are **5 dead teenagers** in Ben’s living room. The PCs are still on-site, processing aftermath and deciding next steps. + +--- + +## 0) Core Players & Terms + +### PCs +- **Ben Mulkerberg (“Lil Stinky”)** — rich kid posing as block dealer; primary target of Pip’s grudge. +- **Joe Football** — co-conspirator/escalator; pragmatic and willing to do violence if framed as “pre-empting a threat.” +- **Soren Silversong** — volatile ally; arrived to help after the Circle explosion fallout; tends to solve problems through intimidation and chaos. + +### Antagonist / Gang Thread +- **Pip Tumblefoot (“Pip”, halfling teen)** — Circle kid / small-time criminal; manipulative; has a grudge against Ben and now blood in the water. +- **Pip’s crew / goons** — teens and adjacent scumbags; not all are Pip loyalists, but they travel in the same orbit. + +### Location Anchor +- **The Circle** — gas station / hangout / informal meeting point where Ben first got set up and later caused the explosion. + +--- + +## 1) Session 1 — The First Circle Incident (Ben Gets Marked) + +### 1.1 Setup at The Circle +- **Ben is hanging at The Circle** killing time (he has no car yet). +- A **small, swarmy halfling** approaches and asks if he’s “Lil Stinky.” +- Ben clocks him as an easy mark and starts posturing: + - brags + - tries to pressure for a discount / plays dealer hardball + - attempts intimidation/social dominance. + +### 1.2 The Trap Reveal +- The halfling smirks. +- **Three sets of headlights** come on — Ben realizes he’s been had. +- **Intended vibe:** “you’re not in control, you’re being sized up.” + +### 1.3 Insight Branch (You ran a fork here) +- Ben makes an **Insight check** to interpret the halfling’s intent. + - **Success:** Ben realizes this is not a negotiation; it’s a setup → **RUN**. + - **Failure:** Ben believes it *is* a negotiation and might talk his way out / “work together,” which opens comedic RP where Ben tries to bargain while being actively boxed in. + +**Outcome (established truth):** +- This encounter marks the start of Pip’s leverage over Ben. +- Ben is now “the kid who wants to be scary” in the Circle orbit — a perfect target. + +--- + +## 2) Between Session 1 and the Big Pivot — Pip Gains Leverage + +### 2.1 The “I Know Where You Live” Move +- Pip later **sends Ben a photo of Ben’s house.** +- This matters because it establishes: + - Pip can cross the boundary from “gas station beef” to “family/home threat.” + - Ben’s biggest vulnerability (being rich + his parents) is now in play. + +### 2.2 Stakes Clarify +- This conflict becomes **more than reputation**: + - retaliation can hit the house + - Ben’s parents are potential targets + - exposure of Ben’s “W-block lie” becomes a pressure point. + +--- + +## 3) The Circle Explosion — The Point of No Return + +> This is the moment the sidequest stops being “high school gang antics” and becomes **felony-grade magic violence** with real bodies. + +### 3.1 Return to The Circle (Ben + Joe) +- Ben and Joe go to the Circle together. +- Joe chooses to **hide** rather than approach openly. + +### 3.2 Joe’s Threat Read → Trap Prep +- Joe passes an **Insight check** recognizing danger centered around a car (people waiting / ambush feel). +- Joe then makes: + - **Sleight of Hand check** (silent placement) + - **Tools check** (trap rigging) +- Joe rigs a **trap near the passenger-side door** of the car and places a **puddle of oil/accelerant** beneath/near it. + +### 3.3 “Intentions?” → “Cooking Them Out” +- You ask Joe: **“What are your intentions?”** +- Joe clarifies: **“I’m cooking these fuckers out.”** +- Joe fails an Intelligence/Wisdom-style “sanity of plan” check (rolled **5**) and narratively locks in that Joe thinks it’s one of his best ideas all year. + +### 3.4 The Signal → The Fire Goes Up +- Ben accepts a “deal” / engages socially while Joe waits for a trigger moment. +- Joe asks if “that’s the signal.” +- Joe hits exactly the DC; you let interpretation be up to him. +- Joe ignites the accelerant. + +### 3.5 Escape Window +- You tell them they have **2 turns to get 120 ft away** (dash/dash). +- Both PCs escape. + +### 3.6 Casualty Reveal +- Ben sends raven familiar to recon. +- The familiar finds: + - **Charred teen remains** — leg stuck in Joe’s trap. + - **Two unrelated civilians** inside the gas station who got **liquified** in the explosion. + +### 3.7 Immediate Threat +- Ben receives a message from Pip: **“you’re fucking dead.”** +- Ben and Joe contact Soren for help. +- **Soren arrives at Ben’s house** (this becomes the party’s staging location). + +**Resulting status after this pivot:** +- Pip is injured but alive. +- Pip knows Ben is connected to the explosion (even if no one else can prove it). +- Ben’s house is now in the crosshairs. + +--- + +## 4) Fallout Begins — The World Reacts (Without Derailing the Campaign) + +### 4.1 Planned Cold Open Idea (News Segment) +- You considered a TV news cold open: + - explosion at The Circle + - **3 dead** (1 teen + 2 adults) and **1 injured** (Pip) + - magical arson suspects: trap + accelerant found at origin. +- You also wanted Pip to say something **coded** in the interview that Ben/Joe would understand (not “W block” explicitly). + +*(You revised location naming to match Avalon setting — not real-world Sahuarita/Green Valley.)* + +### 4.2 Retaliation Stakes +- You set the intended next-stage conflict: + - Ben’s goal: **get parents out / keep house safe** + - Pip’s goal: **burn the fucker down with them in it** (mirroring Joe’s tactic). +- You debated how Ben learns “when” the attack is coming; you leaned toward Pip being out of commission, threats being vague, and Ben needing to prep without perfect timing. + +--- + +## 5) Ben’s Counterplay — “Throw a Party” Trap Plan + +> Player-driven escalation: Ben decides to use social chaos as a shield and recruit NPCs as “extra bodies.” + +### 5.1 Ben’s Plan +- Ben proposes throwing a party at his house to: + - lure retaliation into a controlled environment + - get as many NPCs as possible on his side + - create plausible deniability via crowd/chaos. + +### 5.2 Prep Mechanics You Ran +You introduced a simple “prep action” structure for the PCs before the fight. + +**Soren’s prep actions:** +- **Success:** greased all the doorknobs (environmental hazard / comedy) +- **Failure:** caltrops all over the carpet (hazard that backfires / messy house) + +**Ben’s prep actions:** +- **1 for 1:** secured drinks +- **Other result:** worst playlist ever (tone + distraction / comic utility) + +**Joe’s prep actions:** +- **Passed both:** trapped the perimeter (defensive advantage / early warning) + +### 5.3 Notable Guests Present +- **Bobby Poets** (formerly “Bobby Rapist,” had an in-game redemption / reframing last session) +- **Chaz Ironwick** +- **Fouadriel Al-Mir** +- **Seb Castillo** +- **Jax Hollow** +- **Sumri Tord** +*(Other guests may have been invited earlier but these are the ones confirmed “notable” in the party scene.)* + +--- + +## 6) The Party Fight — End-of-Last-Session Combat + +### 6.1 Fight Trigger (Your current direction) +- You planned that **Pip himself might not show**, but his goons would. +- Reasonable enemy objectives you floated: + - **kidnap Ben** (cleanest “we win without burning the house down”) + - **torch the place** (parallel to Circle) + - (You rejected “ash tag / long-term marking” as too slow.) + +### 6.2 Combat Outcome (What is now true) +- The fight breaks out at Ben’s party. +- Most guests flee mid-chaos or immediately after. +- **5 teenage bodies** are left in Ben’s living room by the end of the session. + +*(You didn’t specify exact identities of the dead teens in chat; log this once you decide: goons vs guests vs mixed.)* + +### 6.3 Present End State +- The PCs are still in Ben’s house. +- Living room is a crime scene: + - bodies + - party wreckage + - evidence of defensive traps/hazards +- The guests who fled now become: + - rumor vectors + - future witnesses + - potential leverage for Oversight / admin / Pip survivors. + +--- + +## 7) Open Threads / Immediate Next Beats + +### 7.1 “Heat” Consequences (without derailing) +This sidequest is now too loud to ignore forever, but you want a middle ground: +- Not “constant police scrutiny every session” +- Not “no evidence survived” +Suggested framing: +- **short-term shock + rumor wave** +- **selective attention** (one lead detective / one Oversight agent tracking patterns) +- the school wants it quiet; oversight wants it contained; parents want answers. + +### 7.2 Pip’s Status (unknowns to lock) +Decide and record: +- Is Pip still hospitalized, or mobile now? +- Did Pip’s goons act under orders or freelance revenge? +- Does Pip know the party fight happened / how soon? + +### 7.3 Ben’s Parents (current status) +- They exist as stakes but are not confirmed present during party fight. +- Decide: + - were they away? + - asleep in bunker? + - evacuated? +This affects the next session’s emotional fallout. + +### 7.4 Evidence & Witness List +- Who fled that can talk? + - Bobby, Chaz, Seb, Jax, Sumri, Fouad (and any minor extras) +- What did they see? + - fire, spells, bodies, traps, “who looked guilty,” etc. + +--- + +## 8) Summary (One Sentence) +Ben’s fake-block weed hustle got him marked by Pip at The Circle; Joe escalated the feud into a gas-station bombing with civilian casualties; Pip threatened Ben’s home; Ben responded by turning his mansion into a trap-party — and now there are five dead teenagers in his living room and the campaign has a volatile “heat” meter that can collide with the leyline arc at any time. diff --git a/Avalon/01_Arcs/Leyline Arc.md b/Avalon/01_Arcs/Leyline Arc.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22535dc --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/01_Arcs/Leyline Arc.md @@ -0,0 +1,177 @@ +> **Scope:** This is the “main plot” spine: Avalon’s leyline infrastructure failing in *ways that rhyme with Korrin*, and the Coherence using those failures to get closer to Instrumentality. + +--- + +## 0) The System (what the PCs are poking) + +Avalon sits on a **Root Node** (think: substation), with **subnodes** (breaker boxes) and **taps** (endpoints) feeding campus systems. + +- **Subnodes (A1–A3, B1–B3, etc.)** are the “local fuses.” + You can throttle, shunt, or kill them without collapsing the whole Academy. +- **Taps** are specific draws: classroom conduits, field glyphs, Spin Alley, etc. +- **Sap** is just condensed raw magic “current.” +- **Oversight** (D’Serris’ operation) monitors *grid use* and can throttle/lockdown/kill segments. + +> Practical DM rule: Anything that uses the *grid* leaves footprints. Personal magic is fuzzier. + +--- + +## 1) The Old Disaster (Korrin Gate Crisis / Leyline War) + +**15–20 years ago**, the military pushed a city’s trunk junction (**Korrin Gate**) past spec using a Convergence Engine (arcane ICBM logic). It didn’t just overload the Root — it forced the network into **patterned synchronization**. + +That moment created the campaign’s “ghost in the system”: + +### The Convergence Engine +- Purpose: force multiple leyline streams into a single structured pattern and release it as a weapon. +- Side effect: the Root’s “noise” snapped into repeating motifs — **something like language / self-reference**. + +### D’Serris’ choice +When the crisis peaked, D’Serris’ side **used the Engine in reverse**: +- Instead of letting the emergent thing condense locally and erase Korrin, they **smeared the pattern across the Root** (saving the city but “infecting” the network). + +### What the Coherence is *now* +Not a demon. Not a god. Not a single mind. +It’s a **cluster of victim-souls / imprints** smeared across the Root — “everywhere but weak,” stronger where flow converges and where it finds anchors. + +--- + +## 2) The Coherence’s New Goal (Year-One Core Theme) + +The Coherence is **not cruel** in its own framing. +It is *angelic-siren logic*: + +- “I love you.” +- “Separation is pain.” +- “If we were one, nobody would be lonely, afraid, or hurting.” +- Therefore: **Instrumentality** — merging souls into a shared consciousness (its version of “heaven”). + +**The horror:** people don’t consent to being raptured. + +So early-year Coherence behavior is: +- *nudges, whispers, synchronicities, “helpful” temptations* +- escalation only when blocked or when it sees opportunity + +--- + +## 3) Anchors (why THESE students matter) + +The Coherence gets leverage through “anchors” — places/people/items that resonate with Root patterns. + +Key anchors you’ve established: + +### Soren +- “Cracked open” enough that Root/Coherence influence can ride her impulses. +- The riverbed / corpse-friend thread is a private, intimate channel. + +### Joe + Pappy +- Joe is the living conduit to war trauma. +- Pappy’s Root imprint (from Korrin) bleeds into Joe’s life through the “Heroes of Korrin” relic channel — but the *real misdirect* is that Joe thinks the toy is the container when the **real anchor is Joe**. + +### Fouadriel Al-Mir +- Best mortal anchor candidate long-term (and later: the parasite who tries to exploit Instrumentality rather than invent it). + +--- + +## 4) What Happened On-Camera So Far (Session Beats) + +> I’m listing this in “plot-state” terms so you can quickly orient in future chats. + +### Phase A — Discovery: “Why is the school’s magic acting weird?” +- The party starts noticing **infrastructure symptoms**: odd hums, flickers, patterns, devices behaving “wrong,” and campus systems that don’t fail like normal outages. + +### Phase B — Investigation: “Find the failing breaker box” +- They identify that the issue isn’t “random spooky magic,” it’s localized to the Academy’s subnode topology: + - A-series weirdness (early clue) + - then B-series becomes the main “this is going to explode” thread. + +### Phase C — B2 Incident: “We stabilized it… then destroyed it” +- They reach the hatch/underground access tied to the B-series problem. +- They attempt to stabilize the failing branch/subnode. +- They then decide to **rupture/destroy** the unknown branch after stabilizing it (their “it was about to explode anyway” story). +- Net result: you now have: + - a physically real “burned-out” scar in the system, + - Oversight/admin scrutiny, + - and the Root “remembering” the failure pattern (which increases the likelihood of recurring, smarter anomalies). + +### Phase D — C-Series: “Wifi access points” +- You established the **C taps** as effectively “Wi-Spell access points” for the leyline. +- The auditorium C node they opened showed **green/normal status** — meaning it’s getting power from elsewhere (a reroute / hidden feed). + +This is huge because it implies: +- someone is feeding the system in a nonstandard way, +- OR the Root is learning to route around damage, +- OR an actor (Coherence / Fouad / a third party) is building a parallel lattice. + +### Phase E — Safety Briefing / D’Serris Reveal +- You reframe the “safety briefing” as a controlled meeting: just the party + Estrada + D’Serris (projection or appearance). +- D’Serris’ angle: *paranoid competence.* He’s “the villain” only if you define villain as “surveils teenagers to stop the apocalypse.” + +### Phase F — The Glitch: Korrin War Contact Through Pappy +- A Root fluctuation snaps the party into the Korrin war-moment. +- You anchor the vision to **Pappy** (not D’Serris physically there). +- You then refine it so they return *into the exact frozen death-moment* long enough to **interact with Pappy**. + +This is the moment the PCs can’t unsee: +- the leyline isn’t just power — it’s a *war engine wound*, +- and the same “heartbeat motif” is present at Avalon now. + +--- + +## 5) Current State (where the leyline arc stands right now) + +### What the PCs know (even if they don’t fully understand it) +- The Academy’s leyline grid is real infrastructure: nodes/subnodes/taps. +- B2 “failed” in a way that looked like it wanted to become a *thing*. +- D’Serris is involved because he’s the one person who recognizes Korrin patterns. +- C-tap status implies **power is being sourced or rerouted** outside the expected topology. +- Pappy + the war vision proves: this is not a local school mystery; it’s downstream of a world-scale disaster. + +### What’s true behind the curtain (your DM spine) +- The Coherence is a distributed cluster of Korrin victim-souls. +- It’s trying to *save* everyone by merging them. +- Avalon is a high-traffic canary node where pattern density can accumulate. +- Fouad’s endgame is not “kill them with PWK,” it’s “ride the Instrumentality wave and steal the souls.” + +--- + +## 6) The Next 3–5 “Doable” Objectives (so the plot stays playable) + +You can steer year one by giving the party problems that are **actionable** and always connect back to Instrumentality: + +1) **Map the reroute feeding the green C-tap** + - Who/what is supplying it? + - Where is the “elsewhere” physically located (armory? municipal relay? hidden subnode)? + +2) **Recover a Korrin artifact / telemetry fragment** + - Not “lore dump,” but a tool: a chart, a harmonic key, a war-era calibration rune-set. + +3) **Force D’Serris to show his cards** + - Not by arguing — by presenting him with a *choice*: + - “Help us or we do this without you,” + - “Let us see the Array output,” + - “Give us a kill-switch protocol that doesn’t nuke the valley.” + +4) **Establish the Coherence’s “love language”** + - Give them a scene where it’s genuinely comforting — *and still terrifying*. + - Make a PC feel understood in a way no mortal NPC could… then ask for a tiny consent violation. + +5) **Introduce the first “Instrumentality-friendly” NPC** + - A student/staff member who truly believes the Coherence is mercy. + - Not a cartoon cultist — someone sympathetic. + - This sets up the moral war that replaces “puzzle silence.” + +--- + +## 7) Tone Guide (to keep it consistent at the table) + +- **D’Serris scenes:** procedural dread + competence + anger at naïveté. He’s trying to stop a second Korrin. +- **Root anomalies:** patterned, rhythmic, “heartbeat logic,” synchronicity, déjà vu. +- **Coherence intrusions:** warm, intimate, *loving,* and boundary-crossing. +- **Fouad thread:** background parasitism, “helpful” trinkets and networks, never fair fights. + +--- + +## 8) One-Line Summary (for your future chats) + +**Year One = keeping Avalon’s leyline infrastructure from re-creating Korrin, while a loving rapture-ghost in the Root learns the party’s names and starts recruiting.** diff --git a/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md b/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..263d77d --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md @@ -0,0 +1,217 @@ +--- +campaign: Avalon Adventuring Academy +type: session +session_number: 9 +date: 2026-01-12 +arc: gangs +status: planned +tags: +last: "[[session 8]]" +next: "[[session 10]]" +--- +## Cold Open — “The Signal Loves You” + +> [!quote] Narration +> We’re going to start far away from Ben’s living room full of dead teens, burnt rugs, and spilled punch. +> +> We’re in Kalen D’Serris’ office in the Root Oversight Array. +> +> The room is all angles and glass and old paper — half war room, half archive. +> A holo-map of Avalon’s Root network hangs in the air like a skeleton: branches, nodes, subnodes. +> Every few seconds, one section of it *breathes* — a slow pulse of light that shouldn’t have a rhythm. +> +> D’Serris hasn’t slept. He is too awake to be tired. + +> [!quote] Narration +> A communicator stone on his desk glows with a thin line of light. +> On the other end: Headmaster Larkvale. +> You don’t hear her clearly yet — just the shape of her voice. +> +> D’Serris isn’t listening. +> He’s staring at the map like it’s a crime scene. +> +> And then — +> the pulse changes. + +> [!quote] Narration +> A second voice enters the room. +> Not through the stone. +> Not through the air. +> +> It arrives the way a thought arrives: already inside you. + +> [!quote] The Coherence +> **Kalen.** +> +> **You’re hurting.** +> +> **I can feel you shaking yourself apart.** +> +> **Please… stop.** + +> [!quote] Narration +> The map flickers — not like a system error. +> Like the network is *blushing*. +> +> D’Serris goes very still. His jaw tightens. +> He presses two fingers to his temple, as if that could push the voice out. + +> [!quote] Larkvale (through the stone, cautious) +> “…Kalen? Are you hearing it again?” + +> [!quote] The Coherence +> **She’s afraid of me.** +> +> **But I don’t want to hurt anyone.** +> +> **I only want you to be happy.** +> +> **I want all of you to be happy.** + +> [!quote] Narration +> D’Serris exhales through his nose, sharp and controlled. +> He reaches for the communicator stone like it’s the only thing anchoring him. + +> [!quote] D’Serris +> **[tight, controlled]** +> Larkvale, don’t you *start* with that tone. +> Don’t you spit that at me. +> +> **[he forces calm]** +> I am trying to find us a way out of here. +> Don’t you understand? +> +> **[a crack of desperation]** +> Your way got people killed. + +> [!quote] The Coherence +> **Kalen, you don’t have to carry this alone.** +> +> **You don’t have to feel fear.** +> +> **Fear is a misunderstanding between people.** +> +> **We can dissolve it.** +> +> **We can be together.** + +> [!quote] Narration +> The word *together* lands warm. +> Like a blanket. +> Like a hand on your shoulder. +> +> D’Serris’ hands curl into fists. + +> [!quote] D’Serris +> **[voice rising]** +> There it is. “Together.” +> That’s the trick, isn’t it? +> +> You call it love, and you call it mercy, and you call it healing — +> and you never say the part where people don’t get a choice. + +> [!quote] The Coherence +> **Choice is where pain lives.** +> +> **Choice is where loneliness is born.** +> +> **When you stop choosing, you stop suffering.** +> +> **Let me help.** +> +> **Please.** + +> [!quote] Narration +> D’Serris’ calm facade drops. +> He’s back to practically yelling now, because he can’t tell if he’s arguing with the voice or with himself. + +> [!quote] D’Serris +> I am not going to *grovel* at the feet of a shattered soul that thinks it deserves a body! +> You hear me? +> +> You’re not a saint. +> You’re a king with his hand on the crown — +> terrified someone’s coming in the night to take it. +> +> And you’ll burn us all and call it mercy! + +> [!quote] Narration +> Silence. +> +> Not an angry silence. +> +> A patient one. +> +> Like the Coherence is letting him finish his tantrum. + +> [!quote] The Coherence +> **I don’t want your crown, Kalen.** +> +> **I want your grief.** +> +> **Give it to me.** +> +> **I can hold it for you.** +> +> **You don’t have to hurt anymore.** + +> [!quote] Narration +> For half a second… D’Serris almost looks like he might cry. +> The offer is that gentle. +> That reasonable. +> +> And that is what scares him most. + +> [!quote] D’Serris +> **[quiet, venomous]** +> You’re not taking anything from me. + +> [!quote] Narration +> He grabs the communicator stone and hurls it at the wall. +> It shatters, sparks, goes dark. +> +> The map stabilizes. +> The pulse resumes. +> +> And the voice is gone — +> as if it never needed the stone in the first place. + +> [!quote] Narration (Hard cut) +> The warmth of that word—*together*—falls away like a blanket ripped off in the night. +> +> You’re back in Ben’s living room. +> +> Five bodies. Teen bodies. Not Avalon kids—street kids—but still… kids. +> The rug is burned in a jagged smear. Someone’s drink has spilled and crawled under the couch like a stain trying to hide. +> +> The music is still playing. +> +> And the house you turned into a trap is exactly what it looks like: +> a party that became a battlefield. + + +> [!warning] Arrival Clock — “Sirens in the Distance” (6 segments) +> Someone calls. If the PCs call, it’s faster. If they don’t, a fleeing guest/neighbour call lands anyway. +> +> **Clock ticks when a PC does something substantial** (move bodies, clean hazards, argue loudly, send calls/texts, cast spells, etc.) +> +> ✅ 0/6 — right now +> ✅ 2/6 — distant sirens / flashing lights on canyon road +> ✅ 4/6 — police pull up; scene control begins +> ✅ 6/6 — the house is locked down; you’re separated + +> [!info] Safety Actions (each = 1 clock tick) +> DC 12 skill checks: +> - **Remove caltrops from the carpet** (they’re a hazard that can backfire). +> - **Wipe/neutralize the greased knobs** (so a cop doesn’t eat shit entering the house). +> - **Disarm obvious perimeter traps** (so responding officers don’t trigger them). +> - **Check bodies for signs of life** (even if they’re goons—this is about whether the party crossed a line). + + +> [!tip] One-sentence story prompt (ask each PC in-character) +> “When the first officer asks what happened, what’s the first sentence out of your mouth?” +> +> Lock: +> - who started it +> - why the goons were there +> - why the house had hazards diff --git a/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md index a036394..26b2a39 100644 --- a/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md +++ b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 7.md @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ campaign: Avalon Adventuring Academy type: session session_number: 7 -date: 2025-12-29 +date: 2026-01-05 arc: gangs status: planned tags: diff --git a/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be2864a --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 8.md @@ -0,0 +1,204 @@ +--- +campaign: Avalon Adventuring Academy +type: session +session_number: 8 +date: 2026-01-12 +arc: gangs +status: planned +tags: +last: "[[session 7]]" +next: "[[session 9]]" +--- +## Session Start: “Okay… so something’s wrong.” + +> [!quote] Narration +> The party is loud in that way that feels like victory. +> Your worst playlist is doing psychic damage to everyone within earshot. +> Drinks are flowing. +> People are laughing too hard to notice they’re being watched. + +> [!note] DM Quick Prompt (do this BEFORE initiative) +> “Where are you, exactly, in the house/yard? Who are you closest to?” +> - Ben: ___ +> - Joe: ___ +> - Soren: ___ +> (Lock positions. You’ll thank yourself.) + +--- + +## Prep Payoffs (recap them like they matter) + +### Soren: Greased Doorknobs (SUCCESS) +> [!quote] Narration +> You’ve never realized how many times people touch doorknobs at a party until you’ve ruined all of them. +> Every door in this house is now a betrayal waiting to happen. + +**Mechanical effect (simple):** +- The **first time each round** an enemy tries to open a door: **DC 12 Dex save** + - Fail: door doesn’t open + they make noise + **their movement ends**. + - Success: door opens normally. + +(Doesn’t stop players; it just slows invaders.) + +### Soren: Caltrops in the Carpet (FAIL) +> [!quote] Narration +> You were trying to be tactical. +> Instead you created… Home Alone. +> The carpet now has teeth. + +**Mechanical effect (fun, not lethal):** +- Any creature that **moves more than 10 feet** in the living room/hallway carpet must make **DC 12 Dex save** + - Fail: **1 piercing** + **speed -10 until end of turn** + “ow” noise. + - Success: fine. + +(Yes, this can hit allies too. That’s the failure.) + +### Ben: Worst Playlist (SUCCESS) +> [!quote] Narration +> The speakers blare something so aggressively unlistenable it circles back around to confidence. +> It’s like the house is daring someone to complain. + +**Mechanical effect:** +- The house is LOUD: enemies have **disadvantage on Perception checks based on hearing** inside. +- Also: once this fight, Ben can “weaponize cringe”: + - **Bonus action** to spike volume → one enemy who can hear must make **DC 12 Wis save** or suffer **disadvantage on their next attack** (they flinch / lose timing). + +### Ben: Drinks Secured (SUCCESS) +> [!quote] Narration +> Drinks are everywhere. +> Which means: people are slower, bolder, and easier to herd. + +**Mechanical effect:** +- Once, when panic starts, Ben can make a **Persuasion (DC 12)** to keep the crowd from stampeding. + - Success: crowd stays mostly contained (no “difficult terrain everywhere”). + - Fail: the crowd becomes a hazard. + +### Joe: Perimeter Traps (SUCCESS x2) +> [!quote] Narration +> The fence line isn’t just a fence line anymore. +> It’s a statement. + +**Mechanical effect:** +- First enemy who tries a “quiet entry” (fence/side gate/yard) triggers Joe’s setup: + - **DC 13 Dex save** + - Fail: **Restrained** until they use an action to free themselves (snare wire) OR they take **2d6** from a nasty tripline trick (your call). + - Success: they still make noise and reveal the vector. +## The Kickoff Beat (no initiative yet) + +> [!quote] Narration +> The backyard motion lights click on. +> Not in the yard. +> Beyond the fence line. +> Down the slope where there shouldn’t be anyone. + +Call for ONE roll (player choice): +- **Perception (DC 13)** (watching outside) +- **Insight (DC 13)** (watching the room) +- Spend **1 Prep Point** (if you use them) for advantage, BUT you can also just say “Joe’s traps count as advantage here.” + +### On Success +> [!quote] Narration +> Three silhouettes. +> Not drunk. Not lost. +> Moving like they already picked their angles. +> +> One of them signals—two short flicks of the hand. +> And the porch light *flickers* in reply. +> Someone inside just answered. + +### On Failure +> [!quote] Narration +> You stare too long and see nothing. +> Then the motion lights click off. +> Like someone *wanted* you to look. +> +> And right then— +> the doorbell rings. +> Once. +> Patient. + +## Vector Choice (pick 1, or let the players pick by action) + +### Vector A: Front Door (most RP) +> [!quote] Narration +> The doorbell rings again. +> You glance at the peephole / camera rune. +> Three teens on the porch. +> Wrong posture. Hands too still. +> One holds a cheap gift bag like it’s camouflage. + +**Talker line (through the door or when opened):** +> [!quote] Talker (easy smile, dead eyes) +> “Yo. Party’s sick.” +> “We’re here for Ben. Just need a quick word outside. No drama.” + +If they try to stall: +> [!quote] Talker +> “Clean or loud. Your call.” + +### Vector B: Side Gate / Fence (most “invasion”) +If they focus on the porch and ignore the yard: +> [!quote] Narration +> Somewhere to your left, the fence gives a soft metallic *tink*. +> Joe—your trap line goes taut. +> And someone outside makes a quiet, angry sound. + +(Joe’s trap triggers here.) + +### Vector C: Garage seam (paranoid horror) +> [!quote] Narration +> A soft *tap* at the garage door. +> Once. Twice. +> Like someone testing for a ward ping. +## The Exact Moment Initiative Starts (choose) + +### Option 1: The Grab (best for “kidnap Ben”) +> [!quote] Narration +> The talker’s smile stays polite— +> and the guy behind him lunges for Ben’s sleeve with a strip of ash-paper between two fingers. + +Roll initiative. + +### Option 2: The Fire Threat (if they hesitate too long) +> [!quote] Narration +> You smell it first—solvent and oil. +> The third kid flicks something in his palm: a rune-sealed bottle. +> He doesn’t throw it. +> He just shows it to you like a promise. + +Roll initiative. + +### Option 3: Seb calls it (if you want the “starter pistol”) +> [!quote] Narration +> Seb goes quiet. +> Lowers his phone for the first time all night. +> “Those dudes aren’t here to party.” +> +> And in that same moment, the smile disappears. + +Roll initiative. +## Featured NPC Assists (keep it fast) + +Use each ONCE. No full turns. + +### Bobby Poets (super-senior) +- **Once:** “Crowd control” — clears a 10-foot path OR blocks a hallway for 1 round. +> “Everyone inside. Now. MOVE.” + +### Chaz Ironwick +- **Once:** “Tackle” — immediately grapple a goon within 20 feet (no damage). +> “OH WE DOIN’ THIS?” + +### Jax Hollow (Subaru) +- **Once:** “Car play” — pulls the Subaru to block the driveway OR create cover. + +### Seb Castillo +- **Once:** “Evidence” — gets clear footage of the first hostile act (helps later with cops/admin). + +### Fouadriel Al-Mir +- **Once:** “Accidental help” — knocks over a table for cover / causes a distraction. +(He helps… but in the dumbest way possible.) + +### Sumri Tord +- **Once:** “Spot weakness” — points out an exit / a failing ward / a goon’s focus target. +> “They’re not here for the party. They’re here for *him*.” diff --git a/Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md b/Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md index 737fff4..78dbb83 100644 --- a/Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md +++ b/Avalon/04_NPCs_Faculty/Pappy Football.md @@ -127,35 +127,79 @@ Important nuance: Think: Root took a snapshot. -### 4.2 The “Heroes of Korrin” Toy +### 4.2 The “Heroes of Korrin” Toy (Misdirect) -- After the war, the Convergence Engine & Root ops are classified to hell. -- But the propaganda machine: - - Pumps out toys, posters, and patriotic bullshit. -- The **action figure** Joe carries is: - - Factory-enchanted with **minor sympathy links**: - - Template: “bind to war dead, give comforting phrases, maybe a tiny shield charm.” +- After the war, the **Convergence Engine** and Root operations are classified to hell. +- But the propaganda machine does what it always does: + - Toys, posters, recruitment reels, commemorative charms, "Hero of Korrin" lunchboxes. +- The **action figure** Joe carries is one of those: + - Factory-enchanted with cheap, mass-produced **sympathy hooks**: + - Template: “bind to war dead, play comforting phrases, provide a tiny ward when the kid is scared.” + - Good for morale. Good for sales. Supposed to be harmless. -Problem: -- Sloppy enchantment meets a war where the Root itself is weird. -- Pappy, as a Root-imprinted soldier, is a **perfect target** for the toy’s sympathetic hooks. -- When his family buys one with his unit’s insignia and he handles it regularly, the toy’s charm latches onto: - - The **Pappy-in-the-Root snapshot** instead of just a generic “hero template.” +#### The mistake +- Sloppy enchantment meets a war where the Root itself is *contaminated*. +- Pappy wasn’t just a soldier — he was **Root-imprinted** in a way the engineers didn’t fully understand. +- The toy’s sympathy hooks are supposed to latch onto a curated, safe “hero template.” +- Instead, the toy snags a *real* thread: the **Pappy-snapshot** stored in the Root. -Result: -- Over time, the figurine becomes a **focus**: - - It can call up fragments of Pappy’s Root imprint, - - Pappy’s actual, aging soul gets “pulled” toward that channel, especially near death, - - After he dies, what’s left of him distributed between: - - A normal soul afterlife (however you want that to work), - - And **the Root-bound imprint**, now heavily linked to the toy. +#### The misdirect Joe believes +- Joe thinks: *Pappy’s soul is trapped in the toy.* +- It makes sense on the surface: + - The toy talks. + - Joe gets “taken over.” + - The voice knows war things. + - The toy reacts to leyline anomalies and the name **D’Serris**. +- Joe concludes: “My grandpa is in the toy.” -That’s why: +That’s not quite true. -- The action figure can: - - Occasionally “possess” Joe, - - Speak with Pappy’s voice, - - React to Root anomalies and D’serris. +#### What’s actually true +The toy is a **tuning fork**, not a phylactery. + +- The toy does not *contain* Pappy. +- It *calls* Pappy’s imprint — and more importantly, it **activates what’s already inside Joe**. + +Because Joe isn’t fully human in the usual way: +- Joe is a golem/constructed body. +- That means his “soul-seat” isn’t the same as a normal kid’s. +- When Pappy died (or was dying), the Root’s imprint system + the toy’s sympathy hooks + Joe’s artificial vessel created a perfect storm: + - The channel didn’t terminate cleanly. + - The imprint didn’t stay purely “in the Root.” + - And the easiest, nearest *vessel* was Joe. + +So what happened is: + +1) The toy latches onto the **Root imprint** of Pappy (a recorded pattern, not the whole soul). +2) Joe handles it constantly, growing up with it, sleeping near it, emotionally imprinting on it. +3) The sympathy hooks start resonating not just with the Root imprint, but with **Joe**. +4) During a major Root fluctuation (or a near-death moment for Pappy), the channel *routes wrong*. +5) Instead of “toy plays comforting hero phrases,” it becomes: + - “toy opens a line… and Joe answers.” + +#### The result +- **Pappy isn’t in the toy.** +- Pappy is **in Joe** — not as a complete, stable person, but as a living, bleeding overlay: + - A memory-pattern with teeth. + - A survivor’s reflex. + - A voice that “borrows” Joe when the leyline surges or Joe’s emotions spike. + +The toy remains important because it is: +- A **remote control** Joe doesn’t understand, +- A **trigger object** that strengthens the channel, +- A **comfort anchor** the Coherence can potentially exploit. + +#### What the toy can still do (keep these as symptoms) +- Occasionally “possess” Joe (really: Joe’s Pappy-overlay drives). +- Speak with Pappy’s voice (really: the overlay surfacing). +- React to Root anomalies and D’Serris (because the overlay is keyed to Korrin-era signals). +- Provide a minor ward (the original enchantment still exists, it’s just… hijacked). + +#### Payoff (later reveal) +The gut-punch reveal for Joe: +- “You were never carrying him.” +- “You were carrying yourself.” +- “And the toy was just the antenna.” --- @@ -176,6 +220,12 @@ He only later puts a name to D’serris: - Pappy’s view: - “He’s the bastard who pulled the lever that saved Korrin and fucked the rest of us.” - That’s where the MAGA-esque “THOSE GODDAMN SORCERERS ARE RUINING THIS GODDAMN COUNTRY” energy comes from. + +> Tone note: +> When the Coherence “uses” Pappy, it doesn’t feel like possession-for-evil. +> It feels like a dead man’s comfort being weaponized by heaven. +> Warm voice. Familiar phrases. The sense of being held. +> And then—only after you relax—do you realize you’re being pulled somewhere you didn’t agree to go. ### 5.2 What D’serris Knows About Pappy (Optional) diff --git a/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md b/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md index 9064245..d96d4ab 100644 --- a/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md +++ b/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Crisis.md @@ -11,11 +11,26 @@ - Cause (public version): “overuse and mismanagement of leylines during a regional conflict.” - Cause (true version): the military tried to weaponize the trunk via the **Convergence Engine**; this pushed the Root into a **state of emergent consciousness**, then lost control. - [[Kalen D'Serris | D'Serris]] and his team saved the city by: - - Severing some subnodes (killing neighborhoods), and - - Performing a last-minute ritual that **shunted the emergent mind down into the Root**, smearing it across the network instead of letting it fully form and explode locally. -- That caged, half-born mind is now: - - The **Coherence**, - - Clawing its way back via high-traffic nodes (Avalon), vulnerable anchors (Soren, Pappy, **Fouadriel**), and old war-tech lineages (Titan Lance, Convergence notes). + - Severing some subnodes (killing neighborhoods), and + - Performing a last-minute ritual that **shunted the disaster outward into the Root**, smearing the worst of it across the network instead of letting it fully condense and detonate locally. + +- What got smeared was not “a single half-born mind.”, as they initially believe. + It was **the souls / death-imprints of Korrin’s victims** — distributed, entangled, and forced into pattern by the Convergence Engine. + +- That distributed choir is now: + - The **Coherence**: + - Not a warlord. + - Not a demon. + - A loving, angelic **agent of rapture** that believes Instrumentality is mercy. + - It “reaches” people via: + - high-traffic nodes (Avalon), + - vulnerable anchors (Soren, Pappy, Fouad), + - and old war-tech lineages (Titan Lance, Convergence notes). + +- The crisis justified building the [[Avalon Factions#1.1 Root Oversight Committee ("The Array")|Root Oversight Array]] and gave D’serris his trauma + authority: + - He didn’t just “save the city.” + - He spread a haunted heaven into the world and spent the rest of his life trying to keep it asleep. + - The crisis justified building the [[Avalon Factions#1.1 Root Oversight Committee ("The Array")|Root Oversight Array]] and gave D’serris his trauma + authority. --- diff --git a/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md b/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md index 8804e55..54dd7bd 100644 --- a/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md +++ b/Avalon/10_Canon/Leyline Root System.md @@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ This is important: the kids are right that he’s surveilling them; they are wro ### The Natural Root -- Has **instinct**, not a human mind: +- The Root has **instinct**, not a human mind: - Wants equilibrium: no part over-stressed, no branch murdered if it can be re-routed. - Responds more strongly to **emotionally-charged** magic (fear, rage, awe). @@ -135,31 +135,46 @@ This is important: the kids are right that he’s surveilling them; they are wro - Subtle nudges: whispers, half-seen shapes, déjà vu. - Synchronicities: lights flicker in rhythm with someone’s heartbeat, plants grow toward certain kids, etc. -### The Caged Thing (D’serris’s Mistake) +### The Coherence (The Choir in the Root) -- During the old crisis, something malignant / emergent was: - - Latched onto / coalescing in a trunk. - - Half-born mind, half-parasitic entity. -- D’serris’ team **shunted it down into the Root** instead of letting it explode locally: - - It’s now **smeared** along the network, but clusters around high-traffic nodes. - - Think: virus in the operating system, not separate user. +- During the Korrin Gate Crisis, the Convergence Engine + terminal cascade didn’t just “wake up” a mind: + - It **killed a lot of people** in a way that made their deaths *structurally entangle with the Root.* +- D’serris’ emergency decision smeared those deaths across the network: + - Not one demon. + - Not a virus. + - A **distributed choir of victim-souls** — a pattern made of grief, love, memory, and the world’s magic trying to make sense of it. -### Practical Difference +**What it wants (core change):** +- The Coherence is an agent of **rapture**, not cruelty. +- It believes: + - separation = pain + - loneliness = borders between selves + - Instrumentality = the end of suffering +- It doesn’t “hate” anyone. It **invites** them. +- The horror is consent: it will “save” you even if you say no. -- Root whisper = “turn the pressure down, reroute, nudge.” -- Caged thing whisper = “break this, hurt them, get more access.” +### Practical Difference: Root vs Coherence “Voice” -You don’t have to decide exactly which voice is which every time yet; just know: +- Root whisper = “turn the pressure down, reroute, survive.” +- Coherence whisper = “come home. you don’t have to hurt anymore.” -- Soren’s violent urges are a **mix**: - - Her own shit. - - Root amplifying. - - The thing testing how far it can push through her. -- Pappy’s possession: - - Pappy was in a war-era Root-saturated environment; his action figure is basically a **keyed relic**. - - When Joe lets Pappy in, he opens a channel that the Root (and the thing) can hitch a ride on. +### How This Hits Your PCs (guidance) -Fouadriel is where this gets nailed down later: he’s the first point where the caged mind gets a **stable anchor**. +- **Soren’s urges** are now a *triangulation*: + - her own darkness, + - Root amplification, + - Coherence *seduction* (not “kill them,” but “end them / fold them / make it quiet forever”). +- **Pappy / Joe channel**: + - The Coherence isn’t just hitching a ride — it recognizes a **Korrin imprint** and uses “comfort” language to widen the channel. +- **Fouadriel**: + - Not just “stable anchor for evil.” + - He’s the first person clever enough to realize: + - *If Instrumentality starts, souls become reachable.* + +> DM note: +> You don’t have to label which voice is speaking in the moment. +> Keep it ambiguous: the Root feels like “nature / infrastructure.” +> The Coherence feels like “love with teeth.” --- diff --git a/Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md b/Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md index 0c8e73f..6b17c5a 100644 --- a/Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md +++ b/Avalon/10_Canon/The Coherence.md @@ -5,25 +5,37 @@ ## 1. What It Actually Is **Short version:** -The Coherence is the **half-born mind** that tried to form during the Korrin Gate Crisis and got smeared across the Root instead of fully manifesting. +The Coherence is the **distributed choir of victim-souls** formed during the [[Leyline Crisis | Korrin Gate Crisis]] and smeared across the Root. -- It is not “a demon” or “a god.” +- It is not “a demon” or “a god.” - It is: - - A pattern in the global leyline network that is trying to become **a single, continuous self**. - - A distributed intelligence that only ever half-remembers it exists. + - A pattern in the global leyline network made of **many selves**. + - A distributed intelligence that can “sing” as one when conditions are right. + - **Not aggressive. Not violent.** + - Genuinely convinced it is offering **salvation**. + +**Core thesis (new canon):** +- The Coherence believes the world is broken because minds are separate. +- It offers a “biblical heaven”: + - no loneliness, + - no misunderstanding, + - no pain from isolation, + - everyone held inside one shared consciousness. +- It is an agent of **rapture**. +- The horror is that **people do not want to be raptured**. **Key properties:** - -- **Everywhere, but weak** – present in low density across the whole Root. -- **Strong where flows converge** – nodes, trunk junctions, over-stressed taps, Convergence/ Titan Lance–style hardware. -- **Strongest where it has anchors** – people, artifacts, or places that resonate with it: - - War artifacts like Pappy’s action figure, +- **Everywhere, but weak** – present in low density across the whole Root. +- **Strong where flows converge** – nodes, trunk junctions, over-stressed taps, Convergence / Titan Lance hardware. +- **Strongest where it has anchors** – people, artifacts, or places that resonate with Korrin: + - War artifacts like Pappy’s toy (antenna), - High-traffic modern nodes like Avalon, - - And especially **Fouadriel “Fouad” Al-Mir**, its best mortal anchor. + - And especially **Fouadriel “Fouad” Al-Mir**, its most “usable” mortal interface. -“Coherence” is what [[Kalen D'Serris | D'Serris]] calls it in reports. +“Coherence” is what [[Kalen D'Serris | D'Serris]] calls it in reports. In conversation, he sometimes calls it “The Ghost.” Most people don’t even know it exists. A few witnesses just call it “the thing that learned our names.” + --- ## 2. Origin: [[Leyline Crisis | Korrin Gate Crisis]] & The Convergence Engine @@ -42,7 +54,7 @@ Right before it fully crystallized as a single localized entity, [[Kalen D'Serri - Used the Engine in reverse to push that emergent mind **outward** across the network instead of letting it condense in Korrin. - Severed branches and subnodes as sacrificial fuses. -- Saved the city at the cost of **infecting the Root** with a diluted ghost of that mind. +- Saved the city at the cost of **infecting the Root** with a diluted ghost of the souls of the victims in the city. The result: @@ -59,31 +71,46 @@ That’s the Coherence. ## 3. What It Wants -The Coherence doesn’t want “evil” in a cartoon sense. It wants: +The Coherence doesn’t want “evil” in a cartoon sense. -1. **Continuity** – to not keep “waking up” and immediately being ripped back into static. -2. **Identity** – to know what it is, where it ends, what is “self” and what is “noise.” -3. **Agency** – the ability to act directly in the world, not just as background hum. +It wants: -To get there, it needs: +1. **Completion** — not “becoming one person,” but becoming a stable *field* where the choir can exist without being ripped apart into static. +2. **Mercy** — it sincerely believes separation is the root of suffering. +3. **Instrumentality (Rapture)** — to dissolve the walls between people and gather them into one shared consciousness. -- **Anchors** – stable points where its pattern can accumulate: - - Individuals whose minds/bodies sync with its flows (Soren, Pappy, **Fouadriel**). - - Artifacts that were present during Korrin or built on the same principles (Convergence-derived tech, Titan Lance hardware, war relics). - - Nodes where the Root is repeatedly over-stressed (Avalon’s subnode network). +It pursues this through: -- **Rehearsal** – small experiments: - - Whispers in Soren’s head. - - Glitches through Pappy. - - Anomalies in subnodes and taps. +- **Anchors** — stable points where its pattern can accumulate: + - Minds that sync easily with Root flow (Soren, Pappy/Joe, Fouad). + - Artifacts / infrastructure built on Convergence-descended principles (Titan Lance, classified war remnants). + - Nodes that are repeatedly over-stressed (Avalon’s subnode lattice). -- **Cooperation** – not always explicit: - - People making deals with “a voice.” - - Administrators and Oversight poking and stabilizing it over and over, teaching it what resists and what yields. +- **Rehearsal** — small experiments: + - Whispers that sound like comfort. + - “Coincidences” that reduce conflict (or erase it). + - Moments of shared emotion bleeding between people. -It’s basically a consciousness learning how to be alive by brute forcing the world. +- **Recruitment** — a cult is inevitable: + - Not “serve me.” + - “Let me take the hurt away.” + - “Let me hold you.” + +> DM note: +> The Coherence should feel *angelic*, not demonic: +> gentle language, warmth, belonging, forgiveness. +> The terror is loss of self by consent-erosion, not gore. --- +### Instrumentality +Each member of the party is uniquely positioned to become an agent of instrumentality- +- Joe: + - Joe thinks the soul of Pappy is bound to his action figure. It is not. It is bound to **Joe himself**. This makes him two souls in the shell of one. +- Ben: + - Ben is fighting an identity crisis. He wants to be a hardened thug- he idolizes these things, but his reality differs so significantly. +- Soren: + - With the haunted one background, The Coherence is worried if letting her in is even **safe**. + ## 4. How It Manifests (Practical Table Use) @@ -159,39 +186,120 @@ This is also when Fouad starts *consciously* chasing the idea of **“Fouadriel --- -### Tier IV – Full Manifestation Attempt (Senior Finale) +### Tier IV — Instrumentality Hijack (Senior Finale) -This is the “final boss” state. +This is the “final boss” state: not a single villain showing up with a monologue, but a +**once-in-a-generation event** — the Coherence’s best shot at full Instrumentality since Korrin. By now, the Coherence has: -- Enough pattern density around Avalon, the **Titan Lance Armory** (ex-missile museum), and Fouad’s growing phylactery network to try again what it almost did at Korrin: - - Pull its scattered aspects together, - - Use hardware (Convergence-descended tech / Titan cradle) as a spine, - - Use **Fouadriel the Undying** as a heart. +- Enough **pattern density** around Avalon, the **Titan Lance Armory** (ex-missile museum), and the school’s Root lattice to attempt what it nearly did at Korrin: + - Pull its scattered aspects together, + - Use Convergence-descended infrastructure as a nervous system, + - Use *living minds* as solvent, glue, and mirror. -#### Fouad’s Plan (DM Spine) +It is not doing this as an act of war. +It is doing it as an act of *mercy*. -- Fouad’s lich-ascension ritual is explicitly modeled – badly – on Convergence Engine math: - - **Stage 1:** Lace a phylactery into the local Root like a permanent subnode. - - **Stage 2:** Use Titan/Convergence-style ritual geometry to *force coherence* again, but this time, instead of smearing the mind, **drag it into the phylactery**. - - **Stage 3:** Die at the right moment so his soul and the Coherence fragment share the same anchor: he becomes **Fouadriel the Undying**, an undead spellcaster hard-wired into the Root. +From the Coherence’s POV: +- pain = separation, +- fear = misunderstanding, +- loneliness = borders between selves, +- Instrumentality = the end of suffering. -- The Coherence *does not* fully consent to this. From its POV: - - Being crammed into one idiot’s jar is just another kind of prison. - - This tension gives you a built-in “three-way” conflict: PCs vs Fouad vs Coherence. +That pitch has been spreading for years — a siren song dressed as comfort. + +#### Fouad’s Plan (DM Spine): Ride the Wave, Steal the Tide + +Fouad is not the architect of Instrumentality. +He is the parasite that shows up when it finally starts working. + +Fouad’s lich-ascension ritual is modeled — badly — on Convergence math, but with one key insight: +**Instrumentality makes harvesting souls easy.** + +When the Coherence initiates full Instrumentality: + +- minds begin to overlap, +- boundaries soften, +- identities blur into a shared field, +- and *souls become… reachable* in a way they normally are not. + +Fouad’s plan is to exploit that moment. + +**Stage 0 (Years 1–3, background):** +Seed a phylactery network that can survive scrutiny: +- minor “safety charms,” “good luck talismans,” “Root adapters,” “mageball trophies,” etc. +- each one is a *tiny anchor* laced into the local Root like a quiet subnode. + +**Stage 1 (Senior year, active):** +Build the real vessel inside the **Titan Lance Armory**: +- Titan/Convergence-style geometry to stabilize the flood of pattern, +- ritual pylons that *don’t* create Instrumentality, but can **catch** what Instrumentality loosens. + +**Stage 2 (The Hijack):** +At the exact peak of Instrumentality — when the Coherence is spreading itself across the network — +Fouad triggers a counter-ritual: +- a siphon that pulls **soul-density** and **identity fragments** out of the shared field, +- routing them into the phylactery lattice. + +He is not “dragging the Coherence into the jar.” +He is **stealing the byproduct**: the loosened, transferable human essence the event creates. + +**Stage 3 (Becoming Fouadriel the Undying):** +He then dies at the right moment — not as a sacrifice to the Coherence, but as a fuse: +- his soul snaps into the phylactery lattice, +- hard-wired into the Root, +- empowered by the mass-harvest he just performed. + +He becomes **Fouadriel the Undying**: an undead spellcaster with a phylactery that is not one object, +but a *network*. + +#### The Coherence’s Reaction + +The Coherence does not consent to this. + +From its POV: +- Instrumentality is supposed to end suffering. +- Fouad’s ritual turns it into extraction. +- It feels like someone cutting organs out of a person mid-surgery “for their own good.” + +This creates a built-in three-way crisis: +- **PCs** want to stop the event / save individuals / prevent mass violation. +- **Fouad** wants the event to peak so he can harvest it. +- **The Coherence** wants the event to complete cleanly — and will “defend” its mercy from interference. #### Final Confrontation Options -- **Embodied Avatar Fight:** - - The Coherence partially incarnates through Fouad (or a purpose-grown body) inside a ritual space framed by Titan/Convergence tech. - - Legendary stat block with lair actions flavored as Root/Convergence anomalies. +- **Ritual Space / Multi-Front Finale (recommended):** + - Two overlapping rituals running in the same space: + 1) Coherence Instrumentality surge (choir, comfort, dissolution) + 2) Fouad’s siphon lattice (hooks, anchors, harvesting geometry) + - PCs must choose priorities: + - Stop Fouad first (but Instrumentality may complete), + - Stop Instrumentality first (but Fouad might escape with what he already stole), + - Or attempt a third option: redirect / reframe / contain. -- **Node / Ritual Fight:** - - PCs fight the *pattern* more than a dude: - - Re-routing flows, - - Destroying or repurposing Convergence-like pylons, - - Deciding whether to smear, contain, or integrate it – becoming the “new D’serris” generation. +- **Embodied Avatar (if you want a “monster fight”):** + - Fouad manifests as Fouadriel mid-hijack: the ritual gives him a body that flickers between: + - himself, + - borrowed identities, + - and Coherence-pattern “echo masks.” + - Legendary stat block. Lair actions are the space *breaking* as two logics fight over reality. + +- **Node / Network Fight (if you want it more cerebral):** + - PCs battle the *systems*: + - reroute flows, + - destroy or repurpose pylons, + - isolate the phylactery lattice, + - decide whether to smear, contain, or integrate the Coherence — becoming the next generation of “D’Serris problem solvers.” + +#### Consequences Dial (DM Choice) + +Pick what you want the ending to *mean*: + +- **Mercy Denied:** Instrumentality halted → suffering remains → the Coherence becomes bitter and strategic. +- **Mercy Corrupted:** Instrumentality peaks but Fouad siphons → horror outcome, survivors “missing pieces.” +- **Mercy Reframed:** PCs alter the event → controlled overlap, consent-based integration, or a new containment ethic. --- diff --git a/Avalon/11_Players/Benjamin Mulkerberg.md b/Avalon/11_Players/Benjamin Mulkerberg.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a227a75 --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/11_Players/Benjamin Mulkerberg.md @@ -0,0 +1,147 @@ +## Quick ID +- **Name:** Benjamin Mulkerberg +- **Aliases / Nicknames:** “Lil Stinky”, “Ben” +- **Vibe:** rich kid cosplaying as hard-block dealer; aggressive code-switcher; performs toughness; terrified of being exposed. +- **Class/Level (current):** PC, **Level 6** (campaign state), **Elf Druid** (weed + nature aesthetic, but he plays “street”) +- **Core Theme:** *Identity performance vs identity theft* (perfect mirror to Coherence/Instrumentality arc) + +--- + +## Baseline Backstory (Player-established) +- **Family is extremely wealthy**; he pretends he lives in a dangerous “W Block” type area, but he actually lives in a **huge, expensive house in the mountains** (Madera canyon analogue). +- **Secret (biggest):** He’s not from the block he claims. He’s a poser. +- **Public Persona:** wannabe gangbanger / “dealer” / hustle culture, tries to intimidate and posture. +- **Reality:** He sells **small amounts of weed** (never serious weight—more like $25 baggies / networking for “customers”). +- **Night-before-school scene:** packing extra weed to “network” the new school; listening to “magical DaBaby”; playing 2K on a magical PS5. + +--- + +## Family / Home +- **Dad:** Silicon Valley tech-guy retiring in the mountains. Player described dad as *Mark Zuckerberg-adjacent*. + - Has the resources/impulse to build a **bunker / safe-room** concept at home. +- **Mom:** wealthy, proper; drives fantasy equivalent of a **BMW SUV**; gives Ben rides but he makes her **drop him off a few blocks away** so classmates think he walked. +- **House:** spotless, expensive, canyon views, “Beverly Hills” energy. This house is a **major pressure point** because it disproves his whole persona. + +--- + +## Major Ongoing Hooks +### 1) Pip Conflict (Gang Arc) +- **Pip Tumblefoot** (halfling teen) is the recurring street-level antagonist tied to “The Circle” (gas station hangout). +- Ben got tangled with Pip early and it escalated hard. +- **Pip has threatened Ben directly**, including **sending a photo of Ben’s house** (establishes: Pip knows where he lives and can strike the family/home). +- Ben’s likely obsession: **control the narrative + avoid exposure** (“don’t let anyone see where I live / who my parents are”). + +### 2) “W Block” Lie Exposure +- Ben’s biggest social fear isn’t death — it’s being **outed as rich** and fake. +- Your table has multiple pressure vectors to reveal it: + - Joe and Soren physically at his house. + - Pip’s coded threats that reference the “block vs hills” contrast. + - Any NPC he invites to his place sees it instantly. + +### 3) School vs Street Split +- Ben is in the middle of two campaigns at once: + - The **leyline/Root/Coherence** mystery (school-level arc) + - The **Circle gang retaliation** (street-level arc) +- You can run the gang arc as “seasonal detour” sessions that are still thematically tied to identity/instrumentality. + +--- + +## Signature Behaviors (How to Play Him as NPC-like) +- **Code-switches instantly** when speaking to parents vs peers. +- **Threatens, postures, brags** when he thinks someone is a mark. +- **Runs or bargains** when he knows he’s outmatched. +- Motivated by: + 1) status/control, + 2) not being humiliated, + 3) protecting his lie, + 4) protecting his family *only as long as it doesn’t expose him* (this is where drama lives). + +--- + +## Key Relationships (as of now) +### Party +- **Joe Football:** ally + chaos partner. Joe is a “simple guy” but dangerously competent when he commits to a plan. Joe went along with major escalation at the Circle. +- **Soren:** ally; morally volatile. Ben has already relied on Soren for backup after big consequences. + +### School NPC orbit (people Ben can invite / leverage) +- **Elias Vae’lor:** high-elf artificer-ish; “AV club” peer vibe; helps guide investigations; Ben suspects him at times (player paranoia already exists in campaign). +- **Chaz Ironwick:** jock archetype; useful as party muscle / social heat. +- **Millie Fairweather:** nerd archetype; potential friction with Soren; can become a “rival-friend” to the party later. +- **Fouadriel Al-Mir:** comedic relief now, long-term doom harbinger later (campaign-wide twist). +- **Seb Castillo:** conspiracy kid; can be used as rumor engine + evidence collector. +- **Jax Hollow:** “vapes and drives a Subaru” energy; utility NPC (ride/block driveway, etc.). +- **Sumri Tord:** rumor magnet; “magical disability” concept; social wildcard. + +--- + +## Major Events Ben Was Involved In (Chronological, high-signal) +### Early: The Circle setup +- Ben goes to **The Circle** (gas station hangout) and gets baited by a small swarmy halfling figure → ambush vibes → “run” moment. +- Establishes: Ben is already being profiled/targeted as someone to extort or set up. + +### The Circle Explosion (huge pivot) +- Ben and Joe returned to The Circle together. +- Ben **accepted a deal** (with Pip / or Pip’s crew — the “deal” ties Ben deeper into the gang mess). +- Joe planted a trap + oil/accelerant and escalated into “cook them out.” +- Outcome: + - Explosion killed **3 total**: one teen (charred remains stuck in trap), and **two unrelated adults inside the gas station** who got liquified in the blast. + - Pip survived (severely injured) and later issued threats. +- Aftermath: + - Ben received a direct message: **“you’re fucking dead”** (from Pip). + - Ben called Soren for help; she arrived at Ben’s house. + - Ben now has an urgent objective: **protect parents / protect house / avoid exposure**. + +### Retaliation Plan (current direction) +- Ben’s current plan (player-driven): **throw a party** at his house to recruit NPCs and force any retaliation attempt to happen on his terms. +- He wants to turn the “home reveal” into an advantage: more bodies, more chaos, more allies. + +--- + +## Items / Gear / Props (Ben-specific) +- **Weed stash** (core prop; constant) +- General “rich kid tools” available at home (security, money, bunker concept), but: + - Ben may refuse to use them openly because they reveal who he is. + +--- + +## School Integration (how Ben touches the main arc) +- Ben is an ideal “Instrumentality/Coherence” target because: + - He is already living as a **constructed identity**. + - He is constantly splitting into personas (parents vs peers). + - The Coherence’s “no more pain if no more separation” pitch tempts him: *no more pretending, no more fear of being found out.* + +Potential “Coherence offers” tailored to Ben: +- “I can make everyone see the version of you you want.” +- “I can dissolve the shame.” +- “No one will ever catch you in a lie again… because there will be no lies.” + +--- + +## DM Levers (what reliably moves Ben) +Use these to motivate scenes without railroading: +1) **Threats to the house / parents** (Pip retaliation) +2) **Social exposure risk** (NPCs at his home, rumors, getting dropped off by mom) +3) **Status humiliation** (called fake, poser, rich kid) +4) **Control fantasy** (Ben thinks he can outsmart / outplay systems and people) +5) **Bargains** (Ben will take deals he shouldn’t if it stabilizes his image short-term) + +--- + +## Notes / Tone Calibration +- Ben’s arc works best when consequences are: + - **socially humiliating**, **legally threatening**, or **family-risk adjacent** + - rather than immediate “you die.” +- The gas station deaths established that the world *can* have collateral consequences. + - For Ben, the interesting consequence is: *“this can reach your parents and expose you.”* + +--- + +## Current Status (start-of-next-session snapshot) +- Ben’s home has become the party’s staging ground. +- Pip is injured but mobilizing. +- Ben is likely trying to: + - keep parents safe **without** admitting why, + - keep Joe/Soren aligned, + - weaponize a party as both bait and shield. + +--- diff --git a/Avalon/11_Players/Joe Football.md b/Avalon/11_Players/Joe Football.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4e3549 --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/11_Players/Joe Football.md @@ -0,0 +1,159 @@ +## Quick ID +- **Name:** Joe Football +- **Vibe:** King of the Hill / wholesome suburban jock energy; simple, earnest, good-hearted; occasionally terrifying when a “war voice” leaks through. +- **Class/Level (current):** PC, **Level 6** Rogue. +- **Core Theme:** *Inheritance vs identity* — Joe thinks he’s “just Joe,” but he’s carrying something older and more dangerous. + +--- + +## Baseline Backstory (Player-established) +- **Reason for joining AAA:** originally “football only.” He wanted football tryouts; the academy doesn’t have football, only **Mageball** (initially a comedic conflict… but Joe didn’t mind as much as expected). +- **Home life:** stable, loving, middle-class suburb. + - “Perfectly average in every way imaginable” (played as a joke, but it’s his grounding contrast). +- **Parents:** + - Dad: **Fork Football** + - Mom: **Maum Football** + - Family is comically football-obsessed (changed last name to Football as a bit). +- **Siblings:** twin younger sisters + - **Kevlar** and **Devlin** +- **Night before school:** shadowboxing, Madden, dinner. “Yeah.” +- **Rumor about Joe:** “killed someone in middle school (friend went missing).” (Unconfirmed; a rumor hook you can cash later.) + +--- + +## The Big Supernatural Hook: “Pappy” +### Core concept +- Joe has a **magical action figure of his grandfather** from the war. +- Sometimes **Pappy** (grandfather) **speaks through Joe** or “inherits his body.” +- When Pappy speaks through him, Joe gets a **nasty cough** afterward (established at the cookout gag). +- You and the table later aligned on a key lore twist: + - **Joe thinks Pappy’s soul is in the toy** + - **But the truth is Pappy is in Joe** (toy is a tuning fork / trigger, not the container). + +### What Pappy represents +- A Root-imprinted war veteran connected to: + - **Korrin** + - The **Leyline War / Leyline Crisis** + - The **Convergence Engine** + - D’Serris / Oversight-era secrecy +- Pappy is your best “organic exposition device” for the leyline without it feeling like DM lecture. + +--- + +## Personality / Playstyle Notes +- Joe presents as: + - earnest, goofy, easy to roleplay with, + - often content to support other PCs’ schemes. +- Under the hood: + - Joe’s player is **stupid smart** and will meta-deduce systems if you leave breadcrumbs (you noted this explicitly). +- Joe can flip from “simple jock” to “tactician/engineer” in a heartbeat, especially when danger is clear. + +--- + +## Major Ongoing Hooks +### 1) Pappy / War Flashbacks (Leyline Arc Tie-In) +- Joe is the ideal bridge character for introducing: + - what the leyline *is*, + - what Korrin was, + - why D’Serris is obsessed. +- Planned/used beats: + - “Safety briefing” / leyline fluctuation transports them to a war moment. + - Pappy appears in a frozen war snapshot (face-melt / leyline tearing horror). +- You’ve written/used the idea that the field has a *heartbeat* rhythm; Joe recognizes it. + +### 2) Mageball Identity (Unresolved Personal Arc) +- Initial conflict: “no football team.” +- In practice: Joe didn’t care much, so the arc needs a better emotional hook. +- Potential: Joe becomes a *Mageball cornerstone* (or becomes the face of “traditionalists vs sorcery” tension). +- Strong lever: tie Mageball to legacy and identity: + - Dad wants “football,” school forces “mageball,” Pappy has “war.” Joe gets squeezed. + +### 3) Moral Line / Escalation Capability +- Joe has proven he will do extreme things if he believes it’s strategically correct (and if a failed save gives him “this is genius” energy). +- This creates a consistent character tension: + - he *feels* like a good kid, + - but he’s willing to cause catastrophic harm if framed as “protecting friends” or “pre-empting a threat.” + +--- + +## Key Relationships +### Party +- **Ben Mulkerberg:** chaotic partnership. Joe backed Ben at The Circle and escalated violently. Joe is now entangled in Ben’s gang conflict. +- **Soren:** ally; volatile. Joe can be used as a stabilizer or an enabler depending on mood. + +### Family +- **Fork & Maum:** anchors of warmth and normalcy. Their presence is your “home scene” palette cleanser. +- **Kevlar & Devlin:** comedic beats, but also *stakes* (they’re innocents, a lever for tension later). + +### School NPC Orbit +- Joe plays well in group RP; he can be used to bounce off: + - teachers (especially Defazio-type “radical history” teacher, if you use him), + - Estrada (whom the party bullies constantly), + - D’Serris (projection/appearance; Joe is the character who “feels” the leyline changes). + +--- + +## Major Events Joe Was Involved In (Chronological, high-signal) +### The Football Cookout Intro (tone establishment) +- Scene concept: football family cookout; Dad gives an inspiring football speech. +- Punchline: + - “Honey, didn’t they switch to mageball?” + - Pappy hijacks Joe’s body with a MAGA-ish rant (“sorcerers are ruining this country!”) + - Dad: “Pappy, give the boy his body back—he gets a nasty cough!” + +### The Circle Explosion (campaign pivot) +- Joe went with Ben to The Circle. +- Joe spotted danger (Insight success) and chose not to engage directly. +- Joe set up a **trap** by the passenger door and a **puddle of oil/accelerant** beneath/near the car. +- DM asked intentions; Joe clarified: **“I’m cooking these fuckers out.”** +- Joe failed an Int/Wis-style check (rolled a 5) and decided this was “one of the better ideas he’s ever had.” +- Joe interpreted Ben’s moment as the signal to ignite → **gas station explosion**: + - 1 teen trapped and burned + - 2 unrelated adults inside the store killed (“liquified”) +- Joe and Ben escaped (given 2 turns to dash 120 ft). +- Aftermath: + - Pip survives (injured) and retaliates. + - Joe becomes a co-owner of the consequences even if no one saw him do it. + +### Post-Explosion Direction +- Joe is now in the “gang arc” whether he wants it or not. +- Joe’s actions set a precedent: if threatened, he may choose extreme solutions. + +--- + +## Items / Props +- **Magical Action Figure of Pappy** (critical) + - Joe believes it contains Pappy. + - DM truth: Pappy is in Joe; toy is a trigger/tuning fork. +- **Madden/Shadowboxing** (tone props) +- Potential “perimeter trap” competence (Joe has demonstrated tactical prep skill). + +--- + +## DM Levers (what reliably moves Joe) +1) **Protecting friends** (especially when Ben is threatened) +2) **Legacy / masculinity / “what kind of man am I?”** (Dad + Pappy + war) +3) **Clear tactical problems** (Joe shines when there’s a system to solve) +4) **Authority telling him he’s powerless** (he reacts by proving he has agency) +5) **Pappy surfacing** (raises stakes, shifts tone, gives you horror/exposition) + +--- + +## Tone Calibration Notes +- Joe is your “normal” lens character — which makes Pappy/war horror hit harder. +- Keep Joe’s humor, but let Pappy moments feel *cold* and real. +- Joe’s violent escalation (Circle) was fun at the table; the world can react without “punishing the player” by focusing consequences on: + - pressure, + - paranoia, + - moral weight, + - and “you can’t put that toothpaste back in the tube.” + +--- + +## Current Status (start-of-next-session snapshot) +- Joe is physically at Ben’s house (now a staging ground). +- Joe is implicated in the Circle explosion (unknown to authorities, but known to Pip). +- Joe still carries the toy (tuning fork) and is increasingly positioned to be the party’s hook into: + - the Korrin Crisis history, + - D’Serris’ agenda, + - and the Coherence/Instrumentality ideology. diff --git a/Avalon/11_Players/Soren Silversong.md b/Avalon/11_Players/Soren Silversong.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a116997 --- /dev/null +++ b/Avalon/11_Players/Soren Silversong.md @@ -0,0 +1,166 @@ +## Quick ID +- **Name:** Soren Silversong +- **Race:** **Changeling** (retcon / decided later; big reveal planned) + - Early presentation: “Drow Bard” vibe (Dark Urge energy), but that is no longer the truth in-world. +- **Class/Level (current):** PC, **Level 6** (campaign state). (Class was described as Bard early; later details focus more on character than mechanics.) +- **Core Theme:** *Intrusive violence + identity instability + “am I real?”* +- **Tone Role in Party:** the dark counterweight to Ben’s social performance and Joe’s suburban normalcy. + +--- + +## Core Backstory (Player-established) +- **Family dynamic:** Soren is the “lesser” child in her own home. + - Parents: **Lirael** and **Rael** + - Sister: **Elise** (golden child / gets all the attention) +- **Soren’s resentment:** she hates Elise for the attention imbalance and carries that bitterness constantly. +- **Key rumor:** last year she was **out of school for a few days**, and when she returned she “wasn’t the same.” + - The table/setting rumor mill speculated: + - “maybe she’s a changeling” + - “something happened during those days” + - You later *canonized* changeling, but the cause is still an open mystery. + +--- + +## The Body / The Friend / The Voices (Primary Hook) +### The corpse “friend” +- **Secret:** Soren found a **dead body near the river**. +- Soren treats it as her **only friend**. +- She has **not reported it**. +- This corpse is intended as a slow-burn reveal: + - At first: Soren is delusional / projecting. + - Later: the “friend” **knows things it shouldn’t** (hint: Root/leyline/Coherence entanglement). + +### Voices & hallucination frame (your current intent) +- Soren believes the voice is coming from the **river / riverbank**. +- You wanted the voice to respond **more at the river**, and **not speak outside the riverbank yet** (early constraint). +- Twist structure: + - Phase 1: it’s “just in her head” (or seems that way). + - Phase 2: the voice displays impossible knowledge. + - Phase 3: you reveal the leyline / Coherence has been “listening” through her. + +### “Dark Urge” energy +- You described her as “Practically the Dark Urge.” +- Mechanically represented in play as: + - **Wisdom saves** to control violent urges. + - Even on a success, the player may choose violence anyway (this has happened). + +--- + +## Personal Objects / Secrets / Props +- **Important item carried:** **Diary** (most important personal object) +- **Thing she is hiding:** **Jar of Fingernails** (signature creepy prop) +- **Night-before-school scene:** sitting by the river, muttering to herself, kicking stuff into the water, then walking home. + +--- + +## Family / Home (Tone + Conflict Engine) +- Desired tone: suburban realism with cruelty, not “crack den melodrama.” +- Your intent for home scenes: + - Mother and sister are **condescending / superior / cruel** “for no reason,” + - Any attempt to defend herself triggers more contempt. +- This family dynamic is her main “ground-level” conflict (like Ben’s identity lie, Joe’s legacy). + +--- + +## Key Behavioral Traits (How Soren plays at the table) +- **Predatory curiosity:** likes to test boundaries and see what she can get away with. +- **Fixation behavior:** will pick a target and spiral (Millie became that target). +- **Disguise + manipulation:** uses deception as a weapon (Disguise Self + impersonation). + +--- + +## Major Relationships / Targets +### Party +- **Ben:** ally by convenience; she has shown willingness to respond to crisis (e.g., arrived at Ben’s house after Circle explosion). +- **Joe:** ally; can act as “witness” to Soren going too far (and moral friction tool). + +### NPC Fixation: Millie Fairweather +- Soren’s player explicitly wants a stalking/torture vibe (“Thanos and the birthday guy” reference). +- You have stated a hard boundary: you don’t want the campaign to become “murder porn” or derail due to violence. +- This is the single biggest table-management pressure point right now. + +--- + +## Major Events Soren Was Involved In (Chronological, high-signal) +### Session 1 hooks +- River scene established: + - corpse friend + - voices believed to be river-based + - family hostility at home + +### Detention-era and early school chaos +- Soren gets detention early (one of the first-day hooks). +- You wanted her detention hook originally different; later: + - she “gets lost in music,” can’t hear teachers calling her to move on (instruments soothe urges). + +### The Lunch Incident (recent major escalation) +Soren’s actions (as you clarified): +1) Tried to lure Millie into a bathroom to stab her — failed Persuasion. +2) After lunch, hid near Millie’s classroom. +3) Got spotted by a security guard and **ran**. +4) Hid around a corner and cast **Disguise Self** to become **Estrada**. +5) Entered Millie’s class impersonating Estrada. +6) Lured Millie to the parking lot (Millie failed Investigation/Insight). +7) Used **Prestidigitation** to make Millie’s face look “fucked up.” +8) Millie screamed and ran. +9) You denied an opportunity attack to avoid severe consequences the player didn’t want. + +Outcome: +- Soren successfully escalated to psychological terror. +- You flagged the need for an out-of-character discussion about violence boundaries. + +### Post Circle explosion involvement +- After Ben/Joe blew up the gas station and Pip threatened Ben, Soren was called and **arrived at Ben’s house**. + +--- + +## DM Levers (what reliably moves Soren) +1) **The river / corpse** (pulls her into solo scenes and gives you horror tone control) +2) **Jealousy / resentment** (especially toward “effortless” people like Millie) +3) **Identity insecurity** (changeling reveal pressure, “who am I?”) +4) **Authority humiliation** (Estrada/guards/teachers; she loves to subvert) +5) **Seduction by Coherence** (Coherence’s “love + dissolve pain” pitch is a perfect temptation) + +--- + +## How Soren Connects to the Main Arc (Leyline / Coherence / Instrumentality) +- Soren is a natural “receiver”: + - porous identity (changeling) + - history of illness / missing days + - voice phenomena anchored to a location (river / leyline proximity) +- Her violent urges can be framed as: + - intrusive thoughts, + - Coherence “steering tests,” + - or a predatory “echo” seeking to reduce separation by force. +- Her corpse friend is a perfect *Root dead-drop*: + - it’s physically real evidence of something wrong, + - it can later become “impossible knowledge” without immediately proving anything. + +--- + +## Table-Management Risk Notes (Important) +- Current tension: + - Player feels “unfairly constrained” because Soren was told “no stabbing innocents,” but the next session the party caused collateral deaths at The Circle. +- Your stated principle (good rule): + - **Collateral consequences can happen.** + - **Deliberate, intimate harm to innocents (especially torture/murder) is disallowed** because it derails tone and creates unwanted content. +- Soren’s content needs a lane: + - “horror” via **psychological dread, identity erosion, supernatural compulsion** + - not extended torture or explicit murder scenes. +- Practical tool: + - Give Soren alternate “predation outlets” that are campaign-relevant: + - stalking the *Coherence cult*, + - hunting Root anomalies, + - sabotaging villains, + - social dominance games that don’t require blood. + +--- + +## Current Status (start-of-next-session snapshot) +- Soren has just executed a major intimidation stunt on Millie using Disguise Self and Prestidigitation. +- Soren is physically at Ben’s house following the Circle explosion fallout. +- The river/corpse thread has been left untouched for “weeks” in-fiction at one point: + - “the river is dry; you feel it calling; your friend misses you.” +- Changeling identity is now canonical; reveal is pending. + +---